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Dance after High School: Pre-Professional, Conservatory or Liberal Arts College Program?

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college dance

Serious dancers have choices to make to pursue their passion to a professional career. The differences in these three choices primarily reflect the amount of focused study in dance to the inclusion or exclusion of other subject areas.

Pre-professional programs (sometimes called trainee or apprentice program) at a professional ballet company school, for instance, will usually comprise a day beginning with ballet technique classes followed by rehearsals either with a second company or the main company in the corps or ensemble roles. Classes in partnering, variations, modern, jazz, choreography, etc. may also be included. Students are generally in their last few years of high school (and work to finish their high school courses) or just graduated from high school. Training and performance is emphasized and the opportunity to be seen by and perform with professionals leading to the possibility of being hired. It may be advisable to go through the college application process and then defer admittance to pursue this path for a year or two. It is very important to know the focus of the program/company in terms of repertoire and style and how the faculty teach technique class as study will generally be with only 2-3 teachers. There is generally a high level of competition to be accepted into these programs.

Advantages:

  • Maximizing training hours in the company studios and onstage at a younger age
  • Exposure to and total focus on dancing at a high level with possibility of being hired by that company
  • Experiencing and witnessing what it is like to work professionally and having an opportunity to perform with professionals
  • Costs much less than college and oftentimes includes a stipend and help with housing
  • Possibility of more focused attention from the fewer number of teachers who get to know their students well
  • Relatively small faculty and small peer group.

Conservatory programs offer BFA degrees (Bachelor of Fine Arts) and focus strongly on dance and related arts with relatively few required courses in academic, non-arts. These are generally self-contained institutions such at The Juilliard School or North Carolina School of the Arts where all the students art studying one art form very seriously with exposure to and study of the other art forms. There is often the opportunity for students to study composition and choreograph. The faculty is generally comprised of professionals who work/worked extensively in their field. There is generally a high level of competition to be accepted into the premiere programs.

Liberal Arts College programs offer BA and sometimes BFA and MA/MFA degree programs in dance. The focus is on providing a liberal arts education through a required core curriculum of academics with a focus on dance. The first 2-3 semesters (depending on AP credits from high school) include these core academics alongside dance and arts requirements. While there are a few programs with distinct major programs in a Ballet and a Modern Dance Department, most colleges and universities have one Dance Department and offer training in both ballet and modern and other dance forms as well as related arts. Many programs offer related majors, minors or certifications such as in Arts Administration or Pilates; there is generally a wide array of elective courses within the department and performing arts to pursue a secondary interest. There is usually the possibility to study composition and choreograph as well as study pedagogy and student teach. There is the possibility at most programs to double major or minor in either a related art or an academic area although a double major is generally extremely demanding and often discouraged. Most but not all departments require an audition and the competitiveness to be accepted varies widely. The focus, training, faculty background and size, course offerings, performance opportunities, guest artists, and facilities also vary widely. It is very important to research and understand these factors at each department you are considering in relation to your goals.

In summary, there are more choices than ever to pursue dance beyond high school. It may be helpful to seek the advice of a professional college counselor and a professional in the dance field to help guide you. High School counselors, except at Performing Arts High Schools, and parents, unless they are in the arts profession, do not feel qualified with enough information to advise their students/children on their dance education and career. Because it is such a specialized field, it is wise to get specialized advice, assessment and assistance from a expert performing arts counselor or a dance professional.

-Diane Coburn Bruning
Choreographer
Dance and Performing Arts Consultant, College Match

Diane is a nationally-recognized choreographer working with professional dance, opera and theatre companies throughout the U.S. and abroad. She has been a guest artist at over 25 universities, conservatories and professional schools. She is a graduate of Butler University and NYU in Dance with post-graduate study at Yale School of Drama. If you have questions, you may write her at [email protected]

College Dance Auditions: You Don’t Have Much Time

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college dance auditions

Last week I had to audition 60 dancers in two hours for 5 professional jobs. I decided which to cut or keep within a minute of watching each auditioner dance two sequences in small groups.

