<p>My son is interested in MT, but looking for school's with solid dance programs, as well. Aside from his theatre and voice activities, he takes 8 hours of ballet a week, plus partnering and has previously taken jazz and tap. Appreciate your thoughts!</p>
<p>Muhlenberg College has a really good and very well respected dance program for a student interested in MT. A current either jazz or tap teacher is from the OBC of A Chorus Line and I was told they get ABT members coming in every so often for the ballet there. Close to NYC too! (it's in Allentown, PA btw)</p>
<p>I understand that Otterbein has a really respectable dance department and they offer a dance emphasis on top of the MT program. Sometime ago there was someone on this thread whose son was an exceptional dancer and chose Otterbein for that very same reason. You may want to research the Otterbein thread as I can't recall the members name.</p>
<p>Then there is NYU. However, it is my understanding that student in their MT studio (CAP21) and any other acting studio for that matter, do not take class with the dance majors. Since the program is larger however, there are multiple level dance classes available (ballet, tap & jazz). May be someone who has a child actually attending could chime in on the actual curriculum. </p>
<p>My D, who also has quite a bit of dance training and who will be attending NYU in the fall, thinks she may supplement her schedule with some classes outside of school (as her workload allows and if needed).</p>
<p>Oklahoma City University has a very strong dance program. They have students from all states in their program. My D's freshman roommates were dance majors from Washington (state) and Minnesota. And MT students do take dance in the dance department and are placed based on their level of competency.</p>
<p>Thanks for these suggestions. He has come to dance late, so he won't necessarily be looking at highly competitive dance programs. He is quite good and has come a long way in a short time - his height (6'2") and his ability to leap beautifully is quite an advantage. He would prefer to be a bigger fish in the lesser known pond, BUT he wants a really good dance department and a school that also offers some good academics (B+, A- student). So keep the suggestions coming. Thanks again.</p>
<p>FYI, other strong MT programs with strong dance: Syracuse, Michigan, Penn State, Elon</p>
<p>MTgrlsmom, why does your D feel she will need to supplement the dance training at CAP21? In each year, just for that one "grade", there are four levels for ballet, four levels for jazz and four levels for tap. There are a number of very experienced and advanced dancers in the program. My D took 13 hours of dance per week in high school and was in selective dance repertory companies. Her friend in CAP from our region also did this....since they were tots. There are many kids like this in the program. If your D has a lot of dance training, and based on her placement "audition" she could be placed in the top level or next to the top level in each discipline. Unlike at some schools where that may be the highest level and she tops out freshman year, that is not so at CAP21. As i said, there are multiple levels per discipline PER YEAR. Also unlike some programs where they may study one or two dance disciplines per semester, at CAP21, the students are in three dance disciplines per semester and I think this totals six dance "sessions" per week (two for ballet, two for tap and two for jazz, for example). At CAP, advanced dancers are not held back by less experienced dancers as there are levels per year and again, there are quite a number of experienced dancers who enter every year who have danced their entire lives. </p>
<p>Also, in terms of one's schedule, particularly if cast in a show, it would be very difficult to add outside dance classes at a studio in the city. I know my D's schedule would not easily allow for that. She has constantly been in a show (except freshman year....although even back then had to crew shows and also was a pianist for a musical) and for instance, she got home at 11:30 PM today after being at school since 9:30 AM (studio all day, rehearsals all night). This is a typical day for her. She also has rehearsals on Sat. and Sun. for 8 hours per day. Just trying to give you a realistic picture, with regard to your post about CAP21.</p>
<p>I forgot to mention that the required dance curriculum in CAP21 includes besides ballet, jazz, and tap.....modern, hip hop, theater dance and song/dance.</p>
