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doctorjohn · 02-17-2005, 11:57 AM

MTaussie:

Thanks for asking. Yes, we do offer a BFA in Musical Theatre with a Concentration in Dance. That's the formal title.

The differences between it and the regular MT degree are minimal. MTD students are only required to take 9 hours of voice lessons instead of 16. But they all take a full hour voice lesson every term anyway. They are not required to take Combat, but most do. MTD majors take one course in theatre history and two courses in dance history instead of three courses in theatre history. Otherwise, MTD students take all the same Acting and Music courses which the MTs and the Acting majors take, including Studios devoted to Shakespeare, Chekhov and non-linear styles. But MTD majors get to dance every day, and they also take beginning and advanced choreography.

We can't offer 25 hours of dance every week. Wish we could. But I'm not sure there's an MT program in the country which can. Our dance classes meet on MWF from 9:30 to 10:50 (one hour and 20 minutes) and on TR from 9:00 to 10:50 (one hour and 50 minutes). We teach the same technique at three levels on any given day. We can do that because we have three dance studios. So today (Thursday), for example, Heather is teaching Intermediate Jazz in our Towers Hall studio, Sue is teaching Intermediate/Advanced Jazz in the Campus Center studio, and Stella is teaching Advanced Jazz in the Battelle studio. Students are placed in each technique at the beginning of every term. So it's possible for a student to be in advanced jazz, say, intermediate ballet, and intermediate/advanced modern. Scheduling is easy because the classes meet simultaneously.

Then we change techniques every day. This term, at the Advanced level, Stella is teaching Musical Theatre style on Mondays, Scott is teaching Ballet on Tuesdays and Fridays, Maria is teaching Modern on Wednesdays, and Stella is teaching Jazz on Thursdays. In the Fall, Tap replaces MT style. (We also offer separate Tap classes.) There are always two ballet classes per week. We find that this kind of "cross-training", if you will, has excellent results. Our kids get good fast.

Your question prompted me to do something I've been meaning to do for weeks. If you'll go to our website, click on "Department Brochure", then click on "Musical Theatre", you'll see a place to download .pdf files showing the complete 4-year sequence of classes and a sample freshman year schedule for the MTD degree. If I have time, I'll try to do that for the rest of our degree programs this week.

Finally, you asked about numbers. The MTDs come out of the same 8 that we accept in MT. Usually we only have one or two students who have the dance skills and the vocal and acting skills to do the degree. But this year we're seeing more, which may mean that 3 or 4 of the 8 will be MTDs.

I should point out that our MTD students take advanced dance classes with dance minors, who are specifically recruited for their dance skills. (We do not have a dance major.) So our MTDs are being challenged at a fairly high level.

If there's anything else you'd like to know, feel free to ask here or in a private message to me at school.

Hope this helps.

02-17-2005, 11:57 AM	#39
doctorjohn Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Westerville, Ohio Threads: 9 Posts: 435	Musical Theatre/Dance MTaussie: Thanks for asking. Yes, we do offer a BFA in Musical Theatre with a Concentration in Dance. That's the formal title. The differences between it and the regular MT degree are minimal. MTD students are only required to take 9 hours of voice lessons instead of 16. But they all take a full hour voice lesson every term anyway. They are not required to take Combat, but most do. MTD majors take one course in theatre history and two courses in dance history instead of three courses in theatre history. Otherwise, MTD students take all the same Acting and Music courses which the MTs and the Acting majors take, including Studios devoted to Shakespeare, Chekhov and non-linear styles. But MTD majors get to dance every day, and they also take beginning and advanced choreography. We can't offer 25 hours of dance every week. Wish we could. But I'm not sure there's an MT program in the country which can. Our dance classes meet on MWF from 9:30 to 10:50 (one hour and 20 minutes) and on TR from 9:00 to 10:50 (one hour and 50 minutes). We teach the same technique at three levels on any given day. We can do that because we have three dance studios. So today (Thursday), for example, Heather is teaching Intermediate Jazz in our Towers Hall studio, Sue is teaching Intermediate/Advanced Jazz in the Campus Center studio, and Stella is teaching Advanced Jazz in the Battelle studio. Students are placed in each technique at the beginning of every term. So it's possible for a student to be in advanced jazz, say, intermediate ballet, and intermediate/advanced modern. Scheduling is easy because the classes meet simultaneously. Then we change techniques every day. This term, at the Advanced level, Stella is teaching Musical Theatre style on Mondays, Scott is teaching Ballet on Tuesdays and Fridays, Maria is teaching Modern on Wednesdays, and Stella is teaching Jazz on Thursdays. In the Fall, Tap replaces MT style. (We also offer separate Tap classes.) There are always two ballet classes per week. We find that this kind of "cross-training", if you will, has excellent results. Our kids get good fast. Your question prompted me to do something I've been meaning to do for weeks. If you'll go to our website, click on "Department Brochure", then click on "Musical Theatre", you'll see a place to download .pdf files showing the complete 4-year sequence of classes and a sample freshman year schedule for the MTD degree. If I have time, I'll try to do that for the rest of our degree programs this week. Finally, you asked about numbers. The MTDs come out of the same 8 that we accept in MT. Usually we only have one or two students who have the dance skills and the vocal and acting skills to do the degree. But this year we're seeing more, which may mean that 3 or 4 of the 8 will be MTDs. I should point out that our MTD students take advanced dance classes with dance minors, who are specifically recruited for their dance skills. (We do not have a dance major.) So our MTDs are being challenged at a fairly high level. If there's anything else you'd like to know, feel free to ask here or in a private message to me at school. Hope this helps.