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After a busy summer of competition, teaching, and choreography, I'M BACK! I'm thrilled to re-enter the blogging world with something new for me. A series as well as blogs highlighting the personal experiences of others! I am always striving to help anyone and everyone, in any way that I possibly can. It is my sincerest hope that this series of blog posts will be useful and informative to those in the search of "what's next" in their lives.
For some, it is time to start seriously considering universities, dance programs, and collegiate dance teams. As exciting as this time is, it can also stressful on both students and parents. In effort to alleviate even the smallest amount of confusion, I reached out to the dance world for help in this project. What better way to "get the real deal" of information than to have the students of the universities, and parents, whom have recently gone through this process, share their experiences.
Over the next few weeks, I will continue this series. The blog posts will be actual statements about personal experiences at different universities, information on college dance teams from members, and things parents wished they would have known to ask. This week, my series will be begin with dance majors and minors.
As you know, I write from the heart. I like to just "keep it real." These wonderful people were so gracious to give of their time, write from their heart, and keep it real right along with me. I am incredibly thankful to each and every fantastic person for jumping in head-first with me on this project. I hope you enjoy and benefit from their experiences and the information they have provided.
Jazmin Thomas – CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY
Chapman University is known as one of the most sought after colleges in Orange County. I graduated in four years with a BFA in Dance Performance, and a minor in Public Relations. Chapman drew me in with its small class sizes, which allowed for more one on one attention with professors. What made my decision to choose Chapman’s dance program apart from the other programs I applied and auditioned for was jazz as part of the curriculum. The three main focuses are ballet, modern, and jazz. They also offer some fun elective courses such as hip-hop, ballroom, tap, Pilates and yoga for dancers. There are also many performance and student choreography opportunities provided. With three shows each in the Fall and Spring semesters, students will definitely get the chance to perform. Starting sophomore year, students also have the opportunity to choreograph their own pieces for one of the Fall shows and all Spring shows.
Performance scholarships are offered as well as academic. Chapman also gives out financial aid that majority of the student body utilizes. As a dance major you can either receive a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Dance. Most dance majors have a minor or cluster, while a few decide to double major. What’s great is that Chapman makes it possible to double major and graduate in four years. The dance program encourages you to choose your own path and provides guidance in doing so. Dancers coming out of Chapman go in many different directions like company based work, commercial dance, dance instructors, Broadway, and so on. I am very lucky to have gone to an amazing school like Chapman with such a welcoming environment that will always feel like a second home.
Sienna Kresge – CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY
I transferred to Chapman University after my freshman year at Oklahoma City University, for various reasons, and I had a rocky transition, so my experience is a bit atypical. In general, I made the switch because I wanted more freedom to really personalize my education. This is what attracted me to Chapman in the first place. Luckily, I was accepted after sending in an application and a video, but the department scholarships are competitive and were already allocated by the time I applied (although I did receive an academic scholarship). The program equally requires classes in ballet, jazz, and modern, and students may also choose from various electives like hip-hop, tap, ballroom, yoga, and Pilates. Most of the dance concerts are based in modern or contemporary choreography, but there are other opportunities to perform outside those styles in various clubs, student choreography shows, and the huge College of Performing Arts fundraiser show in the fall. What I think makes the Chapman dance program stand out among the rest are the many opportunities to cultivate creation and student choreography, as well as fostering physical intelligence and academic knowledge about anatomy, kinesiology, somatics, dance history, and choreographic theory. There is a BA and a BFA degree offered, the latter of which must be auditioned for at the end of your sophomore year. The only major differences between the two are that the BFA is more focused, requiring more technique class credits, an second choreography course, an additional BFA-only technique class on Fridays, and, as of recently, a BFA solo showcase at the end of your senior year.
I was accepted into the BFA program and participated in that curriculum for a semester before realizing it wasn’t for me. As a transfer and somewhat of an introvert, my first year and a half at Chapman was quite lonely. Likewise, with my mother in the dance industry and literally being surrounded by dance in almost every capacity from the womb until I was 19, I struggled to connect with my dance peers who could be excitedly nourished by the social microcosm of the dance school. I transferred craving freedom to explore my interests and passions outside of dance, but I only ended up frustrating myself with over-commitment because I didn’t know how to take one foot out of the pool—instead, I found myself knee-deep in burnout.