A while ago I shared a ballet masters’ office while I was a guest
choreographer at a ballet company. The ballet master watched audition tapes for a minute or two to decide whether to invite them to an audition for the company or not. He had a large stack to get through on his breaks.

While college auditions don’t generally cut in this manner, in their minds, the faculty at highly competitive dance departments likely are taking a few minutes to assess you as a dancer. (Some schools have hundreds auditioning for 25 spots). The reality is that it takes only a few minutes for an experienced choreographer, ballet master, or teacher to assess your level, training, talent and potential. Colleges are interested in your long term potential, companies look shorter term and choreographers cast for works that often begin the next day or month.

How well you do in an audition has less to do with what you do on that day than what you have done for the years before in preparation. Begin in your freshman or sophomore year of high school to consider if you want to go to college for dance, why, with what outcome and what colleges or conservatories would help you get there. Then get several truly professional assessments of your dancing (in addition to your teacher’s).

Listen both to what they feel you need to work on and what they feel your potential is. Then build a plan and get to work. It takes years of study and hard work to be successful in the few minutes you will have at an audition.

– Diane Coburn Bruning
Choreographer
Director, Performing Arts Division, College Match

Diane is a nationally-recognized choreographer working with professional dance, opera and theatre companies throughout the U.S. and abroad. She has been a guest artist at over 25 universities, conservatories and professional schools. She is a graduate of Butler University (Dance) and NYU (Choreography) with post-graduate study in lighting and scenic design at Yale School of Drama. She is working on an upcoming guide to the best college dance departments.
If you have questions, mailto:[email protected]

p.s. – Let them know you dance…

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p.s. – Let them know you dance….by Diane Coburn Bruning

I have noticed in the last 5-6 years that more and more colleges and universities where I am a guest artist have extra-curricular dance clubs, teams and performing groups. These are at schools such as Elon, Bucknell and Richmond where there is a dance department with majors. But these are run by the non-major students who danced before they came to college and want to continue while pursuing another major. They rehearse, they perform, they contribute to campus life.

They contribute to campus life! Admissions wants to know what you will contribute to campus life! So, let them know you dance. Provide a short, professionally-produced dvd of your dancing and add a section on your dance experience to your resume. You may be an engineer student by day but dance by night. They just may like that combination…

-Diane Coburn Bruning, Performing Arts Consultant

A Hopes & Dreams exercise; & How to Think like an Admissions Officer

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Continuing from the last blog post… (2 sections today)

An Exercise:

Have you ever written down (whether on paper or typed) your dreams for your student/child? Here’s your chance! We’ll get to that in just a sec….

Brand U offers parents and students a fun and rewarding collaboration that will help students maximize their college experience and enter the real world with poise and momentum.

We begin this collaboration by exploring what your hopes and intentions are for the journey ahead. Take the time to express to your hopes for your child, and listen closely to what your child envisions, observing ways you can lend support.

The Exercise: Hopes & Intentions (30 minutes)

Goal: To explore your hopes and intentions for the journey your child will take into adulthood.

Instructions: Write all your hopes and dreams for your student, for college, and after college. How do you imagine your child leading a happy and fulfilled life in the decades to come? Write whatever comes to mind.

Have you thought about sharing this with your student/child? How did they respond?

Have you asked them if they’ve written down theirs yet?  Did they share them with you? 

(excerpt from BRAND U)  Think Like An Admissions Officer – Uniqueness

You’re an admissions officer at a major university. For three very intense months, you spend somewhere between six and twelve hours each day reading applications—hundreds of them—from nice, well-meaning kids, and you have somewhere between 10 and 20 minutes to decide their fate.

In that time, you have to figure out who the student is, what makes her special, and what unique value she can o er the university. Unfortunately, as you flip through the files, you find the same molds repeating themselves, an endless succession of honors students and varsity athletes, math club members and science team leaders, all with good track records, but with little to help you distinguish what’s special.

Your vision blurs. You yawn, stretch, and toss another file into the 50/50 pile.
You reach for another, wondering how much more you can take, when suddenly, you wake from your stupor, reading about a student with unique promise—an unusual combination of passion and talent who has constructed a rock-solid picture of who she is, what she loves, and what she wants out of life.

