Vassar, Wesleyan and Bates dance programs

<p>My dancer daughter is interested in co-ed liberal arts schools located in the northeast that offer strong academics as well as strong dance (ballet, jazz and modern) programs. We'd greatly appreciate any comments on the dance programs at Vassar, Wesleyan and Bates.</p>

<p>We visited Vassar, and I can tell you they have a lovely performing arts center. If you are interested in Vassar, you should also consider Swarthmore. They are very similar. The schools you mention are rather difficult to get into. If you’d like suggestions for less selective schools, let me know.</p>

<p>Thank you! These three schools are at the top of her list, although we would definitely be interested in your thoughts on less selective schools. She’d like to stay in the northeast and attend a co-ed liberal arts school. She considered Connecticut College, but found the dance program too focused on modern dance with not enough emphasis on ballet and jazz. She also looked at Skidmore, but didn’t really like the “vibe” of the campus. She looked briefly at Sarah Lawrence and Bard, but neither school appealed to her. We’d appreciate any suggestions.
Thanks in advance.</p>

<p>Hmm. The ballet emphasis is the hard part. Most colleges concentrate on modern, which is what my daughters do (at Bennington and Bard). You might need to look at a conservatory for serious ballet training. People here post very good things about Point Park in Pennsylvania. For jazz, and musical theater in general, Muhlenberg is supposed to be very good.</p>

<p>Thank you for your comments. It’s been a real challenge trying to find a co-ed liberal arts school located in the northeast that offers ballet, jazz and modern. As you mentioned, most dance programs seem to emphasize modern dance and don’t offer much in terms of ballet. My daughter has studied ballet, jazz and modern for years and I can’t imagine her giving one of them up. I don’t think a conservatory would be the right fit for her since she feels strongly about attending a liberal arts school where she can receive a well-rounded education and either double major or minor in dance. (Or, in Vassar’s case neither major nor minor in dance.) I’ve heard wonderful things about Bennington and Bard. I think my daughter thought Bennington was too small. I’d be interested in getting your thoughts on Bard. Many thanks for your advice!</p>

<p>Bennington is indeed very small, but that is also one of its virtues. The students get very close to one another and they have a very strong alumni network, especially in the New York City and Boston areas. Bard is larger and closer to the City, so they can offer more advantages. My daughter will be studying with Bill T. Jones’ company next semester, and she’s thrilled. Bard seems to offer an ideal combination of highly intellectual classes and cutting edge dance in one place. But again, very little ballet and no jazz.</p>

<p>Thank you for your comments on Bennington and Bard. I think I’ll have my daughter look at those schools one more time.</p>

<p>Good luck trmgrmmom. Also check out [Cyber</a> Dance - Ballet and Modern Dance on the Net for Over 10 Years](<a href=“http://www.cyberdance.org%5DCyber”>http://www.cyberdance.org) for a good list of college dance programs.</p>

<p>Mercyhurst in Erie, PA is supposed to have a very good ballet program.</p>

<p>My son is a ballet dancer and a student at Vassar. He had many of the same questions when he was applying to schools (and he was in the same situation as your daughter: didn’t want a conservatory, but wanted to continue to dance ballet). It has been a great place for him. John Meehan is very talented (he was the head of ABT II before he came to Vassar) and a wonderful man. He will work with your daughter and whatever her interests are. There are several very talented ballet dancers there. I know one young woman was a trainee at Texas Ballet Theater, but decided to return to school. (take a look at the VRDT web site for other biographies of the dancers). Because Vassar is so close to NYC, and because John Meehan is so well connected, he brings many very talented people to the school. This year Edwaard Liang has been working with the Vassar Repertory Dance Theater choreographing and working on a piece with them. Let me know if you have other questions.</p>

<p>Well, I just checked the web site and the bios aren’t as helpful as I remembered them. But I should add that Merrill Ashley is also coming up to Vassar to work with two dancers on a Balanchine piece. Suffice it to say that John Meehan will provide whatever level of ballet and/or modern your daughter is interested in dancing.</p>

