<p>Hey everyone, my question is, can someone who has only been dancing a few years and who is 23 be accepted into a college dance program? How hard is it to get into a program? I'm a 22 year old female student who will graduate as a nurse in about a year. I started dancing at age 20, taking beginning jazz, ballet, and modern classes each semester at different colleges. (non audition classes)</p>
<p>I only dance about 6 hours of the week, but I run, work out, and I'm very flexible. I'm 5'7 and 110lbs. I'm basically just wondering if it's heard of for newer dancers to get accepted and if my body type weight will help me get in.</p>
<p>I will be working while I attend these dance classes, thankfully as a nurse 3 days is full time, how much class time is put into the dance program? I know my nursing program takes a lot of time, but I don't expect dance will be as difficult..?</p>
<p>I don't know if I want to get a degree focusing on dancing/performance or choreography, or if it much matters. The reason I want the degree though is because I eventually want to obtain a nursing job at a orphanage, here or anywhere, and teach the children dance for fun, as I really love the arts and believe its important for children and everyone.</p>
<p>Please get back to me on any thoughts you may have! Also any colleges you think may be a good place for me. Thanks!!</p>
<p>Since you will already have earned a BS degree and aren’t interested in dance as a career, there doesn’t seem to be any reason to pursue a formal degree in dance. A dance major IS difficult and very time-consuming (because you’ll have hours of practice in addition to time spent in classes) and it would be hard – if not impossible – to do while working full-time.</p>
<p>I’m not sure how much more formal training you need to simply teach dance to young children as a side activity. If you feel you do need some more, a more practical route – involving much less time and money – might be to study with a private instructor and/or take dance classes at a private studio. That way you could target your training more specifically and fit it in around your nursing job.</p>
<p>I concur with worried mom. Additionally, most college dance programs are seeking experienced dancers with years of training to perfect their technique. Body type may be a consideration, but not the over riding factor. For example, my D studied dance for 13 years, the past 3 at the release time program of a major city ballet company (accepted by audition). She left high school early each day in order to accomodate between 4 and 6 hours of training a day. Not all college dance majors keep this rigorous schedule, but the vast majority have spent years in training. The odds seem against you, but it wouldn’t hurt to try if your heart is set on it. I would suggest exploring programs at smaller schools or community colleges.</p>
<p>And please do not fall into the misconception that teaching young children requires little to no training. Ballet is built on a foundation of precise and excellent technique. Ballet is not a natural movement pattern for the human body, so it needs to be trained–slowly, carefully, and appropriately–in order to prevent and decrease the potential for long-term injury. There are pedagogy dance programs. Hope College in Michigan is one that you might look into.</p>
<p>Even the youngest children and the most recreationally-track students deserve to be taught by a teacher who really is prepared to teach ballet correctly and with proper technique. That requires a thorough understanding of the discipline and the technique–what to look for and how to correct the student’s alignment and placement, and how each part of the body connects to create (or throw off) that alignment and placement.</p>
<p>I agree with you treemaven, which is why I want to go to college before teaching at all. If I don’t get into a good college program I don’t want to teach it later, I think I need a better foundation then just what I’ve learned in my classes as an adult student. That being said, does anyone know any pretty good colleges that aren’t so hard to get into? I want an audition school, and I’d like a good ballet program. But one that isn’t extremely hard to get into.</p>
<p>The audition schools that are stong in ballet are generally very competitive. Your body type, height and weight, is less important than your feet and turn out (for ballet.) The one plus you have is nursing will suggest knowledge of the body and kinesiology is important for dance majors. I am sure have already fulfilled several of the science oriented requirements. However, I also agree with the posters who don’t feel a “degree” in dance is necessary to get a job teaching. As a former owner, and a current consultant for a large performing arts education facility in Florida I would tell you that the educational information on the prospective teachers resume’s is only one small part of what we look for when hiring.
Good luck.</p>
<p>Please don’t be discouraged. You sound a lot like me. I got my BSN and started working at a hospital, but always loved dancing and acting. A year after I became an RN, I started taking theater classes, which led me to the dance department there (well, actually the dance dept. stole me once they saw me ). Because of my flexible schedule, I was able to work full-time and perform in plays all year long. I never wanted to go back to school for a dance degree, but I had plenty of time to do it if I wanted to. There are over 250 schools that offer dance degrees in this country, but that doesn’t mean that they’re easy to get into. You can take so many classes anywhere, and become knowledgeable enough to teach dance. I don’t have a degree in dance, but I do have almost 30 years of experience taking class, performing professionally and have choreographed a few things for children’s shows. Presently, I work per diem at my hospital, take dance class on Saturdays and work a second job on three soap operas.
You can make it work!</p>
). Because of my flexible schedule, I was able to work full-time and perform in plays all year long. I never wanted to go back to school for a dance degree, but I had plenty of time to do it if I wanted to. There are over 250 schools that offer dance degrees in this country, but that doesn’t mean that they’re easy to get into. You can take so many classes anywhere, and become knowledgeable enough to teach dance. I don’t have a degree in dance, but I do have almost 30 years of experience taking class, performing professionally and have choreographed a few things for children’s shows. Presently, I work per diem at my hospital, take dance class on Saturdays and work a second job on three soap operas.