Parent of child who wants to major in dance

Parents Forum
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<p>My son “found” dance in college. He did a dual major with Dance and Mathematical Economics. He got a performance job in Taiwan out of college. As mentioned, rehearsals are at night as are most performances. He found a job teaching English in an intense tutoring situation in Taiwan to supplement.</p>

<p>Back in the US he did an internship at the ADF and now lives in Brooklyn. He has found three different sources of tutoring employment (college level by Skype, ACT/SAT prep and at a Harlem Charter) that allows him to take dance classes and audition.</p>

<p>Passion and perseverance are a must.</p>

<p>Connections are very helpful. This is offered at Duke and has been helpful to my son. He attended one summer as a student and then did an internship after college.
[American</a> Dance Festival Schoool | Life at ADF](<a href=“http://www.americandancefestival.org/2013school/lifeatadf1.html]American”>http://www.americandancefestival.org/2013school/lifeatadf1.html)</p>

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<p>Happykid is a Theater Tech/Design major, and one of her best friends is a former dancer (rare, life-threatening illness forced an early career change) turned Theater Production major. Guess who gets all the paying gigs working with the dance companies? Yup, the former dancer.</p>

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<p>ADF, Bates, Concord, San Francisco Conservatory, Lines- great programs my daughter has loved.</p>

<p>I forgot to mention that some dance grads also go on to holistic health fields (yoga, Gyrotonics, Pilates, Tai Chi, somatic movement, Nia, massage etc.) or dance therapy/counseling. In fact, if you look up classes at major workshops and festivals (including in Europe) there are classes in yoga, somatic movement etc. included.</p>

<p>Dancers need to do some of these modalities themselves to stay healthy while dancing, and so it is a natural transition. These fields allow work that is related to dance, that contributes to healthy bodies for teacher as well as students, and provide some income while dancing as well.</p>

<p>But, again, no reason a dancer can’t be a part time accountant or plumber or copywriter or whatever.</p>

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<p>My D was always passionate about Musical Theater and will finish her BFA in MT in May. I know there are many of you out there who feel performing arts degrees are useless, but I can’t imagine her in another field. Aside from developing her MT skills, she has become a well rounded individual, ready to move on with her life post-school. Her interviewing skills are amazing and she has gotten every job she has interviewed for, thanks to her audition skills- when you think about it, am interview is just an audition. She is confident and self-aware-after all, if you can go in and sing in front of an audition panel of 10 people, you can face any challenge. She has developed wonderful improv skills and can get up and talk about virtually any topic. She is extremely quick witted and creative-when unexpected things happen on stage, you have to be very quick on your feet to handle them. She is very good at time-management: her days start at the gym at 7:00, and routinely go till midnight with no break. When she graduates, she will have a BFA degree. If she decides not to pursue MT at some point she could apply to law or medical school, just like any other graduate of a BA or BFA program. I know few adults who are working in the field from which they graduated, so don’t see her major as an issue. Her current employer has already offered her a spot in their management training program after graduation, but she will probably go try her hand at acting first. A number of her friends who have already graduated in more traditional fields are now out there working in the fast food industry, so there are no guarantees in any field in today’s job market. In short, I feel her performing arts degree has opened a wide window of opportunity for her, as it does for so many artistically talented kids. In addition, talent scholarships have made her education very cost effective. While we had concerns about marketability when she started school, we feel our fears were groundless.</p>

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<p>I picture my plumber as a dancer on the side. The imagery just doesn’t work, lol.</p>

<p>Teaching, owning a studio and aerobics/yoga trainer are viable options. Nothing really high paying but neither is social work or philosophy.</p>

<p>The only chance a person really has though us when they are young and you only live once. A D can marry money anyway. Just a fact. A male dancer better be good or else.</p>

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<p>great post :)</p>

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<p>Goldiern, I speak from some exposure to the field. The threshold question for an aspiring dancer is whether college is really even the best way to try to become a professional dancer. Many serious, competitive aspiring professional dancers feel that the years from 18-22 are critical, and one must be wholeheartedly, full-time, auditioning and dancing in those years. Not fulfilling bachelor’s degree academic requirements, even at the BFA level. I think most would say that you need to be essentially a finished dancer, in terms of technique and training, by age 18, if you have a realistic shot at dancing professionally. It depends in part upon what area of dance you plan to enter. I don’t have enough expertise to counsel anybody on the details of how to proceed – just enough exposure to make that observation.</p>

