<p>janemacjanemac, Ballet Talk for Dancers (<a href="http://dancers.invisionzone.com/index.php%5B/url%5D">http://dancers.invisionzone.com/index.php</a>) is an excellent source of information for all things related to ballet and ballet education. In fact, there is a particular forum dedicated to the discussion of higher education and dance training. Within that forum are threads dedicated to each college or university program with a dance major or minor. The posts are by people who have questions and those who have first-hand experience with the programs. In addition, there are discussions about colleges/universities that have ballet training in the vicinity of the schools, but not necessarily on campus.</p>
<p>In general, it is very important to know what it is you expect to get out of a dance major or minor. My older daughter is a very serious pre-professional ballet student with very high academic abilities who aspires to a professional dance career. So, this subject has been near and dear to my heart for many, many years. It would take way too long a post for me to go into all the various issues that you need to consider if you intend to strive for a professional career as a ballet dancer. But, reviewing the threads on Ballet Talk for Dancer will certainly give you some food for thought as well as a place to start in terms of which schools to look into.</p>
<p>In short, the conventional wisdom lists Butler, Indiana University, Texas Christian University, Utah, and Southern Methodist University as the 'Fab Five' for ballet. However, University of Arizona and Florida State seem to have increased the reputation of their ballet departments in the last few years. In actuality, what makes a school get listed as a 'top' school can be debated. For my purposes, it would be whether the majority of their graduates received professional contracts at or before graduation. If that is the overriding criteria, my personal opinion is that IU is the only one that meets that criteria.</p>
<p>But, IU is a very small, exclusive program. I think (not positive) that there are only around 40 students total (freshmen through senior) admitted to the program. Butler has a much larger student body, closer to 100. It, too, is difficult to get into, but not impossible. IU's admitted students often already have offers of company trainee or apprenticeships that they are weighing along with their IU admission. I don't have as much information on the other schools.</p>
<p>I think, too, you will find that the vast majority of dance programs at colleges/university are more modern-based. The concept of modern actually dove-tails better with the philosophy of what a liberal arts college/university was originally set up to do. Therefore, one school of thought is that to train for a professional ballet career one might be better off spending those finishing years at a 'vocational training ground', i.e., an intensive post-grad ballet school---for example, Washington School of Ballet, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, North Carolina Dance Theatre, etc. Certainly, those training fees are significantly less than college tuition. </p>
<p>In the end, the college dance graduate will still be competing for the same entry level jobs (extremely poor paying, mind you) that the 18, 19, 20 years old post-grads are auditioning for. For a professional ballet dancer, time is of the essence. There are only so many years a body can dance at that level. Thank heavens, one's mind can last so much longer! </p>
<p>Currently, there are very few job opportunities opening up in the ballet companies. Most of the entry level 'jobs' pay next to nothing, if anything. Parental finanacial support is absolutely a must! </p>
<p>The ability to double major at many of the top ballet college programs is questionable. Think about the number of hours in a day is required for a student to get the minimum ballet technique class (1 1/2hr), pointe (1 hr), pas de deux, variations, adjunct dance classes (modern, jazz, tap, character), other dance department requirements (dance history, costuming, etc), rehearsal hours, performance hours, AND get in the required university core courses. Science classes typically have an additional 2-3 hour lab section added to them. At Butler, double majoring is not really very feasible. At IU, they say most students do, but I'm not sure how that really works.</p>
<p>IU is a conservatory-style program. Butler is not. </p>
<p>Another concern for my daughter is when she looked at the actual courses and dance hours at various college programs were probably insufficient to maintain a company-ready level of training. So, there really are a lot of issues to be considered if you are really serious about having a shot at a professional ballet career.</p>