<p>Thank you for the recommendation, Boonsboro. I’ll have my daughter check out Mercyhurst.</p>

<p>Thank you for your comments about Vassar, CindyBH. I have many questions about Vassar’s program, but will only subject you to a few here. How difficult is it to become a member of VRDT? Do non-members have performance opportunities? Is there much competition between the dancers? Is there a lot of support for the dance program among non-dancer Vassar students? Do many of the students who study dance at Vassar plan to dance professionally after they graduate? My daughter is a strong dancer and an equally strong student. She doesn’t want to pursue dance professionally, but would like to get a good liberal arts education while continuing to dance through her college years.
Did your son find any other schools to be of interest before he decided on Vassar? </p>

<p>Many thanks for your help!</p>

<p>VRDT is competitive but if your daughter has a strong ballet background, she shouldn’t have any trouble getting in. There are performance opportunities for non-members, but not so much in ballet. If she’s interested in ballet, she should audition for VRDT. There is an ENORMOUS amount of support from other students for all aspects in the arts at Vassar. They all go see all of each other’s shows, and most of the audiences for the dance performances are completely full. A typical evening activity is to attend some sort of a show. That has been one of the more rewarding aspects for my son of belonging to the Vassar community. And the dancers are decidedly not competitive: very supportive. My son ended up dancing in a couple of musical shows at the encouragement of some of his VRDT friends last spring and had a wonderful time. Most of the students do not plan to become professionals. Most of them, like your daughter, have made the decision to not pursue a conservatory for that very reason, but some are quite talented. I would encourage your daughter to send an arts supplement because I do think that helps. Other great schools for dance that my son looked at included Columbia/Barnard–my son has a ballet friend who is attending Barnard and has been very happy there, Skidmore (my son wasn’t as crazy about Skidmore, but their dance program looked fabulous–the head of that department is friends with John Meehan, so I met her at one of my son’s performances last year. She was planning on staging a full length classical ballet this year–I think “Swan Lake”), and Muhlenberg. My son also considered Haverford/Bryn Mahr but decided the focus was much more modern and wasn’t sure the Haverford community would be as supportive of the arts. Hope that helps!</p>

<p>Has your D considered Barnard? They have a ballet co with Columbia, and NYC is super for ballet classes.</p>

<p>This is from a dance specialist on *****.com on strongest ballet departments:</p>

<p>The majority of College/University Dance Departments have a strong modern focus or a split focus of modern and ballet (some have two separate departments) or modern and ethnic or jazz, etc. There are relatively few which strongly focus on ballet as their primary dance form with modern, jazz, ethnic, and others as secondary. Among the very strongest and most competitive departments focusing strongly on ballet are Butler University, Indiana University (Ballet Department), University of Utah (Ballet Department), and University of Cincinnati with others including University of Oklahoma, SMU, Point Park University, TCU , Mercyhurst, University of Arizona and a newer program with Alonzo King Lines Ballet/Dominican University.</p>

<p>Within a conservatory setting, Juilliard is traditionally considered modern-based but they have an outstanding faculty and training in ballet and are undoubtedly the strongest Dance Department in the country. Other strong conservatory programs that have excellent ballet training are the Hartt School, NCSA, and New World School of the Arts.</p>

<p>Thank you for your comments about Vassar’s dance program. Everything you said confirmed our initial impressions of the program and the school. It sounds like an ideal place for my daughter to continue her dance in a liberal arts environment. I think it will probably remain at the top of her list.</p>

<p>My daughter chose not to consider Barnard, because she doesn’t want to be in a big city. I’ve heard from many people they have an excellent ballet program.</p>

<p>Thank you for your suggestions, battersea. My daughter seems intent on attending a co-ed liberal arts school located in the northeast. She is trying to identify which of those northeast liberal arts schools have dance programs that match her interests. That is to say, offering instruction in ballet, jazz and modern.</p>

<p>The Dance Magazine Guide-new edition just out- is quite helpful if you have not yet looked at that. If your daughter is not interested in majoring in dance, there are many fine LAC that offer dance classes - for instance the Five Colleges each have a department and share classes and faculties between them.</p>