<p>I have never had formal dance training. I've been in shows where I could memorize and carry out simple choreography, but that's generally the extent of my (lack of) dance prowess.</p>
<p>My question is as a sophomore in HS, is it too late to take lessons to help me with my desired MT career? If not, what classes should I take? There's a teen beginner ballet class and an adult (which is actually just high school age and up) tap class in a city near mine that I'm interested in. What worries me the most is how the majority of the schools I'm looking at require dancing in their audition process, and I have zero confidence in that area.</p>
<p>UMich's requirements are particularly intimidating. A 30 second clip of me dancing/moving before I'm even considered for auditions? That is terrifying.</p>
<p>It is not too late to start taking dance. Since you will need to dance for your auditions and it is a useful skill for performers to have when the are working professionally, you are better off taking dance now if you can than not taking it at all.</p>
<p>Ballet and tap are great courses to take. Ballet is terrific for strength, vocabulary, and technique/ Tap is a musical theatre style. Great class to take. </p>
<p>Jazz is also a terrific class to take, because much of musical theatre dance is based off of jazz steps ans technique.</p>
<p>Stressing about your weaknesses will not help you. Identify areas for growth, and expand your skills to the best of your ability within the time you have. You have nothing to loose. :)</p>
<p>I would start now. My daughter has been dancing for years so the dance element was easy for her and no stress. Call your local dance studio and see if you can take private lessons, it is the fastest way to learn when you are older. Then also join an adult beginner class, if that is not available, then join an intermediate teen class, just don’t worry if you are younger then the other students. All that matters is that you progress at your own pace.</p>
<p>Ah, thank you both! My parents have limited funds, so I must ask- should I consider jazz or ballet? Right now we don’t have the money to add both. Tap, I’m assuming, is a must. While I’m definitely not expecting to be an expert dancer anytime soon, I would like to know which would help me prepare more in the long run, especially considering that I’m by nature uncoordinated and graceless, haha. :p</p>
<p>My DD is a dance major so I have been around the dance world for years. Ballet is the basis of all dance but with that said, I would say that I would pick jazz as a class that is more universal in terms of translating to the musical theatre world. With tap, it is harder to pick up and not as many shows have tap. If I were you and focusing on learning movement I would stick with jazz. If you look into programs in your area are there any theatre-based programs that have movement classes? That way you are getting the training the in the specific area you should.</p>
<p>My D was in your position-no formal dance training by high school. She began taking ballet and some jazz as a junior. Tap is definitely not a “must”. It is not called for in college MT auditons. In our experience, most dance auditions started with ballet warm ups at the barre, then jazzy combo’s. It was really helpful to know both vocabularies and have seem most of the moves before. 3 of my D’s programs required pre-choreographed 1-2 minute dance sequences, and she was admitted to all 3 programs. So don’t stress-just get working!</p>
<p>I agree with those that are saying ballet is the necessary dance. My daughter has danced all of her life and ballet is the starting point for all dance. Several of the schools she auditioned to called out terminology and asked her to perform the combination. If you are not familiar with the terminology, that would be impossible.</p>
<p>SopraNOPE- maybe you can negotiate the price down at a local dance studio after explaining your predicament or perhaps you have a friend who is willing to teach you ballet. Or maybe the dance studio can suggest someone to you. All you can do is ask! Or you can look into a school community class. I know what it’s like to have limited funds to spend. You can also do some Internet research to learn the proper terminology. Good luck!</p>
<p>My daughter is a dancer and she once went to an audition where they didn’t show the dance, they called out the terms and you had to perform them. It was a way to weed out those who were not trained dancers.</p>
<p>As a mom of 2 strong dancers, I agree that ballet is the basis for all dance. But if you have limited funds I would take jazz first and then ballet. Jazz will be closer to basic musical theatre type dance. But if you can afford both, take ballet and jazz. Tap can be taken in college once you get into a program. The more times you can take it per week, the faster you will advance. Good Luck.</p>
<p>This has been very helpful, thanks so much! I actually do have a cousin who’s offered to teach me tap- so we have that covered (ok, so tap may not be necessary- but it just looks like so much fun!) A new dance studio opened up recently and we’re considering asking about private ballet now. Thank you all! :)</p>
