Dance auditions and decisions 2017/18

Great to hear that it feels like the right choice, @amom2girls ! My daughter is settling in and feeling good about her choice as well. She has ballet every day for about two hours, as well as pointe three days a week, jazz two days a week, and character two days a week. Freshman take a class called Elements of Music two days a week and a freshman seminar on Fridays. Aside from that, she’s taking a math class and a humanities class. She is busy! Like your daughter, she starts at 8am every day. She is making friends but also dealing with homesickness now and then, particularly when she’s overtired.

@mom2adancer, my daughter was a bit homesick on Sunday, but that was a free day and I think she was feeling a bit lost. I think our dancers are used to full schedules and have so much free time gave her a chance to finally miss home. I do hope it is a good fit, but maybe won’t know for certain until she has a semester done. She is definitely making friends, but that was never our worry. Too much socializing for her, lol!

Can’t wait to hear everyone’s updates!

@amom2girls Rutgers is one of the programs my daughter is interested in, and we have our visit scheduled for October. I’ll be looking forward to see your updates re: how your daughter likes the program!

@MomL98 Is she visiting or have her audition? I’m sure she will have her app in early if she decides to audition. My daughter had all apps in by December, but we had no idea at the time about Rutger’s Honors College. After she was admitted to the BFA she received a separate email regarding her invitation to the Honors College and it came with a very nice scholarship. Her roommate is also in the BFA in the dance program. I had not really researched the honors scholarships but apps had to be in by December (check that date!)

Please feel free to follow up with any questions. Yesterday was her first day, so not too much information yet.

D18 is really enjoying herself, despite her 8am classes every morning. A bit disappointed not to get cast in the fall (October) performance, but it does at least mean that for the moment she has a couple of hours free in the afternoon, before rehearsals start for the November showcase. Her apartment-style dorm is gorgeous, so it sounds like everyone wants to hang out there (her room mate is local and has been going home every weekend so she pretty much has the place to herself - only 3 of the 7 in the apartment were there over Labor Day weekend).

Its nice that the dancers are all from OOS so they are together all the time, unlike some of the in-state kids studying other subjects (who have their own friend groups from HS and seem to be keen on going home at weekends). It also looks like they will all be together for Thanksgiving, since she wants to stay for the big rivalry football game/season finale on the Saturday of the holiday weekend. Rush was Labor Day weekend, so she’s now also in a sorority to keep her even busier.

@amom2girls This is just a college visit. We’re going to be in New York for Dancewave so we’re taking a few extra days to visit some campuses in person. She will have to go back for auditions to her top schools. And yes, she’s got a list of schools and dates! It’s hectic trying to figure this all out when she has her heart set on the east coast and we live in the Midwest

@mom2adancer @Twoin18 Thanks for the posts and glad to hear your girls are loving their programs. Since my son decided to attend Stanford he has to be on top of dance training himself. Anyone has advice on winter and summer intensives for modern/contemporary for college students?

@SCMHAALUM your son is at an amazing school! The 2 intensives that I am familiar with in Philadelphia are Koresh and Ballet X, but they are each summer programs. My daughter’s roommate was at Hubbard Street and I am not certain if the NYU and Fordham programs go through college age. Good question!

@SCMHAALUM I don’t have any direct experience but a Google search turned up a few possibilities for winter:

https://www.lacontemporarydance.org/winter-intensive
http://www.ptamdinfo.org/school/intensives/winter-intensive/
https://www.complexionsacademy.com/dallas-winter-intensive
http://gagapeople.com/english/special-events/040workshops/gaga-intensive-winter-course-2018-in-los-angeles/

As for summer, I imagine there are many more opportunities!

As an aside, Stanford was my dream/reach school when I was 17 and applying to college. Alas, they turned me down. I hope your son is happy there!

@amom2girls my son attended Hubbard Street 2 weeks at USC in the summer and loved it. He is interested in the longer summer program in Chicago. He also had an amazing time with Jacob’s Pillow’s Gaga program this summer. I will pass on the info you provided. Thank you very much!

@mom2adancer Thank you so much for the recommendations!

