Contrasting UArts

MichaelNKat
Sat, 03 Mar 2007 01:00:00 +0000

If I can throw in my 2 cents for what its worth, as I have previously mentioned, my daughter attended UArt’s summer MT program for high school students. Though not at the level of a dance major, my daughter has a pretty solid foundation in ballet, pointe, jazz and hip-hop. (She characterizes herself as a singer who can dance as opposed to a dancer who can sing.) She found the level of dance instruction she received at UArts to be demanding in a very supportive atmosphere. (Sheerviolette hits the nail on the head when she speaks of “nurturing”. It seems to be one of the mainstays of the educational values that infuses this school.) My daughter tells us that there was a lot of emphasis on ballet technique and body positioning as the foundation for everything else. Her dance instructor was and still is part of the regular dance faculty for the MT program and according to my daughter really knows her stuff and how to teach it. My wife, who had many years of formal ballet training prior to college, felt that our daughter noticably grew as a dancer during her 4 weeks in the summer program. While I certainly can’t speak with the same depth of knowledge and experience as sheerviolette, my impression is that UArt’s dance component for MT students is among the stronger of the programs we have seen at various east coast schools we have visited and observed. Hope this is helpful.