<p>Hi all,
I am asking a question for my younger sister, a high school Sophomore, who asked me for some advice. She is primarily a dancer who has recently become interested in acting and musical theater, after she attended a 3 week session last summer at Stagedoor Manor. She started voice lessons and acting lessons this year and has gotten cast in a drama and as a dancer in a musical at her large public high school this past year. Her primary EC is dance (ballet) which she has been doing for 10 years and dances 5-6 days/week at a preprofessional school. This winter, she was entertaining switching her interests to theater/drama and decided to apply to Brown’s TheatreBridge program. She also did about 5 auditions for Summer Dance Intensives for dance (She had previously always done her home ballet school’s SI to save money but she is also becoming more interested in contemporary ballet, like Joffrey and Alonzo King’s Lines). Basically she is now in the position of having to decide between a partial merit scholarship at Joffrey Ballet of Chicago International Summer Dance Intensive and an acceptance to Brown’s TheatreBridge program (full pay). As these two programs run concurrently, she can only choose one. I was thinking of recommending that she go to Joffrey because of the partial merit money but also because she will be returning to Stagedoor for the August session and can continue to improve her acting skills (along with voice and MT dance there.) I am also not sure how prestigious or even helpful the TheatreBridge program will be in advancing her skills, although from the stuff she showed me, it looks incredibly fun. Anyway, if you can offer some advice I’ll pass it on to her. She claims she is way too busy to search/post CC for help! Thanks.</p>
<p>I think the decision should hinge on what she is most interested in possibly pursuing down the line…dance only, or theater. The dance intensive will be helpful in her pursuit of dance. The Brown program will be helpful in her training and pursuit of theater. </p>
<p>By the same token, she may not yet be decided on what she wants to do for college in terms of her area of interest and doing a theater program will allow her to investigate that interest further (since she does lots of dance during the school year) and may help her figure out her direction. Then again, the fact that she can do the dance intensive program AND Stagedoor Manor, it is kinda the best of both worlds…a dance program and a theater program in one summer. </p>
<p>I would not be concerned with how prestigious the Brown program is or not. It is more what your sister wants to do. If she wants to pursue theater, the program will give her an immersion in that area.</p>
<p>By the way, I’m the parent of a Stagedoor Manor alum (16 sessions, 8 summers) and cannot recommend the program highly enough. I’m also the parent of a Brown alum (but not the summer program!) who is now at MIT, your school.</p>
<p>Thanks soozievt,</p>
<p>This is exactly the information I was looking for. I’ll show her your reply. That’s so cool that your son/daughter is at MIT! Although MIT is kind of like the “anti-Brown” at the undergrad level. I hope they love it here as much as I do!</p>
<p>I think part of the problem is that she is really not sure what she wants to focus on in college. She doesn’t think she wants to be a professional ballet dancer but is really excited by contemporary dance (ballet based) and said she can’t imagine giving dance up when she goes to college. She would probably minor in dance even if she becomes a theater major/ other BA program major.</p>
<p>Acting is a new love, and she had an awesome experience at Stagedoor. I can see why you recommend Stagedoor so highly. It was really nurturing for her. She got a pretty major role, did incredibly well with it, and came home with a much greater sense of self confidence. However, she is a realist and worried that she would not be able to make a career of it, despite how much she likes it.</p>
<p>To add to the confusion, she is a pretty good student academically with a 4.0 GPA so far (taking an AP History and Honors courses) who is also interested in anthropology/archaeology after experiencing an archaeological dig project through her school. And English literature is one of her other loves.</p>
<p>She’ll have some tough decisions to make down the road, and I think she is struggling to narrow her focus. She also feels that her ballet school would not be happy if she took the summer off from dancing, and since she plans to return there next Fall, it looks like the combo of Joffrey and Stagedoor might be a better choice for this summer. If she decides to opt out of her ballet school Senior year, perhaps she could do a longer theater program the summer between Junior and Senior years.</p>
<p>I think it is really up to your sister and there is no right or wrong answer and it is a matter of preference. </p>
<p>I agree with you that she could do the ballet intensive this summer (and Stagedoor Manor…thus a dance and a theater intensive) and then when her direction may be more developed, make a decision which to focus on next summer after junior year. </p>
<p>Also, your sister likes many things and doesn’t have to decide and can do a BA school that has strong theater and dance, as well as academics. That may be something to explore but she’ll have to see if she really wants to do a BFA in Dance or Theater or Musical Theater, but those are more for people who are certain of a path they wish to pursue. A BA might be a great option for someone like your sister. </p>
<p>MIT may be the “anti-Brown” but she is there for grad school and so it’s different. </p>
<p>You seem like a nice brother to put this kind of care into your sister and I admire that. I hope she has an awesome summer and I am glad she liked Stagedoor a lot. Enjoy Cambridge…I lived there several years when I went to college and grad school too.</p>