dramama

My daughter would like to improve her dance skills before college auditions. She is a HS sophomore, and though she's taken some dance every year since a young age, she's not a serious dancer and has focused much more on voice, letting dance classes go by the wayside in favor of show rehearsals. With her schedule, she will only be able to get in a few hours of dance training per week. She is planning on working primarily on ballet, possibly adding tap and jazz. With a limited time to dance, what would you guys suggest working on?

Somewhere on a college audition advice website, I know I have seen a list of dance skills an MT performer really should have under their belt. I can't find it! Could someone direct me to a link or an old thread?

Thanks to all. It's exciting reading about all your experiences!

Ericsmom

Hi, dramama, I wonder if you meant to put this under the OCU thread or on the general MT thread? If the OCU section was on purpose, you may want to know that, although they offer many levels of dance, this year the dance placement part of the audition was eliminated. Dance placement will be done at orientation, I believe. Working on her voice is probably the right thing to do for OCU.

We continue to hear that ballet is the most important type of dance to work on and is at the core of all other dance. After that, jazz seems to be next most important. I think most of the colleges that have dance auditions focus on jazz, and maybe ballet technique. My son also does tap because he loves it. I don't think any of the schools require it for a dance audition.

I think they do tap at the BTP auditions for summer.

soozievt

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.

Ericsmom

Susan, Since you have an experienced dancer daughter, I'm so glad I came up with the same advice as you did!

dramama, it is never too late to start dancing more seriously. My son started dancing in high school and has gotten more serious each year, working around theatre rehearsals and shows in all previous years, as Susan mentioned. He has done 2 summers of ballet intensive programs offered at our local studio. This year he is not doing any theatre shows and is dancing on a fairly regular / daily basis, many hours a week (several ballet classes, tap, jazz, modern, and hip hop, pretty much everything offered at our studio). He has advanced his skills pretty well in a short time. He did 2 dance shows at Christmas and will have some featured roles in the dance recital this year, his senior year. Always before, he would have a theatre conflict that caused him not to be able to prepare for much in the recital.

Early in the fall, at one of the college auditions, he was asked if his 2 or 3 years of each type of dance was correct on his resume. I think he is more advanced than the number of years would indicate, and the college was surprised. I'm proud of him! He has worked very hard and is enjoying it.

dramama

Thanks for the prompt response, you guys!

Somewhere online I have seen a list of dance elements/terms that might show up at a dance call for MTers. If I find it, I'll post it for the other parents who might also have kids who would like to ramp up their dance.

We're hopeful to get two or three days a week of dance in during the next school year, mostly ballet.

I've seen both your kids dance/move and they are terrific.

CoachC

Hi all -

In response to the question about SPECIFIC dance elements, I think it's good to point out that mastering specific turns, across-the-floor "steps" (pas de bouree, for example), etc. won't mask a lack of general technique. No one here has implied that it WOULD do so, but I know when I was a young performer who did not have formal dance training (I was a singer-actress by training), I wanted to learn as many jumps, turns, etc. as I could, because I thought that would help me "fake" dance auditions. Especially in college auditions, the auditors are ASTUTELY looking for technique or potential to develop technique - so having a basic ballet class where you really focus on barre work and center barre is the MOST essential for novice dancers. I always chuckle when I hear (or read here) that the dance combination for a school was "easy." Nearly all ARE and it's VERY MUCH ON PURPOSE, because the instructors are looking for absolute cleanliness of line, extension, balance - the fundamentals that say "dancer with great training," "dancer with poor training," "mover with potential," etc. - and sometimes an explosive combination can mask weak technique. This is why some less-than-amazing dancers can get professional jobs in certain MT "dance" shows or in dancing ensembles - sometimes in the professional world, having the right style is more important than having amazing overall technique. But COLLEGES are looking for technique first, then potential and presence.

As for the "easy" college audition dance combos, think of it this way: as an experienced vocal coach, I can hear you sing and know literally within 2-4 measures what you've got "going on" vocally - that's why almost all professional MT singing auditions use 16-bar cuts, cause that's truly all the auditors need to hear! In the same way, experienced dance teachers can spot technique RIGHT away, and after that, they are looking for the other elements I mentioned above.

So do what our wise moms here say and take REAL ballet first, the kind that works you hard and forces you to dance cleanly and strongly. Add as many other dance classes as you can, but keep ballet your ABSOLUTE priority. Remember, ALL "beginning" dancers start with ballet in college MT programs - that tells you how important it is!!!

CoachC (NOT an experienced dance teacher, just experienced in the ways of college auditions )

CollegeMom

I moved this thread since dramama apparently did not mean to post it on the OCU forum and it may be of interest to readers of the MT Forum in general.

nytheatermom

My daughter took years and years of tap (2ND GRADE ON) but not ballet early on. Luckily for her, her tap teacher taught from a ballet perspective. So when she went back to intensive ballet (at Interlochen) she was not a rank beginner. In hindsight, she regrets having not done the ballet at the same time as the tap because she LOVES BALLET.

Thanks to the daily ballet classes at Interlochen and several times a week classes at CMU summer, she feels she is where she needs to be for musical theater. At CMU she also had jazz; no tap.

