Temple University Dance BFA

College Majors Dance Major
1

Since it came up in a longer thread, I thought I’d start a dedicated thread for those of us who have dancers interested in the Temple BFA.

My dd was admitted through Dancewave but is going to do a dancer-for-a-day and audition to learn more about the program (in December).

We are excited about the African emphasis in the program and in general the availability of many dance styles. There also seems to be a strong emphasis on dance scholarship. Their audition description led us to believe that they are looking for creative dancers who think outside of the box, which definitely sounds great to my dd.

Looking forward to hearing what others know about the program and what their impressions are.

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My daughter was also admitted through Dancewave. There was not mention of scholarships in the letter. We have not settled on when to visit yet. I plan to find out if a visit or “re-audition” is required for scholarship consideration.

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@crashboat my dd asked about scholarships and was told that the audition may or may not improve her chances at a scholarship, but they really encourage the audition as a way to get a feel for the program.

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@threegirlpileup we live in Philadelphia. Two years ago my daughter was going through this process. She loves the Temple Campus and did get in to the BFA, but the program does not focus on where my daughter’s interests are. She liked the audition and the teachers and did received a small scholarship, but had to decline the acceptance.

She also really liked Virginia Commonwealth but they have a focus on choreography, which she is not interested in pursuing.

This is why actually visiting the programs that are high on the list is important. They need to see the studios and performance space and get a sense of the program.

We overlapped a lot of the programs that you are talking about, so keep asking questions:)

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That’s good to know! We’ll look into audition dates too. Good luck to your daughter!

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@amom2girls I remember you saying that about VCU, which is on my dd’s list in part because of that focus. It’s also kind of a perfect distance from home—not too far, but not too close.

Finding the right fit is everything!

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I am so glad you started this thread. My DD had this school in her top three, but didn’t see an email from her Dancewave audition.

So I just checked her junk folder and she was accepted through Dancewave. So she was going to an audition in December - not sure if she will cancel and just go to the dance for a day event.

If anyone has attended the dance for a day, let me know your thoughts.

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@jenibv my dd is planning to attend the dancer for a day and the audition in December. She has found the auditions to be a great way to learn about the program. The only problem with visiting in Dec is apparently they are already in finals so there are not classes to take/observe.

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@threegirlpileup So I just spoke to DD and we cancelled the December visit/audition - as her schedule is insane. We are going to dance for the day in the new year. Just happy she was accepted and now waiting for academic acceptance.

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@jenibv I don’t blame you! I assume your daughter is a senior? Mine is actually in a gap year and doing her applications now in part because there is no freaking way she could have done all the travel and auditions with her senior year obligations (aka Nutcracker et al). We still feel so busy even without all the craziness of senior year.

And as it is, we are rushing out on Saturday evening to get back in time for a rehearsal on Sunday. #dancerlife

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@threegirlpileup Exactly! DD is a senior and we were organized going into application time but there just isn’t enough time to squeeze it all in.

So dance programs she made, we will visit later when she has all of her acceptance answered including academically.

It is exciting but crazy! Lol

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My dd attended that Dancer for a Day and audition this past weekend.

(Caveat with everything I say that we did our best to glean accurate info, but I may have gotten some things wrong.)

“Dancer for a Day” is perhaps a bit of an exaggeration of what was offered, although I think this was affected somewhat by it being the beginning of finals. We went on a campus tour at 11, my dd took an afro-modern fusion class (which she loved) at 1. There was supposed to be a program overview and discussion with current students at 3, but there was just one BFA student there (who was very nice and did answer some questions) and no presentation. After that we basically waited around and then went to the departmental holiday gathering at 5, which did give us a chance to talk to a few faculty members. We got some dinner and went back to our hotel, then went to an end-of-semester dance performance that evening. It was all good and helpful, but definitely not a shadow-a-dance-student experience. This may be different at other times of the year.

The performance was showings by their Rep 1 and Rep 2 classes, as well as a number of solos/duets/small ensembles choreographed by graduate students. One surprise was that these are the only two levels of rep classes, and clearly most students don’t take rep (there were about 15 dancers in the Rep 1 piece and 10 in the Rep 2 piece). My dd’s impression of the performance was this: For the rep pieces, the choreography (by faculty) was interesting, but the dancers didn’t seem to be enjoying/into dancing it. For the solo/small group work by graduate students, she (who is very much into choreography) felt like the ideas behind the dances were very interesting, but the actual movement was not especially compelling/interesting/innovative.

The audition consisted of a modern/ballet/African technique class, 1 minute solo, and brief interview. Dd said that the ballet portion was not the easiest but not the hardest that she’s experienced in an audition so far. She was actually surprised not to enjoy the modern portion of the audition that much, especially after the great Graham/African hybrid class on Friday. She described the modern component as very much competition lyrical in style, basically free balletish movement. So not that interesting I guess? She enjoyed the African; unsurprisingly, since I’d guess most folks come into college auditions with very little African background, it was not overly challenging.

Our overall impression was that this is probably the strongest program in terms of scholarly dance study of any one we have looked at so far. We’re less sure about the technical aspects of the program. As freshmen, the required classes are Ballet (2/week), Modern (3x/week) and African (2x/week). As I said above, Rep is optional for dance students. They stress that this is NOT a conservatory program, and mentioned more than once that many students double major. So this program is probably a good fit for students who want to be able to study dance AND fully participate in other academic pursuits on campus.

A couple of other random things:

-the students here seem really happy with the program.

-the campus is a beautiful urban campus, with a gorgeous brand new library
-many of the faculty have dance companies in Philly, and it sounds like there are lots of opportunities to perform in the local arts community.

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@threegirlpileup I would say your review is spot on. from when we did this 2 years ago. We live in Philadelphia and my daughter also did the dancer for a day. Ours was earlier and I think more comprehensive. My daughter loved Temple and if she was not looking for a BFA this would have been one of her top choices. She thought there was not enough dance and not enough of the types of dance that she is interested in.

She does think that if she decides to pursue an MFA or doctorate that Temple has a great program.

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Is Temple’s dance program competitive? How many dancers do they accept? Do they allow room for a double major? What is the audition like? What is the overall feel of the program. Any help would be kindly appreciated.

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@dancer2345 I described the audition in a lot of detail as well as our impressions of the program earlier in the thread.

I don’t know for sure about double majors, but Temple definitely has more room for outside academic interests than many BFA programs.

Our (admittedly limited) impression was that the program is more on the “college experience with a dance focus” end of things than “professional training program.” The department specifically states that they are NOT a conservatory program.

The program seems friendly and supportive, and the students we met seem very happy there.

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Thank you so much for your help!