@IJKmom - idk how long you have been reading threads here, but if you go back you will see that LOTS of schools take a round of “hits” from time to time. Doesn’t mean the place getting poked doesn’t offer good training. My kid’s school (NYU) has gotten LOTS of negative comments over the 3 years I have been involved with this forum- and yet they seem to be doing just fine.
Actually, I think we could maybe stand to share a bit more on here of what we have honestly observed and experienced at programs. Isn’t this supposed to be a place for information-gathering? I’d love to come on here and see honest, yet sensitively stated experiences, observations, and questions being shared. There are times that I want to respond to people’s posts/questions about some aspect of certain programs (like this BW one), but I don’t. (I honestly shared what a program head said about a coach once–I don’t even think I named names–and someone jumped down my throat. Not pleasant.) Maybe I’m not thick-skinned enough, or maybe I’m too afraid to offend. In any case, I think the honesty and humor about the experiences and observations is refreshing, and I wish this forum could be used to really discuss issues politely, but honestly and openly. It’d be hard to do sometimes, I know, but, if done well, wouldn’t it be most helpful in determining fit? Sometimes, people have PM’d me helpful tidbits, and I’ve done the same a couple times. Wouldn’t it be helpful to others to be able to share and discuss this information on the forum?
I know it’d be bad for misinformation to be out there, and, let’s face it: this is an anonymous forum; it’d be easy for someone to come on here and spout a bunch of nonsense. Fortunately, though, there are enough veterans and professionals that frequent the threads who would likely prevent it from being a free for all. And, people’s genuine concerns could be honestly addressed, affirmed, or dismissed. That’s helpful.
Maybe this is all hypothetical, though, and it really wouldn’t be a great thing. I wonder, though…
A couple more thoughts:
Every single program has pros and cons.
Humor is a great way to deal with all of this. I didn’t see the way people dealt with this as bashing; I saw it as a humorous, yet honest take on a situation.
Great post @myloves. And humor/honesty from one person does not mean it will be true for all. I see posts praising aspects of programs sometimes and think “my kid would hate that”. I see posts that are negative about certain aspects and think “my kid would love that”.
Thanks. I’ve been feeling/thinking that way for a long time.
Absolutely! That’s part of finding the right fit that I was talking about; you said it well.
Just my two cents, from talking to moms at a pretty broad spectrum of programs: None of them are perfect, and they all drive us crazy in certain ways and at certain times. We don’t post about the negative stuff for a variety of reasons (not least that it might hurt our kids), but it’s there.
I reread my post, Perhaps I was a bit sensitive. I also use humor to deal with disappointments, and my comment wasn’t directed at the funnier comments here (those actually help this stressful process). I don’t like when people trash a school just because their child didn’t get in or they decided it wasn’t worthy of their child. With many of these programs only taking 8-12 kids the vast majority are going to be disappointed. I’ve told my child to go in, do her best, and have no expectations. We are going to these auditions to see if these schools feel she is right for their program, if not we are moving on to the next.
@IJKmom - I don’t think most people here make comments (negative or positive) without good intentions. Idk if you have spent time on other forums on this site- there are a LOT of negative people hanging out. We get some of that occasionally, but overall this is a very supportive group of people.
I totally appreciate the parents that continue to give advice and encouragement the following year(s) after their kids have entered college. It definately inspires me to help once I have stories to share.
I suppose since auditions are in full swing now, its time for me to ask this question. How are the dance calls at these colleges? Are some proving to be really difficult? Are some super easy? I’m asking because I did Pace this weekend and that was really REALLY difficult.
What was difficult about the pace dance call? @musicalkid98
@musicalkid98 My D auditioned for JMU this weekend and the dance call started with all and then they separated out for advanced dancers.I think that was a great way to do it. My D is a dancer so felt it was all appropriate for each group.
Regarding dance calls, it really does depend on the school as to difficulty, and sometimes whether or not the auditon is oncampus or at unifieds or an off campus site. Our son will graduate college this spring, so our info is dated, but at unifieds in NY 4 years ago, he did a dance call for Syracuse and Penn State. He found both to be fun and challenging, but Syracuse was more difficult. I have heard some terrific dancers mention that Otterbein’s dance call is fun, but the most challenging among their list. It might also depend on whether or not a student is auditioning for a dance track or concentration within a program. Am I correct that Pace has broadened their scope in dance offerings? Could this be the reason for the challenging Pace audition for dance? If possible, I would make use of the folks here, particularly current students of schools on your list. If you can private message some, I do believe most will try to shed some light on what you can expect. Otherwise, no school finds their students auditioning to be of the same strength in all categories. Use what you know well, prepare as best you can, and show confidence in that at the audition. It seems if you let your personality show and are willing to “put yourself out there,” it speaks volumes. Keep in mind that some are rather lengthy and some schools, especially off campus, might simply ask for really minimal movement. Most programs are looking for how they might develop a dancer beyond where they are today.
We were at Otterbein over the weekend - the MT kids reported the dance call was the most challenging yet (many had already auditioned BW and felt the dance call there was challenging but attainable). When my S auditioned 2 years ago, he felt Pace was the most challenging (and by far the longest).
Dance is not my son’s strong suit, but the only dance call so far where he has felt uncomfortable was Boston Conservatory, where they were asked to improvise in front of all the other dancers. He had no idea what to do, and felt like an idiot. The rest of the dance call, where you just learn a dance and then perform it, was fine. He’s done 5 dance calls so far, and apart from that one moment, he has enjoyed them all. He’ll have a bunch more at Unifieds this weekend.
A little advice for dance calls…my D gets dance training now from a woman who has significant experience both in dance in general and Broadway, tours etc. tons of stuff. My D loves her. That being said, my D has not had a lot of dance. It’s her least strongest thing. She has to really work at learning combos & so forth. I will tell you that her teacher has told her numerous times. " you may not be the strongest dancer in class and may never be, but… you have stage presence and your acting shows in your dancing and this is a good thing for MT". Her old tap teacher told her same thing. She used to say " I want to look at your feet to see your steps but I can’t help but watch your face" lol
So for those intimidated by the dance calls, show some personality. My D always comments that many of the very techy dancers she’s been around don’t show any emotion in the dancing and she always stands out when she’s with them because of using stage presence to her advantage …just a thought!
@destiny95 it was basically all foot work. very difficult foot work. Even some of the trained dancers seemed to struggle with it.
The pace dance is fun, just VERY difficult. They made it very clear that like at most auditions, dance can only help you so if you aren’t a strong dancer, don’t sweat it.
BREAK LEGS TO ALL AUDITIONING!!! Lots of auditions coming up, both on campus and Unifieds… Don’t forget walk ins!!!
One school just emailed me their schedule for the day for NY Unifieds Saturday Auditions and I signed up for the 1:30pm thinking that would be the audition time but their email says WARM UPS start at 1:30pm and auditions start at 3:10pm and I have another audition at that time…WHAT DO I DO I’M FREAKING OUT
@MTheatreKid Go ahead and call them and see if things can be moved. Most programs are very nice.