Luckily, I had wonderfully empathetic professors who pushed me in a direction where I could more fully realize myself and my needs. I switched to the BA and picked up a double major in philosophy. Instead of auditioning for every possible thing and wearing myself out physically and emotionally from the inner political hierarchies and back-to-back rehearsal hours, I picked up other academic classes of interest, took singing and piano lessons, started writing for an online magazine and the school newspaper, began a Pilates certification, and watched a lot of Bill Murray films (we all need something to fill the void, right?).
The biggest mistake anyone can make going into college is marrying a plan and expecting to love it for the next four years. I wish I could tell my high school self that you don’t need to have an all-or-nothing relationship with dance. Wherever you pursue higher education, what’s most important is building experiences and expanding your worldview. In turn, these things will inform your craft and make you a better, smarter dancer and human.
Jasmine Pham - UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT IRVINE
The University of California, Irvine Department of Dance is a world-wide recognized program for graduate and undergraduate dance study. The program is conservatory based and has a heavy focus on ballet and modern. As a dance major in the UCI Dance program, you are able to choose between three different degrees offered. The most basic degree offered is the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), which is a general, well-rounded dance education experience. You also have a choice between two different Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A) programs: performance or choreography, which is a more rigorous schedule and requires additional work in the specific field of study. The UCI Department of Dance offers many different classes for a student including ballet, modern, African jazz, beginning tap and breaking, health and nutrition, dance history, music for dancers, and kinesiology.
As a dance major with a focus in choreography at UCI, I found the program very different from what I grew up doing as a studio competition dancer. There were no rhinestoned costumes or flashy musical theater routines. Instead, the program focused more on how to develop your artistry without relying on your tricks to wow the audience. The movement you work on in the program is less geared towards dancers looking to work in the industry, but more tailored to dancers hoping to be a part of modern or ballet companies. The UCI Department of Dance puts on many shows a year giving dance majors the opportunity to perform and choreograph for a large audience. The environment of the program is supportive without smothering their dancers. They allow you to have other commitments outside of their program, like competing on hip hop crews, working as a parade dancer at Disneyland, or traveling with dance competitions on the weekends. As long as you put your education at a high priority, the faculty and your peers will work with you to help you achieve your goals. UCI has a pretty hard audition that lasts about 7 hours, but it varies from year to year.
Taylor Valadez - UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
The University of Michigan Dance Department is mainly focused on ballet and modern. In a typical week dance majors will take one ballet technique class and one modern technique class every Monday through Thursday. We have the same teachers every Monday and Wednesday and different teachers every Tuesday and Thursdays. On Tuesday and Thursday, we also have our composition class and this is a very student work driven class. Here, we are given many tools and assignments that will help us produce our own work all gearing up for our senior concert. On Fridays, we have our lab classes and these are only once a week for two hours. Lab classes are my favorite because they offer a lot of different classes outside of just modern and ballet, like Yoga Lab or Improv Lab.
The Major requirements are a lot more extensive compared to the minor. But for both programs you must complete a certain amount of technique classes and composition classes to graduate. One difference between the Major and the Minor is that for the Major you also have to do your senior concert, which is when you produce an eight-minute-long group piece and a four-minute-long solo. These pieces are performed at one of the theaters on campus and seniors typically combine their pieces with three other seniors to create a two hour long Senior BFA Show.
There are so many performance opportunities at the University of Michigan, but the biggest of them all is the yearly Power Center Show. For this show, a couple Dance Faculty will create works on the dance students as well as two outside guests. Some other awesome performance opportunities are the Senior BFA concerts. At the beginning of the school year, the Seniors will audition all the Freshman through Juniors for their pieces. Then, you usually will get casted in one to three of them. After that, you have weekly rehearsals with them preparing for their senior concert. The Senior BFA concerts happen at the end of first semester and the end of second semester.
Auditions for the dance department are pretty simple. You have to submit the normal application through the Common Application, and you also must send in a pre-screening video where you demonstrate some exercises that are pre-recorded for you to replicate. You also submit a solo. Once you make past the pre-screening round of auditions, you will be offered an in-person audition at the Dance Building. There you will be shown around the dance school and have the opportunity to talk to some faculty, the dance chair, and some current students. After that, you will take a modern and ballet class where the faculty will observe you taking class. Then, you will go into a room where you can warm-up for you solo. One by one, you will be taken into a separate room to preform your solo for the faculty. Once everyone is done, you will meet with a faculty member and have a casual conversation(interview) with them about your plans for next year. They also want to know why you chose Michigan, and all that fun stuff. Once your interview is done, the audition is over and you are free to leave. Trust me it sounds scary, but it is actually so much fun.
