<p>Hey!</p>
<p>So I'm going to be an incoming senior and starting college auditions soon! I've had around 2-2 1/2 years of dance training, and consider myself an Intermediate/Advanced dancer. I've picked it up quickly, but still don't have the strength and flexibility that dancers with 13 years have. This year I auditioned for Dance at school and was placed in an Intermediate class because I can't afford lessons outside of school anymore. Is this ok? How hard were some of the college's dance auditions that you/or your child auditioned for?</p>
<p>I can’t comment on the difficulty of dance auditions (because I haven’t been through the college audition circuit yet), but I can say that like you, I’ve only had a few years of dance training. I was a recreational gymnast for about 6 years until I was 11, but even with that, I found it hard to get back into the groove of flexibility and strength that I had had. What I did was to ask my teachers and other dancers around me for things I could do for conditioning to try to get back to where I wanted to be. Of course, you have to be careful with what you’re doing, as to not hurt yourself (so ask your dance teacher at school for suggestions as to conditioning circuits you could do?), but it really helps. I try to do my conditioning exercises at least a few times a week, and since I’ve been doing them, I’ve seen a marked improvement in my dancing.
Just something to consider. After all, practice makes perfect!</p>
<p>What schools are you looking at auditioning for? The intensity in audition varies greatly from school to school, and not necessarily based on the quality of the dance program at the school. For example, the easiest dance audition I had by FAR was at Point Park, and they have a phenomenal dance program. Each program likes to see different things, so if you could give as an idea of some schools specifically people could easily chime in with their experience.</p>
<p>I’d also look at these threads that have similar questions answered:</p>
<p>-<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/924055-mt-schools-no-easy-dance-auditions.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/924055-mt-schools-no-easy-dance-auditions.html</a>
-<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/843800-schools-without-dance-auditions.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/843800-schools-without-dance-auditions.html</a>
-<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/943674-dance-mt-auditions.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/943674-dance-mt-auditions.html</a>
-<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/773279-dance-routine-unifieds.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/773279-dance-routine-unifieds.html</a></p>
<p>The more practice and classes you can take, the better. Basic ballet technique will help you in all elements of dance, so I’d say ballet would be the number one class to take if you had only one choice. If you cannot afford to take dance outside of school, then taking dance inside school is your best option and you are smart to be taking full advantage of it being offered to you.</p>
<p>There will be many dancers who have taken dance throughout their whole life .It will be harder in the more competitive schools . At Harvard ,many of the dancers are good enough to be professional dancers . Just be realistic in what you are looking for !</p>
<p>My D said her most difficult dance auditions were Penn State and Elon.</p>
<p>My s did not dance a step until he was almost 16 years old. He had no private/studio instruction until his Jr. and Sr. years of HS. He did have some dance at his performing arts HS and 2 summer sessions of Broadway Theatre Project, but certainly was not one that had been dancing since he was 5. When he did have an opportunity to learn, he “dug in” and absorbed as much as he could. His college dance auditions were stringent, but he loved the challenge.</p>
<p>I will agree that ballet is the foundation of all dance and most if not all MT BFA programs have many levels of ballet in the curriculum. Good Luck all :)</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about it…I’m going to be a senior as well, and I’ve had only a few classes of dance training! From what I’ve heard, the key to MT dance auditions is confidence, stage presence, knowing basic terms and technique, and keeping up with what they are teaching you during the routine. Sure, there are plenty of kids who are successful in their auditions because they have been dancing since they were 4, but I’ve heard of many others being accepted with literally no formal dance training. It all depends on the college and what they are looking for, but the best thing you can do is go into the dance call focused and confident, because they are looking for POTENTIAL :)</p>
<p>I’d just like to say that you should always remember that colleges want to see YOU and who YOU are as a performer… If you’re not someone who’s been dancing since age 5, then you’re not someone who’s been dancing since age 5-- you’re someone else, someone totally unique. A BFA class is a mix of people, some dancers and some not.
Taking dance classes can, of course, only help you and make you stand out that much more, but if they see on your resume that you haven’t been dancing all your life, then all they’re looking for is potential and personality, not perfection.</p>