<p>My D was accepted to CD at Pace, and when we were at her audition speaking to some of the other students, it was understood that most of them had auditioned for MT and were offered CD as an alternative. My questions are as follows:</p>
<p>Would you know how much emphasis on Theater/Acting and Voice the Commercial Dance major involves?</p>
<p>My d’s strength is her dancing, but she also has a great voice and acting skills as well. I don’t want to see her fall through the cracks so to speak, as she wants to be an all round MT person, not solely a dancer. </p>
<p>She was waitlisted to another of her choice schools and she was offered their theater program as an alternative (as well as their dance…) I am wondering if she should consider that.</p>
<p>She is going to continue with her home vocal coach and he has a coach for her in NYC, and also wants her to get an agent and start auditioning once she is up there. </p>
<p>At this point, while she is pretty settled on Pace, she is pretty adamant she does not want to get tagged as a dancer only.but as she has had 14 years of dance training and has competed for most of that, it is hard to hide her ability, so thats what seems they have keyed in on at her auditions. She wants to know she has opportunities to act and sing and audition for the plays and musicals too… .so I would love some feedback on this so that she can make her decision.</p>
<p>Hi there! My name is Brittany and I am Rhonda Miller’s, head of Commercial Dance, assistant. I will do the best I can to give you the most detailed answer I can!</p>
<p>You are required to take Acting 1 your first semester at Pace. Most will end up taking Acting 2 as an elective and will continue on with their first semester class. Whatever acting classes you want to take at this point must be used as electives. I know I plan to use most of my electives to take care of my requirements for my minor and to take acting classes. The class I am currently in (that I have been in since first semester) is taught by the head of the BFA Acting program and is filled with kids from every theatre program within the PA department (BFA acting, BFA Musical theatre, BA Commercial Dance, BA Acting, BA Directing). It’s been an amazing experience. </p>
<p>Currently, there are no voice lessons offered for Commercial Dance majors at Pace; however, the professors at Pace have arranged private voice lessons with several outside voice teachers for an extremely discounted price. My voice teacher is one of the most amazing teachers I have ever had. He is currently the vocal coach for several different Broadway professionals and travels to London in order to train their stars in the West End. </p>
<p>I totally understand wanting to be as well rounded as possible. That was my goal for myself and when I chose what college I wanted to attend, I chose this program because I believed it could make be to most marketable and the most well rounded. You have the opportunity to audition for every musical and play put on by the school and with permission, can audition for profession productions. Including student directed productions, there are about 50 productions a year put on at Pace. There are always an opportunity to perform. There is always an opportunity to be involved. </p>
<p>This Commercial Dance program allows you to become the best performer you can be. You are being trained by Broadway professionals - my ballet teacher first semester and now my theatre dance teacher, is currently in Chicago on Broadway (her credits are unbelievable). Another teacher is a Radio City Rockette. These teachers are more than just dancers, they are performers. They have been able to use their dance training to pursue a successful career performing in all different outlets. </p>
<p>I am SO happy you are considering Pace. Choosing to come to school here has been unbelievable. Please let me know if I can help you with anymore information! :)</p>
<p>Brittany, thanks so much for getting back to me!<br>
She is definitely attending Pace…we discussed it, and she was happiest there out of the other places she had visited. We will just get her set up with outside lessons for acting and vocal. Her coach down here also wants her to get an agent there so she can audition outside of school as well, with permission of course.
I think she was most worried about not being considered or being able to audition for the school productions if she wasnt a MT major; I seem to recall during the Q and A someone suggesting that they try to leave those productions for the MT and Acting majors so they can have experience. I know she would be disappointed if she could not audition or take part in any school productions beyond a dance capacity; that is her biggest worry.</p>
<p>My daughter and I have been researching dance colleges on line. We are interested in more information on the new commercial dance program at Pace University. We are in Wichita, Ks. My daughter has studied all forms of dance now for 14yrs. She actually met Rhonda Miller twice when she came to Kansas Dance Academy to offer master classes. My daughter would be entering college fall of 2013. We will be in NYC in July, as she is attending the Rockette Summer Intensive for the 2nd yr and would love to visit the university, but in the meantime, can anyone send us some info specific to the program? Thanks.</p>
<p>Hi there! If you private message me, I can email you information that I have and also answer any questions you have! </p>
<p>Also, check out our website - I think it does an amazing job of explaining the program.
[BA</a> Theater Arts - Commercial Dance | DYSON COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES | Pace University](<a href=“http://www.pace.edu/dyson/academic-departments-and-programs/performing-arts/ba-theater-arts-commercial-dance]BA”>http://www.pace.edu/dyson/academic-departments-and-programs/performing-arts/ba-theater-arts-commercial-dance)</p>