How many families here have a kid who has done serious ballet?

College Majors Dance Major
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<p>My D has danced since she was 7. We didn't get into the go-away-to-summer-intensive world until the summer after 9th grade. She went to ABT in Detroit - loved it. Summer after 10th grade - selected for ABT in New York. Big deal. She went, was injured, survived it. Summer after 11th grade, still too injured to do a summer intensive. Senior year, dancing again, including a solo in a big school gala, but holding off on intensive pointe work until she is strong enough. Applying to highly selective universities. Although I never expected her to become a dancer for a living (she would rather be the boss) I do expect she will want to keep dancing just because it makes her happy.</p>

<p>That's the background. Here're the questions - A) Do you think highly selective colleges value ballet? B) What have your kids done about/with ballet once they got to college?</p>

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<p>You might do a search for TheDad and send him a private message.</p>

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<p>I have a serious ballet dancing friend. She's not sure if she wants to pursue ballet, or go to college. Do you have any input alumother?</p>

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<p>Celebrian - Depends. What level is she dancing? Has she done the summer intensives with good ballet companies? (San Francisco, NYCB, ABT, Pacific Northwest, Houston?) Was she placed at the highest or second highest level in those programs? If so, she should have gotten hints from those programs whether they want to accept her to their lab program. In these lab programs they select for the corps.</p>

<p>Also depends on her academic interest. Professional ballet would have been a strange fit for my daughter - I always said she would be piping up from the back of the room telling the ballet master how to make it more efficient...Maybe your friend is more wholly consumed by dancing than my D, who was also in love with her studies and on the school paper etc.</p>

<p>The common wisdom would say do the ballet now. Most companies hire young young women and the career is fairly short-lived. Occasionally ballerinas take off and come back in later 20's, but those are usually the dancers who have achieved a high professional level, get injured, and then come back older and stronger.</p>

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<p>My cousin was accepted to Georgetown, and as an apprentice with the Louisville Ballet. She chose the ballet, and loves it, apparently. I wonder what she will do, other than teach ballet, when she's too old to dance...she had considered going into medicine, but it's hard to go back to school after being in the workforce.</p>

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<p>My sister (now in her 60s) is a serious dancer--ballet all through high school and college. Changed to modern dance in college and danced in NYC with some very big names; moved to CA, started her own troupe, continued to dance full-time under her mid-40s, still dances some. Teaches part-time in a small private college--and does clerical duties part-time there too, to make enough hours for benefits. She's on the board of directors for two different small dance groups. She still loves to dance; she still dances professionally. (Her last part was Giselle's mom.)</p>

<p>A few years back I took a dance student to meet her. My sister's advice was: guard yourself against injuries if you want to dance forever. (She thinks modern dance is better for this.) And buy property you can manage and rent for income; learn basic repairs so you can do those yourself.</p>

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<p>I also have a cousin who danced with balletmet, and was very talented, though not at the national level, though regionally she was. She decided on the academic route, and she is a double major in international relations and dance. I think for her it was the best fit, so she wouldn't have to give up dance, but still be focused on a career. I'm not sure what level my friend is at, but academically, she's a 4.0 student, has ballet class every night. She asked me to find out the pros and cons to each situation.</p>

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<p>I'm a serious ballet dancer (18-30 hours a week, attended Boston Ballet SDP last year) and will be attending Princeton next year. In terms of question a, it depends on the school. Princeton offers an extra-cirricular ballet class every day (high intermediate/advanced) and Princeton Ballet School is nearby and offers a student discount on open classes (I believe). Columbia/Barnard have an amazing dance program, and ballet is especially strong there (Allegra Kent is a faculty member). The Five Colleges (Amherst, Mt. Holyoke, Smith, Hamilton, and UMass Amherst) also have a really good ballet program. Stanford's program is run by Kristine Elliot of ABT. In terms of valuing ballet as an extra-cirricular, well, seems to have gotten me into a selective school! lol. I did fly out to Pton for an audition, which helped a lot, in my opinion, had I not done that, I don't think my chances would have been as good. I plan to continue dancing in college, modern and ballet, and while I know I won't go professional, it's something I don't only want to do, but need to. I really don't know how I'd live without it and so I'll do whatever it takes to keep dancing in college. I'd be happy to answer any other questions that I can. I visited all these schools, and looked really intently at the dance programs. I didn't, however, visit any of the conservatories or, for example, Irvine, Butler, Utah (the biggest/best ballet programs).</p>