Her unique experience will add value to your university in ways that no other student can, and her knowledge about your school proves how vested she is in creating her future. You feel a tingling, a thrill of pride as you place her in the acceptance pile, giving her a springboard into a promising future.

It’s moments like these that make the job worthwhile.

—

Thanks for tuning in!

Next time we move onto Part 2 from the BRAND U book – ”LOCATING SPARKS: Value and Uniqueness”

www.collegematchus.com

CREATING SPARKS: the need for method

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The next section shared here is about the need for a clear head, and using strategy on multiple fronts when taking on the admissions process.

”CREATING SPARKS: the need for method

COLLEGE CAN BE approached in two ways:
• The adult fashion, using a step-by-step strategy to meet the tough challenges of preparation, selection, and admission head-on in an inspired way.
• The adolescent fashion, avoiding the tough challenges with hasty preparation, procrastination, and conforming to what others do.

The college experience, and the many decades of life that follow, are very much determined by the approach to college as it is by college itself. College begins long before students arrive on campus, even before they fill out applications or select schools.

College begins now, while your child is still in high school. The actions and intentions of today create the life your child will lead in the years to come. As a parent, you’ve spent years of steady dedication and sacrifice to give your child a rewarding life.

We realize that time is limited but you can still play the pivotal role of helping your student grasp the magnitude of this moment and the importance of approaching college with a method.

The need for method: college selection
Most high school students, without guidance, will take an adolescent approach to college. they’ll choose by what matters to them in the moment, the thrill of football games or amazing parties or the prestige of a magazine ranking, not realizing that there are far more profound elements that must come into play. As a result, many students select schools without thinking through what they want out of college and where college will take them—a choice which is in many ways a blind leap that lands them in the frustration and regret of dropping out, transferring, and being disappointed at school, all at the cost of lost years and tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Montesano Method makes sure that doesn’t happen.

Through a series of sure-footed steps, Brand U guides students through a process of self-discovery, working organically from each student’s unique talents and interests. through experience with the Brand U method, students build a fire of vision that helps students see where they want college to take them. As a result, when the time for choosing comes, students can pinpoint the undergraduate experience best suited for them.

the need for method: gaining admission
Students have a million things on their minds. Every day brings a constant flux of expectations from parents, friends, peers, coaches, and teachers, just to name a few. With so much to worry about, college preparation can often seem like just another chore.

Out of a sense of duty, students might peruse some websites and attend the required test-prep classes, but ultimately, the applications get filled out with fingers crossed. With admissions becoming more and more competitive by the year, this approach is like a roll of the dice.

Admission comes. Or it doesn’t. Either way, this is a passive, disempowered approach, and we believe a child’s future is far too valuable to leave things to chance.

Therefore, Brand U builds off of each student’s inner fire and sense of purpose to forge an identity that is conveyed to admissions boards through the Brand, a time-tested tool that can increase a student’s chance of admission by as much 92 percent over the national average.

Twice as many schools, twice as many options, all because of a little front-loaded effort.

the need for method: performance in college

An astounding number of college students don’t graduate in four years: over 40%!

Without the support system of home, college can be a time of regression from high school successes to a time of wandering and grasping at external expectations of success for many young people. Many students leave school disappointed with their experience, and approach the “real world” feeling unprepared, with deep anxiety about what they are supposed to “do with their lives.”

These unpleasant realities can be curtailed with a method that makes sure that the transformation into adulthood begins long before the weight of college graduation sets in.

Brand U offers parents and students a fun and rewarding collaboration that will help students maximize their college experience and enter the real world with poise and momentum.

We begin this collaboration by exploring what your hopes and intentions are for the journey ahead. Take the time to express to your hopes for your child, and listen closely to what your child envisions, observing ways you can lend support.”

That should give you plenty to think about.  Next time, an exercise and ”Think like an admissions officer.” Thank you for tuning in!

www.CollegeMatchUS.com