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My final post on university dance programs from a dancers perspective features Marymount Manhattan College and Oklahoma City University. As I bring this portion of the "Finding the Perfect University Series" to a close, it is my sincerest hope that these outstanding people and this blog series have helped you in your journey. These smart and talented dancers are such great souls, and I am grateful for the time they have generously given to this project. A big thank you to Nancy and Carly for taking the time out of their busy schedules to write for my series this week in order to share their experiences with YOU!
To all of you on the search, I wish you the best of luck in finding the perfect new "dance home"! I hope that this series has provided valuable insight into some universities by dancers guiding other dancers in the sharing of their experiences and providing information about the program they chose.
Nancy Donnes - MARYMOUNT MANHATTAN COLLEGE
The audition process at Marymount Manhattan College is very similar to many of the other college dance programs you’ll run into. The audition is divided into two parts, with a cut in the middle. The first part consists of a ballet class, followed by a modern and jazz portion. After these styles, a cut was made. I can't remember the exact numbers, but there was about 70-80 girls at the audition and 30 made it past the cut. (These numbers obviously can vary with every audition). The dancers left were then asked to individually perform a solo and had a short interview with the program’s faculty. Marymount Manhattan offers four on campus and four off-campus auditions. This year, they will have auditions in Austin, Chicago, San Francisco, and West Palm Beach. They also offer a video submission with specific instructions as an option too. Although, college auditions can be extremely intimidating, I always felt so welcomed at Marymount Manhattan. I will always remember the Chair of the Dance Department, Katie Langan, looking at all of us and simply saying, “Relax. We're on your side.”
Marymount Manhattan has a very diverse program that can be taken into many different avenues of dance. It is a place for dancers wanting a very demanding, challenging, and technique based curriculum. The dance program actually offers two degrees, a BA and BFA in Dance. Within these two degrees, there are four concentrations. In the Bachelor of Arts Degree (BA), there is Teaching Dance Arts, Dance Studies, Body, Science, & Motion and Dance & Media. In the Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree (BFA), there is Modern, Ballet, Jazz, and Choreography. I am a BFA Dance major, concentrating in Jazz. Your concentration isn't something that’s set in stone either. You don't have to officially decide until you are an upperclassmen. Dancers at Marymount Manhattan are required to take daily classes in Ballet, Jazz, and Modern, providing a strong foundation in the core genres of dance. Marymount Manhattan’s curriculum is very individual and can be shaped to get all the things you want out of college. The BAs definitely have the flexibility to pursue a double major. The BFAs can also pursue a double major, it is just more challenging.
Dance majors at Marymount Manhattan have two opportunities to perform at the end of every semester. The first show is called Dancers At Work and is all student choreographed. The other show is The Mainstage show. For this show, faculty members and guest choreographers are brought in to set pieces on the dancers. Marymount Manhattan provides dancers with an incredibly individual yet rigorous program with many opportunities to nurture and develop your artistry in class and on stage.
Personally, I think the best part about Marymount Manhattan College is the location. I heard the phrase, “New York is our campus” too many times to even count during orientation, but it really is so true! Marymount is literally in the heart of Manhattan, giving students access to all of New York City’s resources at their fingertips. It’s especially beneficial for dancers because there are so many opportunities to take outside dance classes at places like Broadway Dance Center, Steps on Broadway, or Peridance. In addition to classes, dancers can go see so many shows, whether it be on Broadway, at The Joyce, or at The Metropolitan Opera. The possibilities are endless, and the experiences are unlike those in any other city. I’ve only been at Marymount for a little over two weeks, but I honestly can say the environment has been incredible. I feel constant support from my peers and teachers. It’s evident that all of my professors truly care about my future and providing me with the skills I need to succeed. It hasn't even been a month and I already feel like I have improved as a dancer and gained immense knowledge about my body and the way it can move. All of the others dancers in the program have been so friendly. I feel like I have already made lifelong friends and gained such a close-nit family in these people. Overall, I feel so at home and am consistently inspired by the talent that surrounds me. Ultimately, Marymount Manhattan College creates an encouraging environment for artists to excel.