Scholarships are offered at the University of Michigan. You can either receive an academic one for grades and SAT/ACT scores, or you can receive one from the Dance Department. Scholarships from the Dance Department are determined at the live auditions and those are based off of dance ability.
Justin Quandt - UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
This program offers a triple track! You can focus on jazz, modern, or ballet! I chose this program due to the emphasis on jazz which is a true passion of mine, but left being well rounded in all 3 aspects of dance. Many schools do not offer jazz so this was a natural choice.
There are many performance opportunities throughout the year in concerts put on by faculty to the chance to choreograph yourself and audition your own pieces to be performed or the school even travels worldwide for performances as well! This school will get you physically, mentally, and emotionally ready to conquer all aspects of the professional world, whether it be performing, teaching, choreography and anything in between!
You have to audition to get in the program and there are definitely opportunities to get scholarships from the minute you arrive at the school! They hold the annual Arizona Jazz Dance Showcase, which is a great opportunity to get a feel for the program, watch one of their concerts, and even audition to get in the program!
The faculty is well versed and have all had outstanding careers in the field. The dance department was my second home and the faculty and dancers were my family! I couldn't speak highly enough of this program!
Megan Carcioppolo - UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
My name is Megan Carcioppolo and I graduated from the University of Arizona. There was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to go there because they have one of the top dance programs in the country. My degree is in Arts, Media and Entertainment with Jazz minor in Dance. Since I knew this was where I wanted to go, I applied to the University my junior year of high school and auditioned that same year. Programs like these only take a small group of incoming freshman so if they see you have already been accepted to the school they will assume you will be attending and not auditioning for other programs. They have multiple audition dates and opportunities to come out audition. The program offers three different degrees, Ballet, Modern and Jazz so that’s what they base their audition on. Like any audition, you wear a black leotard and pink tights and you start with ballet, then jazz and modern following that. Then you wait…within a month you receive a letter from them finding out where you have been placed. All letters come with some feedback on what they thought about you and your audition. This is always nice because you can take their critiques and come back and audition again, if you have not already been accepted in the program.
My classes elevated my technique and I became a stronger dancer because of their program. Even though my emphasis was in Jazz, I was able to take classes in Ballet, Modern, hip-hop, technique and choreography. The classes are smaller so you get individual help, which pushed me to be a better dancer. Being surrounded by other people who have the same drive and passion as you makes you enjoy it that much more.
Angela Price - AMERICAN MUSICAL AND DRAMATIC ACADEMY (AMDA)
Hi, my name is Angela Price and I am a fourth semester student at the American musical and dramatic academy (AMDA) in New York City. Amda is a a two-year conservatory program so we do not take regular academic classes at the New York campus. There is an LA campus that offers a four year program in order to earn a BFA, but I do not attend that campus so there isn't much more I can say about that! I came to Amda because I wanted to be an all-around performer, not just a good dancer. No matter what program you are in at Amda (dance theater, integrated, studio) you learn the basics of dancing singing and acting. Since it is only two years it is a very fast paced program. Our wonderful and accomplished teachers try to feed us as much information as possible in the short time we have together. In the dance theater program we have all types of dance classes, acting classes, musical theater classes, as well as classical voice training. Amda is a theater based school, so definitely make sure you are interested in it before making a decision. Research all of the schools you are applying to. Going to this school is hard work but it has been very good for me. I was primarily a dancer my whole life but since coming to Amda I now consider myself an actress and singer as well. I never could have gotten this training at home. No matter what you decide, remember to always work hard and have fun!
"We cannot procrastinate. The world of the future is in our making. Tomorrow is now." -Eleanor Roosevelt
Hannah Davis - SOUTHEASTERN LOUISISIANA UNIVERSITY
I am a general studies major with a dance concentration at Southeastern Louisiana University. This university doesn’t offer a major, but does offer a minor. The dance focus at SLU is contemporary, and unfortunately due to the lack of funding for our program, we only have one teacher, so our classes are limited. There is also a strict focus on artistry and the technical part of dance is better left at home. Since I've been dancing for 16 years and am a competitive dancer, and wanting to open my own dance studio, this isn't particularly my most ideal place to be, and I will be transferring soon due to this. However, for those who are not in the competitive field, it's a great place to be. There is creativity overflowing from this dance program, and it really stretches how you process concepts, movement, and themes.
If you are interested in contributing to this series, please email me. meredith@thecompetitiveedgebymeredith.com
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