<p>Highly recommend Elon. MT students can dance with dance majors, and are allowed to dance at their level and progress at their own pace. There are currently 6 levels of ballet, 6 levels of modern, 4 levels of jazz, three levels of rhythm tap, also show tap, yoga, dance for the musical stage (four levels required of all MT students), dance improvisation, choreography, fall and spring dance ensembles (by audition, but MT kids who are strong dancers can be chosen), men's dance (ballet), world dances such as African, etc. STRONG faculty!! My daughter took four dance classes fall semester and will take four again this semester, along with all her other classes.</p>
<p>Elon sounds like it has an extensive dance program. Great to know that it is available to MT majors as well.</p>
<p>I would look up Ball State, Florida State University, and Unvi. of Arizona. Those three in particular are not only good Musical Theatre schools, but I have three seperate friends in there specific dance programs doing great!</p>
<p>SUNY Buffalo has a Musical Theatre program and a very strong Dance program... I am not sure if the Musical Theatre students can take classes with the dance majors or not. </p>
<p>I teach in the Musical Theatre Concentration at James Madison University. Here students can take dance classes with dance majors. </p>
<p>Kardan -- I am about to respond to your PM as well! :)</p>
<p>soozievt - thanks for your input (which is kind of what I had hoped for would happen when I suggested that 'maybe a current parent could chime in'). </p>
<p>My D is aware of the different levels of dance being offered at NYU/CAP21 (as per my post), but she did not know if there were 4 levels per discipline in total or per grade; thanks for clarifying that. Sounds like another reason to get even more excited (if that is possible :)). Taking class outside of school was just a thought. Being in NYC the possibilities are rather obvious. I understand that the heavy schedule these kids are about to embark on may not allow for much "outside exploring" however, and so it is great if a college actually provides multiple level classes. D was very impressed with Elon in this regard as well.</p>
<p>MTgrlsmom....yes, there are many levels of each dance discipline PER GRADE in Tisch/CAP21. For instance, all the freshmen are put into four levels of ballet, four of jazz and four of tap and only freshmen are in those classes. In soph year, there are four new levels for each discipline. So, unlike at some schools, if you are very advanced as a freshman, you are not in like the top ballet class as a freshman and then top out with no where left to go. There are many levels for each year of school. Those in the top levels in every grade/year tend to be those with very strong dance backgrounds before entering. So, your D will have an entire group like herself every year. This was important to my D as well, having been a lifelong dancer in each of the dance disciplines. She wanted a program that had many dance levels and not where all freshmen are grouped in the same dance class regardless of background. Back when my D auditioned for NYU, there was an optional dance audition for admission but only experienced/advanced dancers could do that audition and she did. I recall her saying that those who auditioned that day were very strong dancers. I know her friend/roomie at CAP whom she has known for years through theater here in our state, is also an advanced dancer. I know several in her class who have extensive dance backgrounds. One is even out on tour right now with West Side Story in Europe. I really think your D will find SOME students in her class in her dance "element" at CAP21. Also, CAP is balanced between acting, voice and dance. Some programs have just one dance class or discipline per semester. Your D will be in three dance disciplines each semester and in six dance sessions per week.</p>
<p>There is a chance that since your D will not be in a show freshman year, that she could take classes on the weekend at a dance studio. If she is in shows, however, they usually involve weekend rehearsals.</p>
<p>soozievt - thanks for all this information! </p>
<p>Since dance was really important to my D, most schools she applied to had great dance programs, but not all of them offered such a broad array of classes. </p>
<p>Would I be correct in concluding that since Tisch's CAP21 program is larger than most, it can accommodate more multiple levels of training, and that the availibility of a larger faculty allows for more classes or would you say that this is just an integral part of the program's philosophy?</p>
<p>I'm not sure how to directly answer your question. CAP21 likely does have more DANCE levels, yes, than most BFAs because there are many levels per year/grade in each discipline. That is not true in voice or acting. In every grade/year in CAP21, there are sections for acting, voice, etc. but these are NOT leveled. Music Theory is leveled, however. Same with dance. They create "sections" of about 16 students per class. You take all your singing, acting and voice/speech classes with your same section for the entire year. Again, these are not leveled. Everyone is in the same year and the groups are made up by faculty to have a mix and are not by level. Your sections are mixed up for dance and music theory because you are placed by level in those and so do not remain with your regular 'section'. So, there are no levels for singing and acting and related classes. Not sure if that answers your question. </p>
