<p>My son has a dilemma; he wants to study dance or theater in college - and to be able to cross-over into the other area as a minor, at the every least. He has experience in all forms of dance, dancing for 13 years, excels in tap, he is a National Young Artist Foundation Winner in Dance/Tap 2014, Honorable Mention 2013, and is studying modern/lyrical at a local studio, ballet at community college, and teaches tap and hip-hop. He came a little late to the game as far as other dance disciplines because of intense bullying, but found his way back to it all, and is doing everything he can to make up for lost time relative to other forms of dance since tap has been his primary focus, without interruption, for so long. He will never be praised for his barre work, but he has been told by numerous teachers he has potential and natural ability in dance overall. He has a trainable voice too - not fantastic but workable and has done well singing, three lead roles in high school and local theater. Academics are better than average with a 3.2 Cummulative GPA (just under). He has had some honors classes but usually does average work (and has a processing information learning disability although he manages it well and has never had special education). He does, however, routinely obtain As in physical education and wellness and any arts-related classes, including shop, art, drama, media production, creative writing, etc.... He has two years of language, but only one is considered a high school year. He is also a musican; reads music, plays the piano and drums (percussionist), and raps - and has won a local contest for his rap/lyrics. He also has won multiple tap dance awards and contests, and choreographed award-winning competition team routines. Our struggle is in figuring out where all the pieces of this puzzle will fit. Is there a college or university that will accept him into their program with less than stellar academics, but recognize his gift for creativity and artistry, with an amazing capacity to choreograph, and a desire to one day create a theatrical dance performance production company and showcase this work across the world? Is there anywhere that would be interested in his talent and accept him based on his undeveloped potential? Is there a college that would be interested in laying the groundwork for him to more fully develop his artistry? IF he cannot get passed the ballet barre or the vocal audition to the part where he can tap or, perhap,act, he might not ever be seen. Then there is the whole challenge of obtaining admission into a university with a more diverse performance arts program. Where does this leave him as far as possible options? We have 5 schools we are applying to, so far, but are not even certain these are right for him. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>What are the schools?</p>
<p>My daughter is in MT at Otterbein and I know that the BFA actors and the MTs as well as any of the BA students are able to minor in dance with an audition. Not sure if it’s the type of program you’re looking for, but their dance is leveled and quite intense and they do a lot of it!</p>
<p>Remember that college is one piece of the career puzzle. But its your son’s passion, intelligence, dance ability, hard work and ability to self promote that are just as important. </p>
<p>I can’t comment on suitable dance programs so I’ll leave that to others. </p>
<p>However, you both may wish to consider a college that either offers a self-designed major in the arts or aim for a college community/ city location where he’ll find that fulfillment and people of like mind active in extra curricular dance and musical theatre opportunities. Alternatively, if it would help him get into a better suited college, would him taking a year out to work on his classical techniques/voice be an option, especially if he could keep teaching on the side?</p>
<p>What I would say is if he wants to start his own dance company, I’d get him to make a start planning/researching/ working on it now. Not only would it be a cool thing to put in his application/discuss at interview, it could help him focus on the skills he doesn’t have and needs to acquire. Suggest he takes some classes in marketing or business at college if time permits as its a side of things that doesn’t get much look in in most arts programs.</p>
<p>Thanks all! And Highland_Poppy you think a lot like me. Hence, my quandry!</p>
<p>I am also a dancer and I was going through the same dilemma when I was applying for colleges. Very tricky situation! I am currently at Kent State for a BFA in musical theatre with a dance minor. I am very satisfied with their MT program and I have learned a ton in my time here. Their dance program is modern focused, but they have sufficient ballet and jazz classes available too. There are not many schools that will actually let you double major because both fields take up so much time. The dance minor here isn’t too hard to complete (especially if you declare it your freshman year) and even if you don’t want to declare the minor you can still take the dance major level classes (as opposed to MT level which are very basic) if you attend their dance auditions. </p>
<p>Other than Kent State, I know there are a few other schools that will let you do similar things, but I don’t know as much about their programs since I don’t go there. University of the Arts in Philadelphia lets dance majors declare musical theatre minors I believe. However, if you choose to go to school for somewhere with musical theatre and they don’t let you double major, at least make sure you figure out if their dance classes themselves are strong. I know that at Baldwin Wallace when I auditioned we auditioned in a room that looked almost like a gym floor and it was very basic choreography, but they don’t have a dance major. If they have a dance major as well as a musical theatre major offered, it is typically going to be stronger dance training than if they don’t offer a dance program.</p>
<p>Maybe University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pace in NYC, and Montclair State in NJ ?</p>