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<p>My D was a pretty serious ballet dancer but a couple of sprained ankles during high school probably knocked out her (slim) hopes of going pro. Very tough, very large studio (120 dancers in productions) that sends a steady stream to the pros; she was a soloist but not one that got the top roles. She recently characterized herself as being the worst of the best.</p>

<p>JSS gives a good tour d'horizon and my D is at Smith, taking Advanced Ballet and this semester is rehearsing in a senior's thesis project as well. Still, it's a big drop down from dancing 20 hours per week.</p>

<p>Agreed about Barnard/Columbia being the best ballet that D encountered; she in fact did take a class with Allegra Kent while visiting. (Allegra already knew her from the summer program at Jillana [Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico], which, while not one of the "name" programs is one my D loved because of its Balanchine orientation...a lot of SAB kids go there for the summer.)</p>

<p>A lot of schools offer only beginning and intermediate ballet. Wellesley's ballet offering are among the very disappointing. Some colleges have good ballet programs accessible off-campus: Yale, New Haven Ballet right across the street; Georgetown, Washington Ballet, a 20-minute bus ride up Wisconsin Ave....when D took class there, Ethan Steifel was taking class on the same barre. One of the reasons D ruled out G'town was the time penalty...too much for a student, she thought. (I agree.)</p>

<p>She looked at Providence Festival Ballet's website (near Brown) and disliked the company.</p>

<p>UC Irvine was almost D's safety and its dance programs are excellent but D decided that, aside from being too close to home, it was not in the academic league she was looking for. Big problem is that some of the best dance programs--UC Irvine, Butler, Utah--are at schools that aren't first tier academically, hence the womens colleges like Barnard and Smith standing out. Skidmore, the school she took as her Safety, was the only school we noticed that had a dedicated pointe class.</p>

<p>NYU's ballet classes are open to performing arts majors only...and D, while wanting to take high level ballet, did not want to major in Dance. I suppose you could take classes at STEPS or something; see also, time penalty and incremental costs.</p>

<p>Somewhat scattered but there you have it...feel free to ask questions.</p>

<p>JSS, I'll ask one in return: we didn't find ballet classes at Princeton when we searched the on-line course catalog. What department are they in?</p>

<p>Alumother, as far as valuing ballet dancers, one admissions officer told me [in essence] that they were a dime a hundred.</p>

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<p>Because it's an extracirricular class, it's not listed in the course cataloge. You have to look at their Dance Department webpage. It's at like, 12:30 everyday, and is around $5 a class (you can buy a card at the beginning of the semester). I took that class as my audition, as well as a modern class, and while the level of the other dancers was below what I'm used to, the teacher was really good, and definitely pushed me (aka, asking for more turns, more quality, gave good corrections). The advantage for me of Princeton (at least in terms of admissions) is that they are currently trying to build up their arts and dance programs and so are really looking for experienced and interested dancers.</p>

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<p>My daughter is also a serious ballet dancer, attending several summer dance programs away as well as at her home studio. While she knew she wanted to continue to dance in college, she did not want to major only in ballet. She has always been a science kid and felt like she wanted to major in Biology with a minor or double major in ballet/dance. Each school she looked at needed to have some sort of a dance program. She didn't mind a modern based program, but her preference was ballet and pointe. </p>

