janemac

thanks you !

happy days

There are a few programs that I know of that offer a concentration in jazz, along with modern and ballet. As mentioned, Point Park and Marymount Manhattan, University of Buffalo, Oklahoma City University (seems to be much more musical theatre oriented), University of Arizona, UNLV, UC Irvine.
I would suggest talking to the dance departments to inquire about double majors. The large universities will probably have more to offer in the way of academics.

kidzadancer

Thank you, Happy Days. It seems we keep coming back to Pt PK, Marymount Mahattan, Fordham, UArts and BOCO. I've heard no insight about MMt's program only read about it. We'll be visiting all of them, including Purcahse, on our route, though it doesn't offer Jazz. I think we'll also stop by Muhlenberg on the way home. They have a dance performance while we're going through and though it's a non-audition program, it might be interesting to look at. Any advice on these schools? Uarts today said they've been waitlisting for months and their last audition was last week. So, I guess it's never too early to figure out where you want to audition and do it early.

D wants to stay in the East, so some of the really good schools she won't even consider.

dancersmom

Most auditions for performing arts programs are held pretty early. It is unusual for a school to be holding an audition in mid-April. I would suggest that your D have her applications completed by December. The most common audition dates are January through March. Some schools hold their first round(s) of auditions in the fall. Do not count on being able to audition for your favorite school(s) in mid-April!!

kidzadancer

dancersmom,
Yes, I agree and so we will make the most of this trip. Finding a school and then getting in, now there's the hard part. I'm retiring in Oct. after 25 years as an air traffic controller and driving around to auditions is something I'll definitely be looking forward to...wherever they may be. :0)

happy days

I do not want to say anything negative about any programs as of course it would all be second hand and some one else's opinion. There is no school that is one size fits all! My s has been impressed with dancers he has met from PP. But if a student is looking for stong academics it might not be the best fit. I don't know much about Fordham, but I'm not sure that most of the schools on your list are known for academics.

researchmaven

Fordham and Muhlenberg both have strong academics in addition to strong dance departments.

kidzadancer

Academics is not high on D's list. Although she does well in school, especially math and science, she does not enjoy any aspect of English. Her goal is to be part of the 'working' dance community and would like a school that can help her on her way to becoming the best performer/choreographer she can be.

She'd also love to continue learning Spanish. If that's possible that would be fine, but it's not necessary. Which is why Muhlenberg is interesting.

happy days, feel free to PM me with anything we should be looking out for- postive or negative- if you think of anything. thanks. Off we go...

dancersmom

Kidzadancer,

Has your D considered Florida State? They have one of the top rated dance departments in the nation. Suzanne Farrell, George Balanchine's great muse, is on the faculty.

You mentioned that your D would like to continue learning Spanish. FSU has a large percentage of Hispanic students. D could take Spanish classes and possibly make friends with some of the bilingual students on campus.

I know that FSU is quite a hike from VT, so the school may be geographically out of the question. If you are interested, I'd be happy to tell you what I know about the campus.

jasmom

My d has a lot of overlap in schools with kidzadancer's d. We're hoping to check out FSU and So. FL.

paradoxical

The Claire Trevor School of the Arts (UC Irvine) has a stunning dance program with performance majors in jazz, ballet, and modern. The program has an excellent reputation, with a very successful placement record, and it's still on the rise. Trevor itself isn't very big--maybe 1,200 students all told--and the setting is pleasantly intimate with great dance studios and six theatres, but it has the advantages of a University. The "academic" requirements are as easy (or demanding) as you want them to be. For instance, you can triple dip and cover half the general education requirements with required major courses, meet the language requirement with high school language study, and take alternatives in science and math. But they've had dance double majors in civil engineering, biology, and chemistry.

My DD is also a visual artist--she's planning a career in intermedia/multimedia art and design--and Trevor actually enouraged her to double major, or even triple major with theatre arts!