It's hard to fit everything in... and go to school. Based on the college dance auditions she has had so far, one does not need to be an advanced dancer. But it really is helpful to have basic moves and a good knowledge (in both your brain AND YOUR FEET) of the vocabulary particularly in ballet. That way you are not concentrating so hard on doing the steps that you forget to show your "presence."

soozievt

NYTheatermom writes: "It's hard to fit everything in... and go to school."

I got a kick out of this line as it is so true. School can get in the way, LOL. Actually it IS hard because school IS the main thing they do and it takes up many hours and then there is the homework as well...unless one attends a performing arts high school where these voice/acting/dance classes are part of the school day. For those attending regular high school, it means fitting in all the dance classes, voice, acting, shows, other ECs, the driving to these things, on top of school and homework. Quite the juggling act and quite the busy schedule. Right now, my kid is in a BFA program and she is going to something all day and night and weekend...it is very busy and intense and my husband was saying the other day, "well, at least she led a life like that before she got there and knows what it is like!" The only difference is that now rather than driving everywhere, she is walking a great deal, plus taking subways and things also go later at night....like last night, she spoke to me at 11:15 PM on her way TO a rehearsal!

Susan

kaysmom

My d also focused on tap and jazz from an early age...chose not to focus on ballet because she never thought she would like it. Dramama I understand your comment about dance getting pushed to the side due to time constraints with rehearsals, etc. The same happened for my d. It seems like all the local studios had practices for the kids in the evenings which interefered with her rehearsal time.

Two years ago she started working on advanced tap & jazz with a small group on Saturdays which made a tremendous difference. The studio experience (at least here, was dance just being taught for recitals and competitions...which she did and loved btw) but didn't learn nearly as much as she did working in a specialized environment.

Then after reading so much here, she knew she really needed the ballet! She has been fortunate enough to get in classes with a ballet company here. So different from the studio experience....tough, dedicated, and demanding for sure. If they are one minute late for class, they get to watch the entire 2 hour class! Very strict....but she said it has been the best thing that has ever happened! She loves ballet now and has learned so much in such a short period of time. She gets to go 3 times a week and luckily for her, they had a spot right after school! Perfect! She can do that and then go to rehearsal! It's really what she should have been doing all along.

Hopefully there will be other options like that in your area, Dramama. This way your d can still do the shows she loves and dance too! Good Luck!

Kathie

shortnsweet

I agree with everyone in regards to the Ballet and I would suggest some kind of summer intensive, but I wouldn't sweat it in regards to dance---it seems to be the least important thing at the auditions. Though there is less "stress" when you are a little more confident when it comes to the dance portion of the audition so it is good to have some training(Boston Conservatory requires no dance at the audition, OCU, NYU-optional, Emerson--just to name a few)

I also found that a large string of roles on your resume was not critical either. It is all about the training you have received in voice and acting and how you deliver those two.

PS
Sometimes it is easier to fit in private lessons of dance (jazz/Tap) because you can pick the time that works best for you, but I would leave tap for the least important dance style to learn.

soozievt

Just to clarify.....while BOCO had no dance audition last year (we were there), they DO this year. Also, Emerson DOES have a dance audition...my D auditioned there so I can say for sure. The Emerson dance audition, however, was the easiest one of any of the schools my D auditioned at and in fact, her remark was that you didn't have to know anything about dance in order to do it (though obviously IF you are dancer, you will appear better at it). Other schools had combinations where it would be harder to do it if you never had danced before and were more like real dancing. The kids came out of the Emerson dance audition joking about it. It is a very good program but just commenting that the dance audition there was nothing like at other schools.

By the way, our dance studio does not have private dance lessons.

As far as dance interfering with show rehearsals....we had that problem in some capacity throughout the year. It always had to be worked out. It's true that Saturday classes interfered less but at our studio, that only took care of one session of ballet/pointe...the rest was during the week.

Susan

chrisnoo

yeah i agree tap is definatley the least important aspect, simply because its either optional(at U Mich) or at NYU for example, they just asked how much tap we've had. if you can do ballet and jazz well, then they wont worry about tap im sure.

chris

Sporti2005

my experience with college auditions (the ones with a dance component, anyway) shows me that the dancers with the ballet technique behind them are really the best prepared for the combinations. in the dance audition, you can ALWAYS tell what girls (and sometimes guys) have had ballet, and also the ones who have had only jazz. the ones with only jazz training pick up the combination and execute it fine, but usually don't have as clean lines as the ballet-trained dancers.

and by the way, in terms of tap - BoCo's dance audition this year has an OPTIONAL, very complicated (i was told by admissions) dance component. so tap CAN help, but in the auditions i've been to it's always reserved for the really experienced dancers to "show their stuff".

soozievt

That's cool that tap might be included at that audition. None of my daughter's 8 BFA auditions included any tap, optional or not. I think those without tap will be fine because it is not in auditions. However, it is good to learn to tap if you are going into musical theater. And of course, it is just another thing on your list of training, though not a deal breaker. My own kids love tap and started at age five. My D who went into MT likely wishes tap was part of college auditions. In any case, if you enter a BFA program, you will learn to tap there if you don't already!