donttellharry

Is HS Dance Team a good idea if you want to become a professional modern dancer? I'm currently a sophomore and I'm just curious what people think about it. At our school its mainly poms and kicks, etc... It seems like girls who will move on to college dance teams vs. high level conservatories. Do you agree?

frazzled1

What do you mean by "modern" dancer? If you're talking about joining a modern company such as Hubbard Street, Alvin Ailey, etc., then I would say no - or at least that there are other paths to pursue that have a more direct pathway to a professional career in modern dance. These would include studying at a studio with a good, well-trained modern teacher (harder to find than it sounds), SIs for modern, auditioning for a local modern company, etc. If the hs dance team is one of the few options for dance in your area, though, it's certainly better to dance somewhere than nowhere.

I think you're right about hs dance teams often being all about the tricks. They can look very impressive, though - I've seen some good ones, particularly on television. I've never seen them perform modern dance, though - it's usually been a combination of jazz, musical theater dance, and a little gymnastics thrown in. Many hs students dance everywhere they can. But I think you'd make more progress toward a modern career if you concentrated your efforts in the studio.

Finding good modern instruction for high school dancers is a little pet peeve of mine. My ds attended an excellent private ballet school which offered advanced dancers a modern class once a week. Teachers came and went, but only one of them ever really taught basic modern skills and showcased them in well-choreographed pieces. For the most part, the modern pieces were messy, overcrowded, and overlong. When my d started as a dance minor at a school that isn't well-known for dance, she was amazed to find that modern has its own structure, history, and vocabulary. And I was amazed to see that even student choreographers can create modern pieces that are disciplined, interesting, and can portray an idea in less than 14 minutes. Or that they even have ideas. Rant over.

donttellharry

Thanks for your reply. Yes, by modern dancer I mean professional, in a well known company.

Pursuing college dance team : high school dance team is good.

Pursuing professional ballet or modern: high school dance team is unnecessary and may even get it the way.

treemaven

To pursue a professional career in modern dance, you will need as much well-trained technique as possible. This begins first and foremost with excellent classical ballet technique. Modern technique does not usually begin until later---early teens or so. Modern technique requires a different type of physical control and it is very difficult for the younger dancers to have the physical development and kinesthetic understanding of their own bodies to really master that control.

Many college dance programs are more modern-based than ballet. Many college dance programs do understand that a great many dancers, who have been well-trained in ballet technique, have not had the opportunity to have that level of foundational training in the modern techniques (and there are several different forms--e.g., Horton, Graham being two of the most prominent). Thus, everyone essentially starts at the beginning.

For example, at Fordham/Ailey, the freshmen dancers start with either Horton or Graham, then add the other later. Horton has very specific foundational movements. Although a high school-age dancer may have been exposed to portions of Horton and have some familiarity, it would be an extremely rare high school-age dancer (in the scheme of things) who would come into that program with full knowledge of all the Horton forms and with reasonable mastery of those.

So, college is a good place to start. However, high school dance teams are not. Unless it is a very unusual one, there is not the knowledge or the time to focus on actual technique. It just takes away from the time you should be spending on developing as much ballet and/or modern technique as possible.

mommafrog

How many hours of dance training are you getting now, what forms, and what is your current dance school's focus? (Competition? Classical training? Considered a "pre-professional" school?) Are you getting the ballet classes that you need? (It all really does come back to ballet as foundation....) Ideally, you should have a dance class schedule that has you in the studio 5-6 nights a week (leaving very little time for dance team).

It's great that you're thinking ahead as a sophomore. Considering a fine arts major in college is yet another dimension to the choice/admission game.

tucker92

I'm of the view that if you are getting good training and a lot of time in the studio, and you can fit it in, why not? It's a social thing, and it's not a great thing for the studio to be the young dancer's whole life. Some excellent dancers from my daughter's studio have also been on the football cheerleading squad (never basketball), and while the studio head isn't really happy about it, the girls still put the studio first.

Who knows? My daughter had a good friend, an excellent dancer who entered a fine BFA program. She wound up hating it, and instead she joined the university's dance team, had many great experiences and wound up on TV in "America's Best Dance Teams."

treemaven

If you are anywhere near a college with a serious modern or ballet program, visit and watch the dance classes. Try to get a good, objective eye on how your current training is stacking up to prepare you for classes at that level. If your training is preparing you for that level, I would imagine you will not have much time to add in extra-curricular school dance team/rehearsals/performances.

But, as with everything else in life, choices must be made. If you are interested in the social aspects that a high school dance team will provide (and they are fun!) and understand the probable consequences of reduced technical training on your hopes for a professional career, then go for it. It really is simply a matter of weighing the pros and cons and considering what it is you are most interested in.

compmom

If you want to dance seriously, I would spend the time in a studio doing ballet and modern, maybe some jazz, rather than the team. However, since you are young, if you want to do the team for social reasons, or even to clarify your goals, there is nothing wrong with it other than the time it might take from real training.

