<p>My D is planning to major in MT. She is a very accomplished dancer, currently studying 24+ hrs weekly. She would like to find a program where her dance education would continue and be nurtured. Many programs we have visited have said she would be dancing less as a college student than she is now. Are there schools that could offer her an advanced dance curriculum as part of the MT major?</p>
<p>I think you will find The Boston Conservatory to have a very strong program.</p>
<p>I’m currently enrolled at Ball State University as a freshman MT. I strongly believe that we have an excellent and continually growing dance curriculum here. Our dance faculty is tremendously talented and our courses are very rigorous. I am also working towards my dance minor alongside my BFA MT degree. I get the opportunity to work in higher level courses that are always pushing and challenging me on my craft of dance.</p>
<p>Check out:
[Ball</a> State University - Theatre and Dance](<a href=“http://www.bsu.edu/theatre]Ball”>http://www.bsu.edu/theatre)
for more info.</p>
<p>Hope this helps!
Best of luck on your search! :)</p>
<p>Both Pace and Otterbein have heavy dance options. Pace has a commercial dance program, and Otterbien has a MT BFA with a dance concentration.</p>
<p>Shellbell - If you are interested in MT, I think you will have a hard time equaling those number in in-the-classroom hours of dance instruction. Most college level dance courses equal around 4 hours per week, so if you took 3 courses, that would be 12 hours a week, 4 courses, 16 hours a week. It is hard to think about an MT student taking more than 4 dance courses in a given semester. However, I submit that dance courses, like other academics in college require copious amount of self-directed work outside of your classroom hours - that is just how college is. Also, assuming she is cast in a production - there would additionally be the hours of learning and rehearsing choreography. Aside from the many hours spent in voice related classes and acting related classes, unless you are planning on attending a conservatory, there will also be the academic core curriculum courses to attend. It is typical for a college student to enroll for a total of 15 or 16 academic credit hours per week - that equivocates to about 5 courses each semester. Most MT students I know are enrolled in half-again as many credit hours - it is one of the most time demanding courses of study in the university. So, again, I do not think you will be able to equal the 24-hr/week of in-classroom scheduled dance courses. If she is not cast in anything, depending on where she attends - there might be the possibility of taking some dance studio classes outside of the college. You may want to investigate schools that might let you minor or double major in dance - you still will not hit that 24hr mark, but it may be easier to more consistently enroll in 4 courses a semester.
Regarding top MT schools for dance I would suggest (incomplete list here, just some ideas) you look at OCU, Elon, Point Park, BW, CCM, FSU (check about effects of recent budget slashing) - these offer excellent dance training within their MT program and options beyond.</p>
<p>You should check out the University of Utah. Less well known auditioned BFA MT program, but they require 2 dance classes per semester, and the University has nationally known BFA progams in Ballet and Modern Dance.</p>
<p>If I just have to base it on the audition alone, Boston Conservatory has the most rigorouse dance call. D, who has been dancing since age 4, also attended BoCo’s first Musical Theater Dance Intensive Program last summer and was so happy with the dance program and the reason why D is so set on going to BoCo (but we are still deciding). Suggest that you check out their summer program to have a feel and ask more about the program.</p>
<p>It’s kinda funny about BOCO because when my daughter auditioned there in 2005, they had NO dance audition at all! She was a very experienced dancer and was admitted but they have since added the dance call to the audition.</p>
<p>Syracuse is another school with a strong dance program. But I have to agree with MTDog71 – it would be difficult to find an MT program in which it would be possible to take 24+ hours of dance weekly. </p>
<p>For example, freshman in the Syracuse BFA MT program typically take 17-18 required credits per semester, and are required to work backstage in one production per semester; that pretty much fills up the hours from 9 am to 11 pm, Monday through Friday with classes and rehearsals. Rehearsals also take place on the weekends. In addition, of course, they have to fit in studying and preparing for classes. I can’t imagine when a student would have the time to fit in enough additional dance classes to equal what your D is used to. Perhaps she should be looking at dance programs instead of MT?</p>
<p>I think it is possible to dance 24 hours a week. But a curriculum of more than 15 hours? Not likely.</p>
<p>@ beenthereMTdad, what do you mean you doubt a curriculum of more than 15 hours? My D is currently an Syracuse MT freshman major and is currently taking 19 credit hours as well as having taken that many last semester. What do you doubt?</p>
<p>^ a not an</p>
<p>Look at a dance major where she can take voice/acting class. I understand that is possible at OCU and Point Park. Perhaps other places as well.</p>
<p>Agreed, Lulu63. When my D was a freshman at Syracuse she had 18 credit hours. I don’t think that’s unusual for an intensive BFA MT program.</p>
<p>FSU’s MT BFA is strong in dance.
At Univeristy of Alabama, one can double in Dance and MT. Auditions on two successive weekends is not lots of fun though.
I agree that Point park and BOCO also excellent for dance training in the MT programs.</p>
<p>One evaluation we used was which schools actually have a dance degree. I expect that schools that do and allow their MT kids to dance at higher levels with pre-professional dancers, probabaly get excellent training. Just a thought.</p>
<p>Check which programs offer their dance classes in levels, and in how many different levels. Then check what type of dance is required in the curriculum each year. I don’t think it will just be difficult to find a BFA with 24 hrs of dance per week, it will be impossible. And it should be! Any MT program that has 24 hours of dance per week is going to be shortchanging its students in the more important, in my opinion, voice and acting classes. I’m guessing that your D is currently a dance major at an arts high school? Otherwise I’m not sure how she’d be dancing 24+ hrs. per week. If that’s the case, is she sure she wants MT and not dance as a major? </p>
<p>Also, if you’re looking at schools that offer dance majors, ask if the classes are available to non-majors. At many schools, they are not.</p>
<p>Lulu 63 ^^^^^
I was not referring to credit hours. I was referring to actual dance class room hours. Shellbell1 mentioned her daughter is studying 24+ hours a week of dance. At Boco my daughter danced every day and never exceeded 12 hours in any one week of dance.</p>
<p>While staying in top shape as a dancer is important, a philosophical consideration is whether you want to spend your college years primarily focused on what you’re already good at, or on growing in areas where you’re weaker.</p>
<p>Our D specifically chose a program that played to her biggest weaknesses rather than to her biggest strengths.</p>
<p>MomCares, that is an excellent point and fits for my D basically. Before college, she had lots of training in voice/music and dance and very little in acting. At her college in the MT program, they took dance classes six times per week (I can’t recall how many hours that was, but not more than 12). In the last 3 semesters of college, my D felt she had plenty of dance and decided to focus on an acting studio (that still had some voice and dance but not as much as her MT studio) and to really get more acting training. She wanted to take advantage of training available in areas with which she had less experience. I have to say, since graduating, she has used voice/music and acting a lot more than dance in her professional life.</p>