Since you are in California, what about Lines? Do they have any winter programming? I know they have summer programs that other dancers rave about.

I was just going to recommend LINES. They usually host winter programs called Discovery Projects - I think it’s only 3 days or so.

If he is interested in modern, Paul Taylor has a Winter Intensive in NYC.

@SCMHAALUM check out American Dance Festival. They have a Winter Intensive in NYC and a Summer Intensive in NC.

My dd has attended the high-school summer intensive at ADF for the past two years and will most likely attend the college-level intensive this coming summer. It is outstanding. For the college-level program, you pick three core courses depending on your area of interest, and there are courses in technique, composition, and repertory.

A particular bonus of the summer program is that it is coupled with a huge international performance festival, and students can attend all of the performances at no additional cost. Over the past couple of years, she’s gotten to see Paul Taylor, Pilobolus, Ronald K. Brown, Stephen Petrino Company, Kate Weare, Shen Wei, Bill T. Jones and a ton of other companies.

http://americandancefestival.org

@amom2girls @Undercovermom1 Yes he loves Lines, went there last summer and winter. Thanks!

@Undercovermom1 @threegirlpileup Thanks for the recommendation in NYC! I will pass on the info.

My daughter attended Nycda Winter Intensive last year. It was held in nyc at Julliard. She loved it!!

Hello, Thank you to you and everyone for all of your posts as I am finding them helpful. I am interested in learning more about the Rutgers Program from the parent/student perspective. I saw that your daughter has an early ballet class each day. How many days a week does she have ballet at Rutgers and do they dance on Saturdays? My daughter would like to go to a college where they dance on Saturdays? I have such a list of questions…my mind is spinning with worry about finding a right fit for my daughter.

Do they get ballet on pointe at Rutgers? If so, about how often?

Do they have partnering or Pas de Deux?

Do they have male dancers?
Do freshman get to perform?

I know that Butler and Indiana University Bloomington would be the perfect fit for my daughter because they dance on Saturdays, have pointe, have Pas de Deux and have full length ballet performances. Those would be perfect but she needs to have a plan B if she does not get into them. Does anyone know of any other college programs that put on the Nutcracker each season? I believe that doing full length ballets would make her happy. I know Rutgers does not do full length ballets but I don’t believe I am going to find too many out there. I need to find other places that she may enjoy.

Thanks for any help.

@MorningGirl I can try to help answer questions about Rutgers.
Yes, ballet every morning
No classes on Saturday
Yes male dancers but not a lot
Yes freshman can perform
no to daily pointe

Honestly, if your daughter wants to pursue classical ballet then this is not the program for her. My daughter trained in classical from 6-15 at the Rock School and then switched to modern (though she continued with ballet and pointe for 5 days a week) She loves that Rutgers recognizes the importance of classical training but that is not why she is there. She will take pointe next semester as an elective and will try to do so every semester to keep up her skills.

There is a student showcase and a visiting choreographer staging a piece. Everyone was able to audition. She was picked for 14 students pieces, but is only able to dance in once piece due to scheduling issues. 5/40 freshman were chosen for the visiting choreographer’s piece. She is really enjoying it.

They have a super large freshman class. We were told they wanted a class of 20/25 and 40 dancers matriculated. Obviously a miscalculation, but they handled it by breaking up the ballet class in to levels, which worked well for my daughter.

She is one of 3 dancers in the Honors College which is comprised of 500 freshman from across the University. They live in the Honors College and not on the Mason/Gross campus. It came with a very large scholarship which made an OOS university affordable.

There is a winter intensive in NYC that she will audition for, which leads in to a spring piece. I don’t know details yet.

They have a full PT and pilates room. My daughter re injured her hip and all PT and any doctor’s appointments are handled through the dance department. If their injury or PT has them missing an academic class then they will liaise with that professor. As a parent, I really liked that they have their own PT. A lot of programs had someone part time or shared with athletic teams. Here the dancers are their only priority.

There are 2 study abroad programs for dance, Israel and London. They are also adding a program in Tuscany which will be a summer program.

Hope this helps. Ask any follow up questions.

I know this is late - but universit of Oklahoma, Mercyhurst, Pointe Park, Webster University,