<p>This website is populated by parents who want to send their kids to college and kids who want to go. So this may not be the place to find out why someone should not go to college. But sometimes kids end up pursuing dance at the bachelor’s level because there’s an unresolved mismatch of dreams between the parent and the kid – the has dreams of professional dance that maybe are not best served by the time in college, and the parent sees a bachelor’s degree as a necessity for any 22 year old, no matter what field they think they want to enter. It might be best if the assumptions of each party are acknowledged, and the value of the degree to each person is honestly investigated, before the plans are made and the money spent. I have known some serious dancers who seem to have been best served by working as dancers at 19, and spending their college money at 30. YMMV.</p>

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<p>My S has been dancing since he was 3 - very competitive for a while - finalist for Billy Eliott on Broadway when he was 12. He also is a terrific singer. About 9th grade we told him that he had to pick one and concentrate on it. He chose singing. His rationale? longer career, more options for performance, less injuries. So…he’s now a singer. He recently went to the Youngarts competition in Miami and he was so impressed with all the dancers. At 17, most of them are at the peak of their career. But by 30, most will have to find something else to do.</p>

<p>IMO, if your child is serious about dance - skip college. Many of S2’s dance friends didn’t even finish HS but went straight into companies and apprenticeships. If your D wants to teach or choreograph, then college makes sense. But otherwise, give the career a shot first and then go back to college.</p>

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<p>My daughter is a talented dancer but also a pragmatist. She has gone from wanting to be in a company to wanting to be in a conservatory to wanting to major (or even only minor) in dance. Those who want to only dance should definitely postpone college, in my opinion. The rest should try to find a way to keep it in their lives but not forego other options at the same time.</p>

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<p>Those who leave school or skip college are generally ballet dancers, in my experience.</p>

<p>My daughter is actually more of a modern dancer (though she also takes a lot of ballet classes), but she did actually skip last year of high school to be in a company, then did a year of college, then left to dance again, and is now dancing and taking some classes in alternative health practices. These are tough decisions.</p>

<p>I must say that when she recently attended an American Dance Festival winter intensive, she was the ONLY person there who had not finished or was not enrolled in college. Out of 70.</p>

<p>I have gone to dance performances where the director specifically mentions that every member of the company is a college grad. Who knows why- possibly to emphasize that the company is collaborative, that dancers think and contribute creatively rather then being “mere” instruments of someone else’s vision. In some academic dance departments, there seems to be some bias against technique versus intellectual creativity. Personally, I am all for balance.</p>

<p>I think that dance may even have become too academic. I read an article that said that few faculty have spent many years in the company life, but have gotten master’s and PhD’s in dance instead. Again this is not the ballet world, but the modern/contemporary/composition world more common at the college level.</p>

<p>Every dancer has to find the right balance. I personally admire those who just go for it at 18, but nowadays, most are going to college unless they are in ballet.</p>

<p>And dancers who are not doing ballet can dance for years and years, so there is no rush. It does make sense to bring a whole, developed person to dance, a person with a life, other interests, even a creative vision but I think that sometimes the sacrifice in technique makes it harder to execute those visions.</p>

<p>Editing to add that success in musical theater or ballet company is a little different in that there is, presumably, some marginally adequate play involved. Not always true with modern/contemporary or “art” versus commercial dance.</p>

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<p>Compmom rocks. She knows what she is talking about. Unless your D, at 16 or 17, is already a professional level ballet dancer, ie, ready to apprentice with a company after hs, ( or graduates early), then it makes sense to hone her dance skills and get her education in college. I hope she follows her dream in college- she won’t regret it, and she can use her degree in any way. Best wishes, and don’t have her take on much (or any) debt. PM me if you like- I have LOT of info and experience in this area.</p>

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<p>Daughter of a close friend is now completing her DPT degree after majoring in dance as an undergrad. She is specializing on dance and related injury rehabilitation. Majoring in dance seems to be working out just fine.</p>

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<p>I think it depends on what kind of training the dancer has had between 12 and 17. If the student has not had strong training with technique, different master classes, etc. then college dance will add a dimension that may help the student in the long run. There are so many studios these days where the kids spend more time “learning” dances than on ballet or modern technique and those students will benefit from a solid college dance program learning the technique they missed, dabbling in choreography, etc. I don’t think there is a one-size fits all. Ballet is slightly different in that there is somewhat of a progression of study for the serious dancer that may include a “dance” high school like North Carolina and other well known programs that may not require 4 years of college dance, etc. </p>

