Anyone else considering Montclair State? We visited last week for the audition and to observe classes.
We barely made it up there for the audition because of the snowstorm, and it was an early morning after a late night (multiple cancelled flights). There were about 35 people there for the audition. The day started with an info session/Q&A with the head of the department and a couple of students. Some things of note: 1. BA students have to pass the same audition as BFA students, so the BA is not considered a “lesser” degree and the BA students are not second-class students. Both of their BA tracks are teaching tracks–one is certification for public school teaching, and the other a studio teaching track. Students can switch between the BA and BFA tracks fairly easily. 2. A class in pedagogy is required for all students and teaching is considered an important life/employment skill for all students. 3. Department chair seems very invested in success of students, doing things like getting dance classes approved for gen ed requirements and bringing company directors onto campus to get folks seen and hopefully employed. She also talked bout her commitment to the social and emotional health of the dancers. 4. Study abroad is generally not available for full semesters, but there are some shorter trips available. 5. They do not have auditions for their fall rep concert–all students participate in a piece with their class. Spring concert is by audition.
The audition consisted of modern class, ballet class, solos, and interviews.
In between the modern and ballet class, the senior class performed their rep piece, a classic Graham work. It was extremely impressive.
DD felt good about the audition classes. The ballet class, was, as she put it “just class”–comparable to the level of class she is currently taking. She loved the modern class.
The cuts were brutal! We were lucky because dd was already admitted via Dancewave–and even so we felt a little nervous. They cut almost half of the dancers before solos. My dd commented that most of the dancers seemed quite competent, so she was surprised that there were so many cuts, and relieved that she made it through.
We definitely felt more of a competition dancer vibe at this audition than we had at auditions in the past. When everyone was marking their pieces in the lobby, my dd looked at me and said, “Oh wow, my piece is going to be so much weirder than any of these.” Thankfully she didn’t have to worry about admission, so she just went for it…
There were individual interviews with different faculty members, nothing too surprising or notable there. One interesting question dd was asked was “What did you learn in class today?”
We went back the next day to observe a ballet and a modern class. They seemed challenging and everyone in class was working hard. Levels were good. Class size was on the small end (15ish). While dd observed classes, I picked the brains of a number of students who were hanging out in the hallway. Some things I picked up:
-lots of performance opportunities and chances to set/create work
-yes, a lot of competition dancers enter the program, but the program really focuses on classical modern and does not have a commercial bent at all.
-the faculty love weird, unique dancers (my dd would classify herself like this). It’s less clear that there are a lot of students who like that kind of weird creative stuff
-seems like a reasonable balance of rigorous dance training and academics/college
-students leave and get employed by companies, start their own companies, or tour with broadway musicals
-musical theatre is a common minor, those classes are in the same building and easily accessible to dance majors. Dancers can opt out of the spring rep concert and audition for the spring musical if they like.
-there are lots of choreography/creative classes although a lot of the students don’t seem so enthusiastic about that
Overall, our sense was that for my dd, this program was less “her people” and felt like more of a reach for her. It’s definitely less warm and fuzzy than some of the other places she’s looked, and the students did not rave about how much they loved it (although I do thing some of this might be partially regional, being in a northeast urban area rather than mid-size cities in the south or Midwest). HOWEVER, it also seemed like the place that she would get the best technical training and would maximize her chances for a performing career. Being able to stay involved in musical theater and the fact that they place folks in those jobs is a big draw. Also the proximity to NYC (40 minutes by train) without having to actually be in the city is a huge bonus. All in all, it’s still a strong contender. And the in-state tuition for BFA students doesn’t hurt!
Would love to hear others’ experiences and impressions.