<p>If anyone has any personal experience or advice on reputable dance programs I would really appreciate it. I am a modern dancer with a lot of experience in it.I am an upcoming junior and am preparing to tour colleges, but of course my dance schedule restricts the amount of colleges I visit. I also have a good deal of ballet training and my experience is diverse in styles. Other styles I have studied include musical theatre, jazz, african, contemporary jazz, improvisation...and even a bit of kung fu. I find ballet technique extrememly vital to modern dance and therefore it is important that ballet is included within the fundamentals of the program. I am also more familiar with traditional modern technique, but can be versatile in styles if necessary. The programs I especially would like feedback on are:
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Texas Christian University
Sarah Lawrence
Kenyon
Bennington
Florida State University
Arizona State University
Ohio University
University of Texas Austin
University of Minnesota
....The audition and touring it and of itself is rather overwhelming I appreciate any responses!</p>
<p>My DD is a dance major at Slippery Rock University. The program is becoming much more well known in the modern/ballet world. She will be a sophomore there and is extremely pleased with the training she received. She was at a competition type studio and was trained in jazz,tap, musical theater, lyrical and ballet. She took a lot of ballet as it is the basis of all dance but it was not a ballet studio but more used to enhance the dancing. That said, she wanted a program that had more emphasis on modern/ballet and feels Slippery Rock is giving her that. Also, the cost is very good being we are out of state, it is less expensive than our in-state schools. And in the Humanities dorm there is a dance studio in the dorm for extra practice. So, enough about SRU, her friend went to Ohio University and is transferring to Ohio State in art management. She was not entirely happy with their program at OU. I have heard only really good things about the program at U of M. Unfortunately, the out of state costs for us proved to be prohibitive. Point Park College and Butler are very good dance programs too. There is another website - dancemom.com that gives some reports of University of Florida and University of Arizona programs. Hope this helps, feel free to PM me with any other questions.</p>
<p>Great info thanks for the info. Is Slippery Rock’s department all girls? I saw a website that said that it was not coed but I believe the website was unreliable.</p>
<p>I believe FSU is pretty heavily ballet-focused, but I could be wrong. Last I heard Suzanne Farrell was the chair of the department. U of Arizona is known as one of the best programs in the country and one of the few that is “triple-track”–ballet, jazz, modern.</p>
<p>I would also put Point Park on there, U Arts and Shenandoah University. I probably would take Bennington off because it sound like you are a really focused dancer. I dont think it would meet your standards. FSU is ballet focused. We looked at it for my dd. I dont know about Minnesota but you dont here too much about their program. You also might like to look at Goucher in Maryland. Good Luck.</p>
<p>Bennington dance is very cutting edge modern. Your ballet training won’t do you any good there. You would have to be prepared to go out and dare to be beyond creative. It’s not for everyone, but if you can handle it, you won’t leave as just another member of the corps.</p>
<p>My daughter’s ballet training is very helpful to her at Bennington, and she is actually taking a ballet class there this fall. She has very high standards, having danced in a professional company in place of senior year at high school, but is now learning to grow in dance in some challenging ways.</p>
<p>There are modern technique classes, but there is also an emphasis on creative work (improv, choreography) and interdisciplinary work there. For instance, a film student used my daughter’s dance/choreography in a senior project, and someone else composed music for a dance performance, etc.</p>
<p>The great thing about Bennington is that you can explore all kinds of subjects and relate them to dance: music, sculpture, neuroscience, whatever. You can take any number of dance classes and mix them in any way with other subjects. Grades are optional, and constructive evaluations are done by faculty at the end of each term.</p>
<p>Sarah Lawrence has a similar program.</p>
<p>Anyway, I recommend a book entitled “Creative Colleges” that has a lot of good information on dance programs, and also the Dance Magazine college guide, which is fantastic.</p>
<p>You have a good start to your list. Have met quite a few students from Ohio State, actually. I would add Connecticut College, Skidmore (college), SUNY Purchase (conservatory), NYU, Marymount Manhattan, Cal Arts…possibly Vassar or Barnard…there are many more.</p>
<p>compmom, I’m glad to hear your daughter is able to make use of her ballet training. Mine was constantly encouraged to throw off what she had learned, to throw herself off balance so to speak. I’ve asked her about Bennington’s style since my last post, and she tells me it’s sometimes referred to as “post-modern” and is very heavily improvisational based. This style can be seen readily in New York and places such as San Francisco and Portland (I’m told), but is not prevalent throughout the US. So it may not be familiar to many dancers looking for a college. And good news for concerned parents out there - my daughter did find a job in her field after she graduated.</p>
<p>“Post-modern” dance first became prominent decades ago and is found in lots of places (and may at times even be dated). Ballet students in general don’t have much exposure to this, and some dance students of high school age tend to be exposed to classical modern, if any at all (Graham, Limon, Humphrey). But the Bennington style goes back many years.</p>
<p>Improv is important in any dance environment that is focused on creating work. So if a student does not want to create pieces herself or himself, Bennington would not be the best place for a student. Dance class is right in that although there are technique classes, technique does not seem to be a priority there.</p>
<p>It is wonderful, danceclass, that your daughter found work. Very encouraging!</p>
<p>Sorry not to have responded until now. There are several men that dance at Slippery Rock. Not as many as the women but there are several per grade level. I think there is around 125 dance majors total. It is a great program. My DD has danced for 16 years and in the one year at SRU I can see how much progress she has made.</p>
<p>Look into Northwestern and Barnard (it looks like you would consider a BA).</p>
<p>The dance program at James Madison is good. Students have the opportunity to audition for VA Rep. A pre-professional company that performs in campus and tours. Recently performed at the National ACDFA in DC. There are tons of performance opportunities,any professional guest choreographers who come to campus to set pieces on the dancers. Graduates are successful with graduate school admissions and with securing work in field post graduate.</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC</p>