<p>She looked at several liberal arts colleges in the Northeast, as well as Indiana University. She looked at schools with basic dance programs as well as schools with a local ballet school nearby. The decision was to attend a liberal arts college where she could be more involved with other school activities besides ballet. She would have attended her audition for IU this week, but she was accepted to Hamilton ED. One thing she like about Hamilton was that she would be able to be on a dance team. No, it isn't serious ballet, but after 11 years of that, she was looking to have some fun! I was concered that Hamilton didn't have pointe classes as daughter really wants to keep up with her pointe. It seems that pointe is a part of the regular ballet class. While this isn't anywhere near the amount of pointe she is use to, it should keep her in shape. Most of the girls from her local studio that are in college will come back and take classes when they are home for spring and summer break. Many will attend the Nutcracker performances and help out back stage. I love watching these girls grow up!</p>

<p>While dancer make be a dime a dozen, I think there is something about a ballet dance that makes people take notice. I can't tell you how many people comment on how posed my daughter is; the same goes for many at her studio. Someone said too me that she could go into an interview and come out with an acceptance or a job without looking over her grades/record. She just has a style to her that she received from her years of ballet. If she never danced a day in her life again, she would never regret the time she has put into ballet. Yes, she missed many activites that her friends from school all attended-parties, trips, after school activites, school functions, etc. Until 9th grade most of her school friends couldn't understand why she would miss a school function or party to go to ballet. I think that is why she really wants a real college experience and Hamilton seems to offer what she wants. She will double major in biology and dance, audition for the dance team, and try to be on student council or something similar. My hope is that everything works out like she has planned.</p>

<p>TheDad- your daughter's comment about being the worst of the best describes my daughter; except now that she is one of the oldest, there are new worst of the best!! She is moveing up in the ranks as she ages.</p>

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<p>TheDad, That is great information. Luckily it fits in with my Ds applications. I did not know Columbia had such good dance, I am very glad to hear that.</p>

<p>jss, I confess I had seen your posts and knew you were going to Princeton - my alma mater. My D went and observed the modern dance class when we visited, it was wonderful. She did not audition, but sent in a CD. So we will see what happens at RD. I remember taking dance classes there almost 30 years ago. It was a good way to balance the academic intensity and don't forget to audition for Triangle Club. If you dance well enough it won't matter that you don't sing and it is amazingly fun to perform in a show with that much tradition. Look for the elevator skit.</p>

<p>pokey318, I agree about the ballet giving her poise. Also real focus and discipline. My D would come home after 3 hours of ballet every day and just sit right down and do the work. I'm sorry admissions officers think of them as a dime a hundred - perhaps girls like jss and our daughters will educate them....</p>

<p>Finally, I'm thinking about that worst of the best. I wouldn't know how to fit my D in there, her deal is a little different. My daughter's strength is movement quality. Her technique is OK - but it was always the movement quality that got her noticed. During her time off for the injury, she was cast in a school play. Like everyone else her school did the Laramie Project. She got to play the murdered boy's father, and make everyone cry - and she was cast in large part because of her movement quality. So even though she will not become a professional dancer, ballet has given her all kinds of benefits. I only hope that dancing in college will continue to support her and the information from you with experience is v. useful.</p>

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<p>My daughter has also studied classical ballet for most of her life. She attended a pre-professional ballet school and attended several summer intensives, but knew from about age 15 that she would not try to dance professionally. Many of the interviewers last year commented on her focus and committment when they realized how many hours she spent at the studios. I think that any activity pursued intensively for many years is valued by colleges. Ballet not only taught her dance steps, but gave her a certain poise that carries through to other parts of her life. Daughter is now a freshman at a small LAC majoring in neuroscience and taking dance classes at a highly regarded ballet school in the town for college credit. Ballet is a way for her to unwind at the end of a busy day. She has also joined the college dance and theater group, and will be performing in the spring recital. Ballet has been such a big part of her life, I am so glad she has found a way to continue at some level in college.</p>

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<p>Amethyst-Is your daughter at Dickenson? I tried to convience my daughter to apply there, but something about our tour turned her off. Maybe it was the gentleman who gave the information session; it was hard to sit through it was so bad! Our tour guide was a funny student who I really enjoyed. My daughter really liked Hamilton and Bucknell the best.</p>

