College Discussion - View Single Post - Specific dance elements to master for MT?

soozievt · 01-24-2006, 09:28 PM

Hi Dramama....I'm SO overdue in emailing you....it is on my "to do" list....so sorry!

I don't have a link or list for you but I do have my point of view

....
I think if she has limited time...the one area that she should go for is ballet. Ballet is the basis of all dance technique. She'll learn proper technique and it applies to the other forms. Also, many of the college auditions include ballet. IF she can, then I'd say do ballet and jazz. Jazz is a form of dance so often used in musical theater. Again, as far as college audtions go, ballet and jazz are usually what are involved....some have combinations in each, some just in jazz. But if she can do ballet, she likely could pull off the jazz and in any case, learning technique is the way to go. If she truly could swing it, learning ballet, jazz, and tap would be the way to go but no college auditions that we went to involved any tap. Knowing how to tap is important in MT but not critical to BFA admissions and she will learn IN a BFA program. If it is possible to take one ballet and one jazz class.....go in that direction. At our studio, upper levels of ballet require more than one class per week but depending on your D's level, she MAY be able to take one ballet and one jazz class....see at your studio. Perhaps in some summer program she attends, she could always do some tap there. Granted my D took way more hours than this but as much as she loves jazz and tap, she always took ballet (enjoys that too) but was never intent on becoming a ballet dancer but always felt that ballet was the basis of all dance and very important to have in terms of being a dancer. And she did enjoy it and also pointe but of course she now isn't doing pointe in college because it is MT! In sum....if she can only take one class....make it ballet....if she can fit in two, take ballet and jazz. Also, conflicts between dance classes and show rehearsals are bound to arise and are tricky to work out. Hopefully talking to the dance studio about staying in the classes for the year, even if at times there may be show conflicts but the training is important too and can't be given up due to short term conflicts.....might want to talk about this with them because in some dance studios, the students seem to JUST take dance and so they are not as tuned into theater kids who often juggle training AND shows.

Best,
Susan

EDIT....Ericsmom posted right around when I was writing my post and so we said a lot of the same stuff! I also was wondering if you posted this here by accident or meant to post under the regular non school specific threads.

01-24-2006, 09:28 PM	#3
soozievt CC College Counselor/Musical Theater Counselor Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 11,211	Hi Dramama....I'm SO overdue in emailing you....it is on my "to do" list....so sorry! I don't have a link or list for you but I do have my point of view .... I think if she has limited time...the one area that she should go for is ballet. Ballet is the basis of all dance technique. She'll learn proper technique and it applies to the other forms. Also, many of the college auditions include ballet. IF she can, then I'd say do ballet and jazz. Jazz is a form of dance so often used in musical theater. Again, as far as college audtions go, ballet and jazz are usually what are involved....some have combinations in each, some just in jazz. But if she can do ballet, she likely could pull off the jazz and in any case, learning technique is the way to go. If she truly could swing it, learning ballet, jazz, and tap would be the way to go but no college auditions that we went to involved any tap. Knowing how to tap is important in MT but not critical to BFA admissions and she will learn IN a BFA program. If it is possible to take one ballet and one jazz class.....go in that direction. At our studio, upper levels of ballet require more than one class per week but depending on your D's level, she MAY be able to take one ballet and one jazz class....see at your studio. Perhaps in some summer program she attends, she could always do some tap there. Granted my D took way more hours than this but as much as she loves jazz and tap, she always took ballet (enjoys that too) but was never intent on becoming a ballet dancer but always felt that ballet was the basis of all dance and very important to have in terms of being a dancer. And she did enjoy it and also pointe but of course she now isn't doing pointe in college because it is MT! In sum....if she can only take one class....make it ballet....if she can fit in two, take ballet and jazz. Also, conflicts between dance classes and show rehearsals are bound to arise and are tricky to work out. Hopefully talking to the dance studio about staying in the classes for the year, even if at times there may be show conflicts but the training is important too and can't be given up due to short term conflicts.....might want to talk about this with them because in some dance studios, the students seem to JUST take dance and so they are not as tuned into theater kids who often juggle training AND shows. Best, Susan EDIT....Ericsmom posted right around when I was writing my post and so we said a lot of the same stuff! I also was wondering if you posted this here by accident or meant to post under the regular non school specific threads.