<p>audition processes at various schools </p>
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<p>sam houston–conducted on friday, starting at 3:00, over by 6:00. told to arrive in dance clothes, so you assume dance is first, and maybe you haven’t warmed up your voice because you know that’s later. wrong. you do the entire audition in your dance clothes. the vocal audition was first. held in a large theatre that was not great acousticly. anyone could watch. all auditioners seated in order down on front rows. they go up one at a time and do their song, only 16 bars. you walk on the stage, stop and confer with you acompanist for a minute and sing. then, there was a short break and dance started. they learned as a group, practiced in smaller groups, then auditioned in groups of 4. forgot to mention, there were 40 auditioners, and there had been 40 the week before. they are planning to accept 5, to replace the number graduating. then, a break and back to your seats for the monologues, held the same as vocals. go up, state your name and piece and begin. you were given a minute and a half, and time was called at that point. once you were through with yours, you could leave. there was a discussion in the other thread regarding accents and dialects during monologue, at this particular school it was no problem. there was no place to warm up for dance or vocal. lauren had to go back to the car for that. the campus is very pretty and seems like a nice small town. huntsville is about 3 hours south of dallas and 1 hour north of houston. ok, that’s it.</p>
<p>one other note, regarding audition music. we heard a variety of pieces. don’t take this as “gospel” just a bit of info to consider. in advance, i called and spoke to the secretary at sh and asked what kind of piece to do, whether a classical sounding piece or a belt. she responded, “definitely not a belt.” so we didn’t. some did. and who knows, they may be the ones accepted. we don’t have any definite info on whether this was good info or not, just passing it on. lauren did “much more” from the fantastiks. j</p>
<p>ok, i keep thinking of more to post. another poster asked about interviews at auditions. at sam houston, there were none.</p>
<p>The audition at UCF was very organized, but they do have a callback. The original audition started with an orientation, Q&A session. The auditionees were then divided into two groups for the dance audition. (From talking with other kids, one room definitely had more tap emphasis than another). After the dance audition, the kids were told they could get dressed for their individual appointments and meet together for a vocal warmup (which was pretty good). Individual appointments took place after that (3 minutes total–one monolouge, two contrasting songs–no interview). Those auditioning for both BFA MT and BFA Acting were then taken to another building where another set of judges heard their two contrasting monologues. The only problem I saw was with the kids (my dd included) who were auditioning for both programs. Since they went to the BFA MT orientation, they were at a disadvantage for the BFA Acting audition, as they didn’t have an opportunity to ask any pertinent questions regarding the acting program. At my dd’s audition, there were only a handful that were going for both programs.</p>
<p>The callback went pretty much the same way without the full vocal warmup.</p>
<p>With regard to acceptances, we found our letter to be rather vague since my dd had auditioned for both programs. The letter only addressed the MT portion and we had to e-mail the department and ask for clarification since she had auditioned for both programs. We were told she had been accepted into BA Theater Studies which was a response to both auditions. We weren’t at all surprised since the BFA Acting was treated as more of an “afterthought” for those students auditioning for both.</p>
<p>Just how many of the schools mentioned in these forums had an interview phase to their auditions? At the UCF auditions, the kids were put into two separate groups for dance, then had their individual 3 minute time frame for two contrasting songs and a monologue. The BFA Acting audition was separate from the BFA MT, and included 2 minutes for two contrasting monologues. Everything, however, went through the MT audition. Those who auditioned for both programs were shuffled back and forth and were seen by two separate sets of adjudicators. There was no interview, even at the callbacks. There is, however, an interview phase for anybody choosing the BA in Theater Studies.</p>
<p>Sorry, I didn’t mean to post the same thing twice.</p>
<p>Jamie-
I’ve learned never to take “advice” from secretaries in these departments and/or theaters. A good friend of mine has a daughter who really got burned that way. She was told a belt was the way to go and she is a legit soprano who belted her way through the audition only to hurt her voice later on. Had she used her gifts instead of listening to the secretary, she would have avoided vocal strain and done a better audition.</p>