Carly Crowder - OKLAHOMA CITY UNIVERSITY
To be accepted into the Dance Department at OCU, you must first audition. This audition is set up into fantastic segments that allow the incoming dancers (and families tagging along for the audition) to see the Dance Facility for what it truly stands for, the next step in your dance career. Each dancer has a number, each dancer (alphabetically by last name) is sent into the studio that they will be taking class in, and each dancer will get to work first-hand with the amazing faculty members of the Dance Department. The dancers will be rotated through each technical style that is primarily focused upon within the department: ballet, jazz, and tap. The dancers wear leotards, with tights under their leotards, hair slicked back with hairspray, and makeup. This is the first phase of the fantastic segments I mentioned before. Once the classes have finished, and of course a quick lunch break, the second phase begins. Parents and dancers will join the Chairman and Deans of the Dance Department for a meeting about the program. Questions and expectations are given during this meeting to assure everyone that the dancers will be taken care of and will soon become very successful/employable performers. The department is strict, the department is well-known, and the department is highly demanding... but the dancers will absolutely become employed. The final phase begins when it is time for the dancers to show off their talents on stage. OCU's Dance Department requires each performer to come prepared to perform a short solo (I believe it was only :30-:45) of complete fierceness. Define fierceness: show technique through your pirouettes, leaps, and battements... demonstrate clean transitions, and while you're at it, demonstrate levels too. Each dancer will step on stage (in front of the entire dance faculty-they're amazing) to first LOUDLY enunciate your name, you will perform your solo, and then leave the stage.The department does require each performer to weigh-in after their solo is complete... and before anyone panics, this is for the department to find a general basis of where the dancer typical is as a high-school student, before attending the school for an official weigh-in. The process sounds extensive, but that's it... your audition is done! A letter arrives in the mail for the Dance Department AND the university (because you have to be accepted academically, of course!).
The Dance Department DOES offer performance scholarships... but with that being said, it's not considered the same as a "sport scholarship." Not because dance is not a sport... but because in this case, dance will be your degree. Full-ride baseball scholarships are possible because baseball is considered an extra-cirricular activity... as it should be considered. Although the scholarships do not compare, they are still very helpful in paying for your schooling. Academic scholarships are very helpful and somewhat substantial... always apply for scholarships.
Three dance degrees offered at OCU: Dance Performance (the degree I chose), Dance Management, and Dance Pedagogy.
1. Dance Performance: the degree with the most performance opportunity. The dancer is required to auditioned for every performance, required to graduate at particular levels in ballet, tap, and jazz, and required to maintain good-standing with the Dance Department (as do the other degrees). This degree is geared toward teaching the student to become a performer in the professional world... it gives you the tools you need to network, a few pedagogy classes to learn proper techniques when teaching other students, and how to work as a union-paid dancer. The dancers in this degree will also be required to execute a "sophomore piece" (self-choreographed) for good-standing with the dance faculty, along with a capstone piece (beginning in your junior year) where you learn to structure an entire piece, from casting your own dancers, to choosing your music and designing the costumes, to creating an intent of purpose for the piece that all must be approved by the dance faculty in order to graduate. Dancers will also be required to take music fundamental classes, voice lessons, stage lighting, dance history, along with other core classes.
2. Dance Management: Less performance opportunities, but for good reason. The dancers will still perform, but there will be moments within the degree program where the dancer will be required to work in a costume shop, or earn the prestigious role of stage manager and work an entire university performance... there are numerous things the dancer could be called to do instead of performing, but that is all because the degree is geared toward the dancer learning how to manage the dance world. These dancers will have more business classes strung into their coursework, along with more behind the scenes work.
3. Dance Pedagogy: Similar dance opportunities as Dance Performance, but with these requirements due to a different focus. Although Dance Performance gives you the chance to take a pedagogy class for each technical style (tap, jazz, ballet), Dance Pedagogy digs deeper into the ideas and theories to the art of teaching dance classes. More times than not, a dance teacher is repeating what they learned from their dance teacher when they were younger... whether they were properly trained or not, but there are true guidelines and structures to creating a lesson plan for dance classes. There are true ways of dealing with students who behave a particular way, or learn differently... there are ways to teach to all-types of learners, it's fascinating.
