liberal arts vs. conservatory

soozievt
Mon, 05 Jun 2006 22:50:27 +0000

Fish,

I don’t think the thread should be ABOUT Tisch. The OP wanted a BFA program for her D that had some liberal arts and that were academically challenging. As discussions go, topics come up, there are responses to further posts and so on. In order to respond to something in a post and if it is about a program, then the response will be about that. Certainly all aspects of the OP’s question/topic should be discussed and not limited to one topic that came up along the way.

Since you were responding to my post above, or at least appear to be in some parts as you are quoting me, I’ll respond to your post, even if Tisch is discussed in part of your post.

“It has been pretty well documented on this forum that CAP21 students sometimes switch into other studios third year because they find the acting portion of the triple threat training to be deficient for their purposes.”

I have not seen this well documented though may have missed it. I know that there was one poster who had discussed this who was in a DIFFERENT studio at Tisch, not CAP, and that post was subsequently deleted by Roger Dooley who posted:

“We determined that several posts that purported to have been written by Tisch students (a couple of different threads) were not posted by Tisch students, but in fact by non-student posters who had their posting privileges revoked a few weeks ago. We do not allow members to misrepresent themselves, pose as others, register with mulitiple identities, or re-register after losing membership privileges.”

My daughter has only gone to CAP for one year so far. So far, she is very happy with the acting training and one aspect to consider in choosing Tisch is that it is a Drama school, not a music school…just a difference in terms of emphasis. Each person wants/likes different approaches. My D happens to really like the acting training and had a wonderful acting teacher this past year, Larry Arancio. They take acting three times per week. There is a lot of work on scenes that are assigned.

“Also, it sounds like your kid did a lot of musicals in h/s, community theatre, and at the Stage Door Manor summer camp before she went to Tisch. From the actor training perspective, that’s mostly performing – not training. I’m not saying that’s a bad background to have, but it’s not the same as starting college/conservatory with anywhere from two to six years of process-based actor training.”

I really do not wish to make the thread about my own child other than I’ve given any information I have from her program (which fits the criteria that the OP is looking for, though I suggested other schools as well and in fact, thought your list was an excellent one). I will respond to your comment, however. That is not a full picture of my D’s background at all. In fact, it is highly important to have training, not just performance experience. Training in voice, acting, and dance is critical. Production experiences are additional learning opportunities. My D has been studying voice for years…private lessons, group lessons, workshops, chorus, select choir, jazz, and so on. If she had no training, I doubt she’d get into a BFA on production experience alone. She also has an extensive background in music her entire life…three instruments, private lessons, National Piano Auditions for ten years, band, jazz band, jazz theory, music theory, etc. She has won state awards in classical voice and jazz voice and an NFAA merit award. She has a solid background in music theory and placed out of the college courses that were required. She is has been a director and musical director and arranger of music and sight reads proficiently, and so on. She has trained in ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, modern and hip hop for 13 years for about 13 hours per week including select repertory troupes and has worked as a choreographer. At Stagedoor Manor, it is not just a performance camp. Rather, they take 8 classes there every three week session and she has attended for 16 sessions over 8 summers, and these classes have included Master Acting Classes. She also worked with a private acting coach who teaches on the college level. She has had more training in singing and dancing than acting but does have acting training (not counting the dramas she has been in, including professional). She was flattered to even make the waitlist for ACTING at CMU given that she has more singing/dancing training than acting classes over the years. Yes, she has production experience and no, it wasn’t all school or summer youth theater, but actually has done professional paid theater as well. The adult productions she has been in are learning opportnities as well.

The thing is, you went to a performing arts HS. We don’t have those in our state. Therefore, here… after going to school all day (though in school, my D was involved in music), she, like many others who don’t go to PA high schools, had to supplement the training every afternoon, evening and weekend with lessons/classes, etc. More hours may be involved because it is in addition to regular school. However, please realize that she, like most kids I know in BFA programs at every top conservatory, have been training in all three areas of MT during the school year and in summers. At CAP, her peers have similar backgrounds with variations…some went to PA high schools as well. I haven’t heard the kids who came out of PA high schools claiming that the work in the BFA program was not challenging enough. Perhaps some may feel that way, but I am not aware of it. Perhaps since you focused on acting in a PA HS, the training at a place like CAP would not be fitting. I am not sure any MT program would suit your needs since you are going after acting training. My D feels, as do some of her peers, that while she had lots of training before college, that there is still so much more to learn and to grow. As well, it is stimulating to be in an environment with many other talented youth as it pushes you and one is not so much a standout as one had been in a more local venue.

“This is why a large number of the students you see at the top conservatories either come from arts h/s backgrounds or have extensive professional resumes.”

Over the years, my D has made many friends who have gone onto BFA programs due to the fact that she spent 8 summers with kids from around the country and even other countries who were passionate about theater and many of whom chose to go onto BFA programs, and some to BA ones. These kids, for the most part, had similar backgrounds in terms of training and certainly spent their summers in the same capacity. From this peer group, I know kids who went onto Juilliard, UMich, CCM, CMU, Tisch, Steinhardt, BOCO, BU (Acting), NCSA, Emerson, Syracuse, Ithaca, UMiami, USC, Northwestern off the top of my head. Some opted to go the BA in theater route such as Brown, Yale, Harvard, Cornell, Penn, Tufts, Vassar, Muhlenberg, Skidmore (others too but those are the ones I can think of where several have gone). Rarely did any of these kids go to PA high schools. All have production experiences. A few have done professional theater, including my D. I can think of a peer who is heading to Northwestern in the fall who has been in two Broadway shows. I have not heard any of these kids say they feel “stuck” or that the work is not challenging in any of these BFA programs. The girl I know studying acting at Juilliard went to a private prep school (not a PA school) and went to SDM for many summers. I don’t think that all the students at the top BFA programs are from PA high schools or have professional experience. Some do but it is not required. So much rides on the audition. Obviously to be good in an audition, one is the sum of their training and even prior performance experiences.

“The difference is that the college/university BFAs typically start off with baby steps for those who’ve not yet learned to “read” and gradually increase the pace while the conservatories allow for a few baby steps before taking off at a full gallop leaving those same students hanging on for dear life – with absolutely no time or energy left for rigorous academics.”

I am not clear on the distinction you are making between BFAs in a college/university setting from stand alone conservatories. These are easier? Hmm, not sure I agree. The stand alone conservatories are BOCO, UArts, Shenandoah, and not sure where else…I’m talking ONLY of MT (so Juilliard or NCSA are not in this group). CCM is in a university setting. CMU is mostly all conservatory with very little liberal arts so perhaps that should be in the “stand alone conservatory”? But I definitely don’t think the BFA program at a place like UMich, Tisch, or CCM go slowly. I think the talent pool is as strong at a BFA program that is not a stand alone conservatory. After all, many students have opted for such a setting out of choice. This includes kids I know who are Equity or have even been on Broadway.

As I mentioned before, if you knock out the Theater Studies courses at Tisch (since you are grouping that with the professional theater training, though I saw those courses as more academic in nature but related to the training), then there is one liberal arts course per semester, which is not too different than at many conservatories I’ve looked into. The difference may be the rigor/challenge level compared to a BFA program’s academic offerings at a place that is less selective to be admitted to ACADEMICALLY.

CONTINUED>>>>