<p>wanted to bump this up. would love to get more detail on audition processes at the different schools. when i have a little more time, i’ll post all i know about ocu’s audition. i know others could input on that also. j</p>
<p>I think the Audition Information thread that is now way down on page 5 has much information from this winter’s auditions at many schools.</p>
<p>I know audition info for OCU has already been posted somewhere so I won’t repeat, but I thought some of those who are applying next year might be interested in knowing that once you are accepted to the OCU MT program you will level in dance (if you did not do so on your audition date or if you have had additional dance AFTER your audition date and would like to try again), music theory, and piano. The piano leveling is only for those students who have had at least 3 years of piano lessons. Students will play one prepared piece (does not have to be memorized) and will be required to play scales. All of the leveling will take place during freshman orientation week. </p>
<p>Hope this info is helpful to those of you who are considering OCU for next year!</p>
<p>Lexasmom</p>
<p>How do you set up auditions at schools? Do you first send in an application to the school and then do they decide whether you can audition? I am completely clueless about this process.</p>
<p>Backtobefore,
I don’t know how well I can answer your question, but based on the schools that my d auditioned for, I might be able to help somewhat. I am pretty sure you must have made application prior to an audition at any school. On some school websites, they post the dates pretty early so you can try to figure out how to get them all in (unless you do unifieds, which makes it a little easier schedule-wise). CCM had the dates listed in their application booklet and you had to check first, second, third choices. OCU has an online audition request form that you can fill out before you submit the application (although you have to submit it by the date of audition). Emerson had a place to request on the application supplement, I believe, and Elon sent a card to send in requesting the date. UMich is the only one that my d applied to that required the application first and then invited you to audition if the application met their standards. She applied to a couple more, but honestly I can’t remember how they did it right now! Hope this helps somewhat. If I made mistakes on this, please feel free to correct me…it gets confusing sometimes!</p>
<p>This is kind of random…but I was wondering if anyone came encounter with “tricks” during their dance auditions such as axel turns, triple per.,etc? I didn’t know if I needed to work more on these areas because I have struggled with some of the tricks. Any info would be helpful:)</p>
<p>Thanks-Amy</p>
<p>How much factor does theory and piano have at OCU and other schools?</p>
<p>Thank you for all the info as I have an upcoming senior next year and this has soooooooooooooo much helpful information.</p>
<p>Concerning theory and piano at OCU…
Neither are considered for audition purposes (although I guess they look at resumes so they can see if your d or s has had piano training), only for class placement, as it is a Bachelor of Music degree, so all students will receive a minor in music theory in addition to their BM MT and will be required to pass piano requirements prior to graduation. I think Michigan is the only school who has piano as part of the MT audition. Anyone, please correct me if I’m wrong!</p>
<p>Lexasmom</p>
<p>Amy,
I can’t comment on the audition but I would like to suggest that axels and triple pirouettes are not considered “tricks” in the world of dance. Granted a triple is a somewhat advanced turn, (after single and doubles) but most trained dancers would consider a triple and axels pretty basic stuff. I realize that unless you are an ensemble member in a dance oriented show you probably aren’t going to use either of these very often if at all.
MTaussie</p>
<p>yes, i realize that they are standard in the dance world because I’m taking 4 classes a week right now…but I was wondering about in the MT college audition world. If anyone has any comment about that, let me know.</p>
<p>Amy, I didn’t come across anything to challenging during the dance auditions. I had to do a double pir. at three, a couple had some turning leaps, nothing too challenging. At BW they did open the floor to anyone who could do any “tricks”, like flips or impressive dance moves. I think that at all auditions they know that they’ll be dealing with some kids who have no dance experience, so they try to keep it relatively simple, adding a few challenges in there now and then.</p>
<p>Okay, thanks so much fingers crossed. It is much appreciated! 
That’s pretty much what i expected, but I wasn’t sure. Have a wonderful day everyone:)</p>