4. Masters Program: Although I did not mention it above, OCU is a great place for a dancer to continue their education with a Master's Degree. This would be geared toward the performer that wanted to continue their learning to then teach at the college level. This Program requires the dancer to present a thesis to the dance faculty that results in presenting an entire show of work... piece after piece must be self-choreographed, costumed, introduced to make sense with the other pieces, and present an intent of purpose.
1. Dance Performance: the degree with the most performance opportunity. The dancer is required to auditioned for every performance, required to graduate at particular levels in ballet, tap, and jazz, and required to maintain good-standing with the Dance Department (as do the other degrees). This degree is geared toward teaching the student to become a performer in the professional world... it gives you the tools you need to network, a few pedagogy classes to learn proper techniques when teaching other students, and how to work as a union-paid dancer. The dancers in this degree will also be required to execute a "sophomore piece" (self-choreographed) for good-standing with the dance faculty, along with a capstone piece (beginning in your junior year) where you learn to structure an entire piece, from casting your own dancers, to choosing your music and designing the costumes, to creating an intent of purpose for the piece that all must be approved by the dance faculty in order to graduate. Dancers will also be required to take music fundamental classes, voice lessons, stage lighting, dance history, along with other core classes.
2. Dance Management: Less performance opportunities, but for good reason. The dancers will still perform, but there will be moments within the degree program where the dancer will be required to work in a costume shop, or earn the prestigious role of stage manager and work an entire university performance... there are numerous things the dancer could be called to do instead of performing, but that is all because the degree is geared toward the dancer learning how to manage the dance world. These dancers will have more business classes strung into their coursework, along with more behind the scenes work.
3. Dance Pedagogy: Similar dance opportunities as Dance Performance, but with these requirements due to a different focus. Although Dance Performance gives you the chance to take a pedagogy class for each technical style (tap, jazz, ballet), Dance Pedagogy digs deeper into the ideas and theories to the art of teaching dance classes. More times than not, a dance teacher is repeating what they learned from their dance teacher when they were younger... whether they were properly trained or not, but there are true guidelines and structures to creating a lesson plan for dance classes. There are true ways of dealing with students who behave a particular way, or learn differently... there are ways to teach to all-types of learners, it's fascinating.
4. Masters Program: Although I did not mention it above, OCU is a great place for a dancer to continue their education with a Master's Degree. This would be geared toward the performer that wanted to continue their learning to then teach at the college level. This Program requires the dancer to present a thesis to the dance faculty that results in presenting an entire show of work... piece after piece must be self-choreographed, costumed, introduced to make sense with the other pieces, and present an intent of purpose.
There are several performance opportunities at OCU.
1. Christmas Show: This performance is truly based off of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular show that features the Rockettes. Each piece has a segue that blends one into the next... making it a fantastic flow of Christmas from beginning to end. Each dancer will have an understudy, but this understudy is not a back-up, it is an additional cast. Each dancer learns multiple roles and everyone shares costumes with your cast member...this helps the dancers get used to a Broadway-setting. This training helps the dancers learn from their counter-part, along with get the opportunity to perform other roles during particular show days. There is a structured audition for this show.
2. Spring Show: This performance is strictly for the faculty members to be creative with their choreography. Although there still may be a small theme to the show, it is still more technically challenging and it tends to be different year after year. The dancers will still have a second-cast member to watch and rehearse with, but the opportunity to work with a faculty member on a deeper level occurs during this show. There is a structured audition for this show.
3. Choreography Show: Each year, the graduating class of Dance Performance majors are required to choreograph a piece for their capstone... this piece is placed in the "Choreography Show." It's an amazing performance that forces the seniors to become creative on an individual level... and is the first time the faculty will see the freshman class perform before the Christmas Show. There is an informal audition that occurs for this show... the casting process is more extensive for the seniors than it is for those auditioning.
