frazzled1

Hi, Zetesis - something to investigate about individual college dance programs is the extent to which non-majors can participate in classes and productions. Many of the BFA programs or schools with pre-professional emphasis restrict classes to majors only.

Two dancers at my daughter's studio were accepted at Mercyhurst this year, a small LAC in Erie, PA. I think this is a respected dance program that seems to offer some nice performance opportunities. It's not one of the big names in college dance programs (Indiana U, NYU Tisch, Fordham/Ailey, Butler, SUNY Purchase, Oklahoma, etc.). Another friend will enter her third year at Goucher as a dance major, and she's been quite pleased with her training there.

Vassar, Barnard, Smith, and Skidmore are said to have strong dance programs with good ballet offerings, and of course are strong LACs as well with academic admission profiles ranging from difficult upwards. My d loved Muhlenberg, a nice LAC in the Allentown, PA area where she took an advanced ballet class and was quite happy with the teacher and welcoming atmosphere - non-majors can be full participants there. My d also liked the dance opportunities at Dickinson, which has a dance program at the nearby Central PA Youth Ballet.

However, she has chosen a college that's a poor dance match for her because it offers no ballet at her level, but is her ideal school in every other way. Before she applied ED, she found a terrific ballet school nearby, where she hopes to take classes two or three times a week. She never hoped for a professional career, so it was inevitable that her training would taper off.