<p>BTW, are you the same Amethyst from Ballet Alert? I am assuming there are not many with the screen name of amethyst.</p>

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<p>Pokey - yes to all of your questions. I agree that the tour guides/info session leaders can really affect your perception of a campus. We had some very strange ones that really turned us off (Wesleyen comes to mind), and some really great ones! She is SO happy where she is, it is a perfect fit for her!</p>

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<p>Just a correction to my post, I meant Hampshire, not Hamilton. And also, I think I classify as the worst of the best at my school too! Hmm....think that may be part of what's driving me and all your daughters towards college instead of a career in dance? lol</p>

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<p>FYI I know a former professional ballerina (ABT/ Balanchine) who is now knocking em dead in Real Estate. Ballet = discipline. Very transferable skill.</p>

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<p>I guess I could throw my hat into the ring as a ballet mom but it is a little different experience than some of you. My D has taken ballet/pointe her whole life. She also studies other dance forms, however. Her goal is not to be a ballerina or to dance with a company. Rather she is going into musical theater. Dance, including ballet technique, is one of the many skills she must have. She is currently winding down her college auditions for BFA programs in musical theater, of which ballet is part of most of the auditions she has been to. My daughter truly enjoys ballet but it is one of many things in the performing arts that she does, not the sole passion.</p>

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<p>Count me in, too. My d dances at the school JSS will attend (congrats!). (Sorry, I have found that cc pops up so often on google, and the dance world is so small, so I try to outwit the search engines' spidering here.) Keep in mind that many of the dancers you see in the ballet class (which is excellent) also attended top programs and some were professionals; these days they dance somewhat less frequently and have a grueling academic schedule, as well as a busy social life (which many of them didn't have in hs because they were so busy dancing!). Many of those who are really busy with dance department performances and the student dance companies actually have trouble finding time for those ballet classes...I don't know how they do it all. </p>

<p>The dance department, as Alumother notes, mostly focuses on modern and choreography. It has its own excellent professors but also brings in big-name guest choreographers, etc. And the student-run dance companies are demanding and hard to get into -- they rehearse like crazy, have wonderful esprit de corps, sell out all performances, and perform at a very high level (everything from hip hop to pointe in the main companies, and there are others for middle eastern dance, classical Indian, you name it). Dance is a high-visibility extracurricular on campus, which can be a real treat for a kid who is used to being pulled away from school life by her dance training.</p>

<p>In addition to the local school JSS mentions, Susan Jaffe has just opened her own school nearby; it's about ten minutes away by car. However, the dance department's classes and the student-run companies, along with the ballet classes, seem to be more than enough to occupy most students. There is a way to do the dance concentration (minor) in conjunction with local ballet training, however.</p>

<p>One nice thing is that serious dancers who have moved onto college are now among peers who are also experiencing their first Christmas without "Nut," a shift from mostly flat or pointe shoes to mostly bare feet, and a change from wanting to dance professionally to exploring other career paths (although the department has produced quite a few professional modern dancers). </p>

<p>I am sure a serious ballet track record -- impressive summer programs, solos, recognition in competitions -- helps with college admissions, particularly at schools with dance departments. However, bearing in mind that these top schools get students who have been apprentices or in the corps of major ballet companies, the accomplishments seem likely to need to demonstrate some real drive to move out into the dance world, beyond the home studio. The school we are talking about here has been seeking more dancers and artists in recent years and there are lots of them on campus now, which makes for a rich and fun atmosphere. </p>

<p>I don't think I see Harvard mentioned above. Although their dance department is extracurricular, they do have a student-run classical ballet company, and students take class at both Boston Ballet and the Jose Mateo school in Cambridge. They were having trouble with their studio space on campus, but that seems to have been resolved.</p>

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<p>Daughter did it, daughter quit it. It's over.</p>