<p>Also a dance career can encompass different avenues as the person ages e.g. choreography, teaching, dance company administration etc. And yes, some are finding paths in rehab through kinesiology etc.</p>

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<p>I posted while sleepy" in the next to last line, “play” should be “pay.”</p>

<p>A few small points:</p>

<p>For anyone interested in North Carolina School of the Arts, mentioned in the context of ballet, the school has a modern track (unlike Walnut Hill, for instance).</p>

<p>Dancers in ballet companies are often taking college classes when possible (even if one at a time).</p>

<p>Not all dancers in major companies even majored in dance (I know a woman who spent years with Forsythe and recently left, and she had a top notch science degree.)</p>

<p>Beyond the basic decision of school versus “just” dancing, the decision on conservatory or other BFA program versus a college BA (or BS) program is difficult and complicated, as it is for musicians (BA versus BM). </p>

<p>Students of dance, like students in other arts, can often gain useful skills through internships. Both my kids have done this in non-profits related to their performing art. These skills are transferable in areas other than music or dance, though the connections made in those fields helped them get the internships and may help them stay in those fields if they like.</p>

<p>Any dancer who can afford to intern or volunteer can make some inroads toward a paying job in the long run, that is connected to their art, or not. In the short term of course, many…waitress…like so many grads of other majors these days!</p>

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<p>My DD or also dancing dgt, could not imagine life without dance. She is now a sophomore dance major and loving every moment of it. She knows that the road to a secure job is going to be hard but that is something she has never been afraid of, working hard. She is minoring in Adaptive Physical Activity because after her performing career is over she would like to work with kids with special needs in dance and other activities. She attends Slippery Rock University and is planning on getting her Master’s in APA - with the rate she is going she may be done by the summer of her senior year. She did not feel at the age of 18 that she was ready to tackle the world of professional dance. While she has danced since she was 3 she wanted more training. She wanted the experience of college life too. I went to a workshop at a convention on dancing in college vs skipping that and working professionally. The person who gave the workshop said most directors do not want to cast the dancer with no life experience who is fresh out of high school.</p>

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<p>Hello, I am new to CC. My S is headed to college in the fall for pre med and my D is a sophomore in HS looking for dance college options. She does want to pursue a professional career and college as a dance major. She has been dancing for aprox 10 years and is training with a former NYCB dancer. She is more interested in a contemporary career than a classical ballet career. We live in SC so the opportunites here are very limited. We would like to include some college visits on our way to CPYB this summer. What colleges would you suggest we put at the top of our list for visits?</p>

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<p>Search the dance majors forum and you will get lots of ideas.</p>

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<p>takeitallin - You could be talking about my daughter! She graduated last year with a BFA in Musical Theatre and I also couldn’t have imagined her doing anything else. She supports herself and lives across the country from us. It’s hard but eventually she will get her Masters and she hopes to teach at the college level. She is successful in all her jobs - whether they are on the stage or elsewhere - and her acting skills are valuable in life. It’s OK to follow your dreams.</p>

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<p>@CompMom-</p>

<p>Thanks, for solidifying what I always thought should be D’s path to majoring in dance, as you can tell from my screen name, D’s passion is ballet. D understands she needs a dance program where she can double major, or provides a path to dance therapy, or physical therapy, or affords her the opportunity to take medical school required courses. Although D is class of 2015, she knows she must make her list early in order to tour schools and prepare for auditions based on the schools she plans to submit applications. Some programs only offer auditions during the fall of senior year. Anyone looking at majoring in a performance or art field should begin their search no later than fall of junior year in order to have plans in place for auditions throughout senior year.</p>

<p>She no longer wants a BFA program, as you pointed out, most are limiting as to how many credits a dancer may take outside of the dance major.</p>

<p>D’s list includes many of the same schools you listed, plus she’s looking at Goucher (dance therapy and dance/science), Muhlenberg (dance/medicine and dance therapy), and Marlboro (inter-disciplinary). D also is looking at 3 specific big Us, too.</p>

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<p>

. Few hs students do. But you are the parents/billpayers… you get a say too. </p>

<p>I knew a student gifted in MT. He opted to attend a small college with lots of MT, but his initial major was in Marketing /Business (with an entertainment business slant). He figured he had a better chance living his dream of being involved in MT at the office end. In the end, he loved his major but took it a different direction. College is all about refining interests.</p>