Also, any dance classes that are too geared to performing (such as competitions or recitals) rather than training, might be something to avoid (others may disagree). It is also true, however, that some performing, whether with the team or with studio or company, can eventually add a lot to your dance by teaching you how to handle nerves, acting, and stage presence. But rehearsals should not overshadow training in class.


Frazzled1, I also have a "pet peeve" about the lack of good modern training for teens. It is so good for the kids, emotionally, to start out from a more individualistic, creative direction. The history of modern dance in America is also very interesting. I wish there was a studio within an hour of us, where kids/teens could take a ballet and modern class 4 times/week, or so, and also do some improv and composition. For the last 9 years, we have had to put together our own program, using a variety of studios, with a lot of travel, to get what our daughter needs.

Dancemaven, I respectfully disagree with some of the things in your post, which are based on the typical course of training, with years of ballet and then, at the higher level, a modern class thrown in. This typical course is exactly what causes problems for many teens, who seem to either become dance nuns and totally devote themselves to ballet, or stop dancing entirely. I also have been surprised to see how much difficulty many well-trained ballet students have in moving flexibly, when first confronted with modern in an audition, for instance. I havegreat respect for ballet, but the repressive aspects of classical ballet training can result in too many kids leaving dance.

I think that every modern dancer should do a lot of ballet, and every ballet dancer should do a lot of modern. The distinctions between the two forms are murkier and murkier, and many schools and companies like dancers who can move in many ways.

Schools on the West Coast, like LINES Ballet and the San Francisco Conservatory, have training that fuses both, with ballet technique that is wonderful, and other classes and repertory that are either contemporary ballet or modern. In the northeast, anyway, these ballet and modern (and jazz) worlds are very polarized and separate.

I don't know what is in your area, don'ttell harry, or if you have to travel a lot for good classes. I don't know what other demands on your time might be, or what your finances are like, or any number of things. If dance team is the most accessible way to dance right now, in your sophomore year, go for it, but for admissions later, a good ballet program is the number one priority, along with some modern classes as well.

CronusMom

Interesting thread. If you are thinking about dance as a profession, you may be better off at your studio focusing on technique, but is that fulfilling your needs socially as a teen?

My daughter, a freshman in HS, has studied Vaganova ballet for 9 years and also loves her modern class, jazz, etc. at the studio. She is also on her high school dance team, but she will NEVER improve her technique there, and it surely won't lead her into a conservatory. Socially it is great fun, gives her more opportunity to perform and spend time with her peers, nothing more.

For her, the social aspect of dance team is what she needs to subsidize her serious studio studies. Fitting in daily studio classes and dance team practices/performances is a daily challenge, but it can be done if it fulfills an emotional need for you (more performance time, social outlet).

dancerinpa

If your daughter wants to be a professional dancer then she should be at studio. I have to say most school dance teams and programs are not very good. I know some are but in general your dd should be dancing at a studio with as much ballet, modern and jazz as possible. My dd dances 20 hours plus a week if that gives you any indication.

FrontRowSeat

I don't have a lot to add that hasn't already been said, however would like to share my daughter's experience in this. She just graduated from a large high school and did participate on the varsity dance team all 4 years (captain the last year). She dances at her studio over 25 hours a week (dancing since age 3) and will begin pursuing her BFA in Dance at a top program in the fall (wants to dance professionally). She was only able to do both because at her school, the dance team was an actual class, first thing in the morning, so she was usually there by 7:00 each morning for extra rehearsals. For her, it was an awesome experience! It gave her exactly what CronusMom said. They went to Nationals 3 times, and actually, it sort of "forced" her to learn some new dance styles that have helped make her a more well-rounded dancer (her focus is primarily ballet, but also does jazz, tap, modern). The social aspects (summer camp, team sleepovers/dinners/outings, Nationals, etc.) were fantastic, and the girls on the team are her closest friends. And again, as CronusMom said, all the performance time at games, pep assemblies, etc. was fabulous (and so much different than performing as Sugar Plum fairy, etc!). The leadership experience from being captain her senior year was invaluable. All that said, if the dance team only does primarily flags & poms (as stated by thread-starter) she probably wouldn't have done it (her team did jazz, hip-hop, some lyrical). And, her dance team sponsor knew that in the event of a studio conflict, dd would choose studio over dance team and was fine with that because she understood dd's commitment to a career in dance. So she also wouldn't have done dance team without that support from the team sponsor. There's also the time management issue with school work. If you're not able to manage your time well (DD generally started her homework at about 10:00 at night), it won't work either. If she hadn't been able to keep her grades up, she would have dropped dance team. Luckily, she never had to! So good luck but just consider all these variables before making this decision.

CronusMom

Wonderfully said, FrontRowSeat. Your post is confirmation to me that my D is on the right combination path.