The problem, of course, is to get admitted to the University, which is academically highly selective, even for residents.

kidzadancer

Well, we looked at five schools in five days and here are some of our observations. BOCO is very small, but charming. Literally three small buildings that comprise the school. We were unable to observe any dancing because it was finals week. We spoke to the chair of the dance department and the head of admissions. They accept about 80 students to get a freshman class of 20. There are about 80 students in the dance department. They don't allow freshman to audition the first semester, so that they can become accustomed to college life. I think this school is one we'll probably look at again in the fall. The admissions counselor said the best advice she can give is to apply/audition to many schools. Too many students don't do this and are not accepted into any program and have no where to go.

Next was SUNY Purchase. The dance studios are large and the building that houses them is very bright with skylights running the length of the hallways. Of course, the perfomance space is state of the art. All dancers are required to audition for everything. There are many opportunities to perform and although you may just be cast to understudying a piece, at least you will have learned the choreography. We were able to watch a staged Bill T. Jones piece in rehearsal for this past weekends' performance and we were able to sit in a studio for a ballet rehearsal for the same performance. We spoke to several dancers that said they loved it at Purchase. There appeared to be at least 20 guys combined in the rehearsals we saw. The lack of jazz is a problem for D though. But, it's just a train ride into NYC to take class at Broadway Dance or Steps on B'way. The campus itself is not a reason to attend, but the program is strong and the cost is low.

Marymount Manhattan is well kept, bright clean and in a great location. It is not one that D liked though. The studios were a bit confined feeling. We observed part of a combined Ballet II/III class. We had tickets to see their Spring Dances that eveing, but opted to go Off-Broadway to see "In the Heights" (great!) Anyway, it was a very hectic time to be visiting because of finals and all, but D said she wouldn't apply there ~though maybe she'll apply everywhere in light of the advice from BOCO. More in the next post and feel free to ask any questions.

midsummer

kidzadancer - We just completed the senior year audition tour for dance bfa programs. I would be glad to give you more information about our experiences if you are interested. My d auditioned at 5 schools. Feel free to pm me if you want more detailed information. Good luck to your daughter and you over the next year.

kidzadancer

Next, we went to University of the Arts, where, if I left my daughter, she would have never noticed I was gone- for four years. I guess this is her top choice. We missed the tour itself, but spent quite a bit of time in the dance department and watching classes and rehearsals and talking. She loved the feel of the space. The studios were all up high and bright with daylight from the many windows in every studio. We spoke to several students (sophs-jr-senior) who spoke highly of the program and Philly itself. We spoke with an admissions counselor and someone in the dance dept. and they were more than helpful. I believe they have the largest dept. of all the schools with an incoming class of 80.

Oh, and here I should mention at Marymount the largest concentration is in jazz/theater and there were no spaces available in that program at the moment. Though of course you don't declare until your second spoh. semester. Also, several of the schools mentioned so far do not even consider the writing portion of the SAT at this point and D is thankful for that. Though she'll be trying to improve on it June 2.

Last was Muhlenberg. It was a beautiful Spring day and if you'd have left me there I'd be in heaven (I live in VT, the trees are just TRYing to turn green).
The campus is lovely. It just happened to be a junior open house the day we went and it was crowded. Unfortunately, we could not see the dance performance while we were there because it was sold out. It was being presented in a black-box studio which doubles as a small performance space.
There were other theatrical-type productions going on in the brand-new pavillion, but we were there for dance. We spoke with one frehman dance student and she liked it, but didn't feel she got much personal attention just yet. We spoke, with the chair of the dept at the luncheon, along with a group of other students, but didn't feel like there was enough of a draw. It appears to be a great liberal arts college with great emphasis on the arts and I do wish we got more of a feel for the program. BTW, our tour guide said they are not able to use the term 'freshman' any longer and referred to them as 'first years'. OK...

So, after watching a rehearsal of a piece choreographed by Zane Booker (one of Dance mag's tops 25 choreographers of 2007) at UArts and a freshman jazz class there, D definitely wants a curriculum that incorporates jazz. I'm glad we started this process now. Several of the schools said it's best to audition early and that auditions are usually the same weekends from year to year, so it's just a matter of changing the dates.

Hope some of this has been useful, you've all been very helpful to us!

buckeyemom2

Thanks for your report! Very helpful for us about to start the process.