4. Tour: The Dance Company (that everyone is primarily auditioning for to receive these performance opportunities) selects a small group of talented dancers to go "on tour" to perform outside of the universities property. The company performs pieces from the Spring Show, choreographed directly by the faculty. This performance is a very big honor.
1. Christmas Show: This performance is truly based off of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular show that features the Rockettes. Each piece has a segue that blends one into the next... making it a fantastic flow of Christmas from beginning to end. Each dancer will have an understudy, but this understudy is not a back-up, it is an additional cast. Each dancer learns multiple roles and everyone shares costumes with your cast member...this helps the dancers get used to a Broadway-setting. This training helps the dancers learn from their counter-part, along with get the opportunity to perform other roles during particular show days. There is a structured audition for this show.
2. Spring Show: This performance is strictly for the faculty members to be creative with their choreography. Although there still may be a small theme to the show, it is still more technically challenging and it tends to be different year after year. The dancers will still have a second-cast member to watch and rehearse with, but the opportunity to work with a faculty member on a deeper level occurs during this show. There is a structured audition for this show.
3. Choreography Show: Each year, the graduating class of Dance Performance majors are required to choreograph a piece for their capstone... this piece is placed in the "Choreography Show." It's an amazing performance that forces the seniors to become creative on an individual level... and is the first time the faculty will see the freshman class perform before the Christmas Show. There is an informal audition that occurs for this show... the casting process is more extensive for the seniors than it is for those auditioning.
4. Tour: The Dance Company (that everyone is primarily auditioning for to receive these performance opportunities) selects a small group of talented dancers to go "on tour" to perform outside of the universities property. The company performs pieces from the Spring Show, choreographed directly by the faculty. This performance is a very big honor.
There are required technical styles at OKU: Jazz/Tap/Ballet. These required styles go through a leveling process on the first day. The leveling process lasts about a week and is primarily for the sole purpose of placing the dancer in the correct level for the semester. There are 8 levels at OCU, broken into A and B levels. When you first audition for the dance department, the faculty decides if you will be placed in an A or B level. The A level is 1-4 (less advanced), the B level is 5-8 (more advanced). Just because a student is placed in the A level does not mean they can't move up... but it will be where they begin. These levels determine which time you will show up for class, and how you build your entire schedule when you enter as a freshman. Once you arrive for your leveling class, the faculty levels you further into a numbered class. If you are leveled into a Jazz 6 class, you are nearing the most advanced jazz class of the program. With this being said, as talented as each dancer thinks they are... the dance faculty's standards are incredibly high (as they should be), so don't expect to level in the highest number... 9.8/10 times it will never happen. Jumping ahead, to graduate (along with other requirements), each dancer must graduate in a level 5, 6, and 7. One of each. You may surpass your set-goals, but you will not graduate if you do not perform in your selected-leveled class.
Other Dance Classes- required, but by the choice of the dancer: Musical Theater class, pointe, partnering, voice lessons, acting with monologues. OCU does not offer contemporary classes, modern classes, lyrical classes, or hip hop classes... but that does not mean it doesn't exist within the school. The jazz faculty will often give a class that includes lyrical combinations or contemporary combinations, though. The dance department has faculty affiliated with performance groups within the school that provide lyrical and "dance team hip hop/jazz" movement: Liturgical (performance opportunities) and OCU pep dancers (performance opportunities at games.
The dance department's purpose is to train dancers to become employed in the most substantial way... Broadway shows, the Rockettes, cruise ships, etc. Although the department respects all types of performance-jobs, they do not push for dancers to become concert-performers, or ballerinas in a company... purely because those jobs will not make you as much money as the other more-focused job opportunities. With that being said, there is a clear focus to OCU's dance department... to become successfully employed, no matter the job, in a more theatrical way... typically in New York. Within all of this though, the faculty members are so amazing, and they become so close with the dancers over time, that they are genuinely proud of each dancer that graduates from their program. I would send any performer to OCU.
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