<p>I agree on the ballet. My D has taken dance classes since elementary school - but hated ballet, and despite everyone telling her not to drop ballet - she did anyway throughout middle school, and freshman year of high school. (She has consistently stayed in Tap, and semi-consistently in Jazz since elementary school) She finally started back up with ballet last year (her sophomore year). Now she’s taking 2 classes a week - total of 3.5 hours of ballet (on top of jazz and tap) and every day she says to me “Why did you let me quit ballet?” She’s joking - she knows I couldn’t have made her go… but it is her biggest regret - that she didn’t listen to all of the adults in her life who told her how important it was. I will say that I have seen her dance technique improve CONSIDERABLY since she resumed ballet. She doesn’t think far enough yet - but I do feel like she will be ready for auditions next year. (She’s just finishing her Junior year now.)</p>
<p>I’m going to echo the recommendation for both ballet and jazz. The thing about ballet is that it will teach you “form.” So later, even I you’re not picking up choreography quickly, you will at least LOOK like you know what you’re doing. It also gives you strength, which also helps with form.</p>
<p>That said, a good jazz class is a lot of fun and will help you learn to pick up choreography more quickly which is an invaluable audition skill. Since you do need both, I would also look into your local community college as their classes are MUCH cheaper than any dance studio, and as a high school student they may even be free.</p>
<p>Our coach also suggested taking Zumba classes to practice picking up routines quickly. You can often find those classes at community centers etc and they are often less expensive or available on a drop-in basis.</p>
<p>My kids came to MT by way of dance and I agree with most of what has been said:</p>
<p>BALLET should be your first choice, JAZZ your second choice, and it’s perfect to have your cousin teach you TAP. </p>
<p>I agree, Zumba is great for learning to learn combinations. Consider Yoga to increase flexibility, balance and coordination. </p>
<p>Check out all your community resources for class options - look for classes that are not connected to a year end dance recital. Let them know you just want to take class. Start ASAP - look now for summer classes and camps/intensives - don’t wait until fall to start. Find and sign up for Fall classes before school is out for the summer.</p>
<p>I do NOT agree that you should spend your money on PRIVATE lessons. Privates are much more expensive than classes and will not give you as much bang for your buck as a beginning dancer. In our area, you could take a ballet class AND a jazz class weekly for a month for the price of a single one hour private lesson! With or without private lessons (if you can find very cheap/free) you should still take dance class. </p>
<p>There are many benefits to dance class, especially for beginner and intermediate dancers:<br>
You will learn slow and steady from the structure and repetition in a group class. There will be others that you can watch when you are having trouble learning and/or remembering steps. Group classes are more fun and less intimidating than privates because the focus is not all on you - sometimes all the attention is too much attention when you are learning. You will learn to make adjustments based on the corrections the teacher gives to others as well as the ones she gives to you. And, perhaps most important, you will learn how to take class - that is, the structure of taking a dance class (warm up, center, across the floor, choreography combinations, etc) and this is how most college dance calls are done - it may be all or part of this, but by the time you are doing auditions, it will be a familiar process. And this is how you will be learning dance in college.</p>
<p>That said, you may want to have a couple private lessons/choreography sessions early in your senior year when you are preparing your prescreen videos.</p>
<p>My D was much in the same shoes as you. She had started a few dance classes, but always had to drop due to conflicts with theater. We also did not want to spend a lot of money as she was already taking voice. Fortunately, she does pick up dance quickly, but she knew she needed more training. In high school, she decided to try out for our high school dance team, which was fairly competitive. They taught the routine the 1st day and she was totally lost. She filmed it, and came home and worked on it all night, and somehow made the team. While she was definitely not showcased, she learned a lot over 2 years on the team. She also found that our local community college offered many dance classes over the summer, all of which were free for high school students (in California at least). She spent 2 summers taking as many dance classes as she could fit in. While she was not a seasoned dancer when college auditions arrived, she knew the terminology and was able to follow directions. She was told by one of her teachers that if you get up there with a smile on your face and look like you are having fun, you can get away with a lot of mistakes. It must work as she was accepted to almost everywhere she auditioned, including some programs that had fairly tough dance auditions. She even fell during one audition, but jumped back up and kept going- she got into the program. I think auditors are often looking for potential, rather than expertise. You still have plenty of time to get enough training for auditions. I think others have also suggested community park and rec programs and I know that is another inexpensive resource around here. Good luck!</p>