<p>Hello! I'm entering my junior year in HS, and planning to go to school for either an MT bfa or a theatre bfa. Both my voice and acting are very strong, but I have almost zero dance training. I have danced in shows and have been taking a "basic movement" dance class for about a month, but unfortunately the instructor is moving back to NY at the end of august. How crucial is dance for the mt auditions? what types of dance are they especially looking at? Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated!</p>
<p>my "reach" schools (for mt) are BoCo , CMU, NYU and Shenandoah. If anyone has auditioned for any of these schools and knows about their dance auditions, I would LOVE to hear about it!</p>
<p>Dance is important in many of the BFA college admissions (though a few schools do not include dance in the auditions) and it is important for anyone who wants to go into MT to be skilled at voice, dance, and acting. However, dance is not the most important aspect to BFA in MT admissions. But it is a disadvantage to have zero training in dance since admissions is SOOOO competitive. It is not necessary to be highly skilled in dance (though it certainly is a plus), but some basic skills in technique would help. Also, by training in dance, you get used to learning how to pick up a combination on the spot and that is what you’ll have to do at the audition for the BFA and so it helpful to be used to working that way. Also, think beyond college admissions…if you want to go into MT, you should learn dance technique anyway. </p>
<p>My suggestion is if you can only take ONE dance class…sign up for ballet which is the basic technique behind most other dance forms. If possible, take ballet and jazz. Many college auditions involve jazz combinations and some also have ballet combinations. But ballet technique will help you even with the jazz. You have a year and a half to attain enough basic skills that will at least enable you to do the dance auditions, even if you are not an advanced dancer, which can be OK if your voice and acting are very strong.</p>
<p>PS…I don’t know how many BFA in MT schools you hope to apply to but four is really too little if you really want a BFA. Also, CMU, NYU. and BOCO are three of the tippy top schools and are very difficult to get into (for anyone) and so you should balance those out with some other programs that are not the hardest ones to get into. Shenandoah is one of the “easier” (but NOT easy) ones to get into and so that helps with the balance a little bit.</p>
<p>I didn’t audition for Boco, but this year at Unifieds I remember people talking about their dance audition being a fairly advanced ballet combination. So I would emphasize what soozie said- definitely get in as much ballet training as possible.</p>
<p>I’d also like to add that I’ve been dancing my whole life and consider it to be the thing that really makes me stand out, more so than my singing and acting, and of course it was a huge advantage for me in my audition season, but there were auditions where it didn’t make a difference at all- one specific school had a dance audition whose choreography was not about technique at all and completely about personality. So always remember that in many cases, an untrained dancer who can sell it totally outshines a trained dancer with no personality.</p>
<p>NYU was a pretty hard core audition. A difficult ballet number (it would be worth your while to learn the real French terms for everything), an improved solo, and the original dance from the “A Chorus Line” movie, all in about an hour. But it’s not all about how well you dance, but how well you handle the audition. Even if you don’t get it perfectly- emote! Make them watch your face by ACTING and maybe they won’t look at your imperfect feet. And always keep a great attitude- that’s my strategy in any dance audition!</p>
<p>Does anyone know which schools (at least historically) have a dance component at Unifieds? I heard from the rep that Otterbein does do some dance at Unifieds…others that do (or don’t)? If a school does not do a dance component at Unifieds, is it a good thing to provide a DVD of an auditionee dancing, or would they even look at these?</p>
<p>mommafrog - My D was at LA Unifieds this year and the ones that had dance calls were Hartt, CCM, BOCO, CMU U of Miami, Point Park. Those are the ones I remember that either she or others she knew auditioned for their that had to dance. NYU was not at Unifieds LA, but was the week after in LA and the dance was about an hour or so.</p>
<p>When my daughter auditioned at Unifieds in Chicago (not last year but the year before) it wasn’t just IF they had a dance audition, but weather it was one that needed a prepared number or a class style setting. Once you decide which schools you are interested in, you might want to check their websites for specifics. If you do not see it spelled out (as it usually is) I would call them directly and ask. There is nothing wrong with asking where the information is not provided. Keep in mind that what a school did last year or the year before is not necessarily what they will do next year.</p>
<p>I did five or six schools at Unifieds- out of my auditions the ones that had a dance component were CCM, Otterbein, and Hartt.
Hartt was one where it was definitely more about making the funky choreography your own and selling it, rather than doing it technically perfectly.
CCM was really nice- a jazz combination that was not too easy, not too hard. What I remember most about that audition was that they kept saying “Dance ABOUT something.” So they wanted to see acting with your dancing, which I’m sure is something that really separates the best of the best from the best.
Otterbein was my favorite- it was just one on one with Stella Kane and she didn’t demonstrate but just gave a ballet combination verbally. It was fun, like she would say “tombe pas de bouree, glissade, etc” and I’d do it, and she would correct me and work with me along the way. It was by far the most fun I had in an audition all season (and it’s where I’ll be going in the fall, for MT w/ Dance concentration! so excited :))
Also, I’ll mention that I auditioned for Viterbo at unifieds, and in the audition requirements they asked that you choreograph a piece yourself for the audition, so I prepared one, but then they ended up not even asking to see it. ha, so i guess be prepared for something like that, too.</p>
<p>Marisa Rose, I know you posted a few days ago, but as you’re the OP, hopefully you’re still reading this thread. As the parent of a D who has a lot in common with you in terms of strong acting/singing yet little dance experience, I feel compelled to address your question. D just completed her college auditions this past year, and I have lurked on this very helpful CC forum for a good nine months now yet this is my first post. Non-dancer daughter (literally no formal dance training) auditioned for 11 MT, 1 straight-acting program (11 BFA, one BA)…she was accepted into 6 of the 12 programs…of the 6 acceptances, 4 did not have a dance audition. Of her 6 rejections, 5 did have a dance audition. My gut feel, and she agrees for the most part, is that as much of a “crapshoot” (in the words of another well-respected poster on this forum) that this whole audition process is, there definitely were some rejections that were no doubt encouraged by D’s either literal poor dance audition or her lack of dance experience/training as indicated on her resume. As has been mentioned numerous times before on the MT forum, one does not get feedback with rejections so unless you out-and-out bombed your 3-5 minutes in front of the auditors, you’re left with only guesswork and the realization that getting into some of the programs is truly like winning the lottery. My D was fortunate enough to have 6 excellent programs from which to chose by the time April rolled around, and she knows going forward she will have to work incredibly hard in the next four years of her MT BFA program’s dance classes if she aspires to be more than just a "good mover. " Given that you have over another year before you audition, I would encourage you to do any dance classes you can find, especially ballet…as soozievt says it will benefit you the most. Of the “reach” schools you mentioned, interestingly enough, D found NYU’s (Chicago Unifieds–offsite at the Allegro Hotel) to be by far the most fun and relaxed dance audition and she later was accepted to Tisch’s New Studio on Broadway MT program, although she’s going to Ithaca for MT. If you have more specific questions I’d be happy to try to answer them based on D’s recent experience.</p>
<p>Penn State also had a dance audition at the LA Unifieds this year.</p>
<p>But definitely don’t let that stop you from auditioning for any school. Many of the schools just want to see your stage presence and how you can take directions- not that you are a technically great dancer. If you can, brush up on your dance as much as you can between now and auditions- just knowing the terms will help a huge amount. Do the best you can and then get up there with confidence (even if you don’t feel it) and a HUGE smile!</p>