<p>As far as the larger faculty, what that DOES allow is that you get exposure and instruction from a variety of faculty over the four years and not the same few teachers class after class, year after year. I think there are some advantages to that as you learn different things from different people. Let me add that your private voice teacher can remain for all four years and no change there (unless you request a change). Also, while the class size in a classroom doesn't go over about 16, which is similar to many smaller BFA programs in terms of the classroom experience itself.....you do get to work with a variety of other students and not the same few for four years and so there are some nice aspects to that too. (ie, your freshman "section" will not be the same as your soph "section" or your junior "section" in CAP) Add in that if you are in a show that is not a CAP21 studio productino, as is the case with my D for five shows this year, you get to work with actors from many other studios, as well as directors, etc.</p>
<p>Soozievt - I remember that in the past there have been people who read these posts are concerned about the class sizes at Tisch, and the possible "lack of personal attention". In fact my D talked about this with some friends who graduated from Tisch and their experiences, and so she knows that the classes are actually relatively small in size. </p>
<p>You replies make totally sense to me, although all this should probably be under NYU Tisch at this point :).</p>
<p>Some programs that I am personally aware of that have great dance training that is actually available to MT majors are (in no order) FSU, Elon, CCM, OCU, Michigan, U of Arts - I am sure there are others - these are just some suggestions that spring to mind. Be careful, wherever you look, to ascertain that dance classes are open to MT majors - several schools have great dance programs that have only limited offerings available to MT majors.</p>
<p>Indiana University Musical Theatre majors also have some great dance choices. They take ballet class with those in the ballet department. The IU ballet department is fabulous and if you are an advanced dancer, they will place in your appropriate level. You can also take contemporary dance, jazz and tap with the students who are majoring in contemporary dance. There is also a dance class just for the MT majors. If a student wants to keep dancing at an advanced level, it appears that IU can offer the opportunity to do so.</p>
<p>Kardan, I'm the person MTgrlsmom mentioned. My son ( a sophomore at Otterbein) comes from the competition dance circuit but he has been studying ballet since he was 4. He chose Otterbein because of it's VERY strong dance program. Otterbein, being a smaller school, offers 4 levels of dance per subject. The intermediate, intermediate/advanced and advanced classes are held at the same time each day. At the beginning of each quarter the kids audition for placement in each subject. It's quite possible to be in advanced ballet, intermeduate tap and jazz, and intermediate/advanced for modern for instance. As far as I am aware Otterbein is the only school to offer a BFA in Musical Theater with an emphasis on Dance (MTD program for short). There are no dance majors at Otterbein, only MTD's and dance minors.
At Otterbein the MTD kids and the dance minors dance every day for 1 1/2 or 2 hours per day depending on the day. They take 2 ballet, 1 jazz, 1 modern and either a tap or musical theater styles class each quarter. In the Winter quarter they do a dance show. Last year my son was able to do the show and I have to say it was the best college dance show I've seen (I'm sure there are other college dance shows as good or better but I just haven't personally seen any). This year the theme for the dance show is "Hollywood Movie Musicals" and, as well as dancing in quite a few numbers, he is also dance captain for some others and he even got to do the fight choreography for the West Side Story Prelude. He's exhausted but very excited.
I would suggest that you go and see some of the dance shows at the colleges your son might be interested in. When my son saw the opening tap number from Otterbein's production of "42nd Street" right after he was accepted he turned to me and said, "I'm so glad I'm coming to this school." That pretty much says it all. If you have any more questions about Otterbein feel free to send me a PM.</p>