What are the best college dance programs for modern, ballet , contemporary and possibly jazz?

Question

My daughter's current list includes U.of Arizona, OSU, Tisch, SUNY Purchase, UNC, Greensboro, Rutgers, U.Illionis U.Wics., U.Colorado, U.Mich. and Tulane. Any comments on these? Can anyone recommend schools in Calif.?

Answer 1

Your list - with a few exceptions - looks as though you're not exactly going for the truly BEST college dance programs, but those where your daughter can also get some beefy academics. So my question back to you is: what is your daughter REALLY looking for in a dance program? What is she hoping to do with dance after college?

Another thing that needs clarification is what you mean by "contemporary," seeing as how you made it its own category. In the vast majority of university dance programs, "contemporary" dance is just what they do: it is dance that is "of today," as compared to the modernist era that began way back before the 20th century. (Which makes it quite old.) Most of today's college dance programs claim that they aim to prepare students to be "well-rounded" contemporary dancers. At 10 of your 11 schools, most people would call what they see performed (most of the time) in their shows as "modern dance." Sometimes the choreography leans more towards ballet, so they'd call it "contemporary ballet." Even if they put on pointe shoes now and then, few of these schools perform classical ballet repertoire. But outside of student choreography showcases, you won't see the style of "contemporary" dance at these schools that is so common at dance competitions and on "So You Think You Can Dance" that is also known as "lyrical." (If you're looking for more commercially oriented dance styles, you should check out places like Oklahoma City University or Chapman University.) (Chapman, btw, is in California.)

The top programs on your list are the U. of Arizona, Tisch and SUNY Purchase. And given that they are tops, the competition to get in them has become pretty fierce (for girls). The ballet skills of those who get in are equal to those who opt to go directly into ballet companies and trainee positions. Which makes the ballet training at those schools rigorous enough to go back out and compete for ballet jobs. At the other programs, you'll find many students who are double majoring because they are not seriously aiming for a career as a performing dancer. That lowers the level of competition, which is good for some students, but not as good for those who hope to face the competition once they graduate. The teachers could be amazing, but the caliber of the students also affects the program. For what it's worth, my daughter opted to not enroll at one of your listed schools where she was eagerly recruited (she was a guest student in the program as a high school junior) in order to attend one of your top programs where the competition was tougher and she was not one of the favorites. That worked for her, but it's not for everyone.

Once you add the possibility of GOOD jazz, you're only talking about the University of Arizona, which also happens to be one of the top triple-emphasis programs in the country.

You'll need to visit these programs and see their performances. Given the size of your list, not to mention the distances between them, I hope your daughter is in 7th grade. My daughter only had 7 programs on her list (including 3 on your list) and we started visiting them when she was in 9th grade. Get hold of the print edition of the Dance Magazine College Guide

http://dancemedia.k-online.biz/cgi-bin/B...

and check out the "Colleges and Universities" section of the "Ballet Talk for Dancers" forum:

http://dancers.invisionzone.com/index.ph...

Good luck. Feel free to contact me and/or check out my other answers.

Answer 2

I can recommend you to check out http://education-and-career.blogspot.com... is a really great way to get the honest information about a college in which you might be interested.It even tells you how hot the girls are, if the food and housing is good, and even if the drug scene is huge or straight edge.

Answer 3

University of Iowa is really big in modern.

They have a really good dance program.

Their dance program is ranked, I believe it is 10 in the country, but I am not completly sure.

Answer 4

Ok, you should go to dancespirit.com or go to dancemagazine.com. It doesn't matter what website you go to, it only matters that you go to one! Now, once you get there,

you should look around for the thing that says dance college 2008, or something like that. I think you might have to buy it, but it should give you all of the good colleges in each state (and some other countries! :)   I think you should know the BEST states and countries:

STATES:

California

New York

(no special order)

Countries:

England

Russia (Probably the top out of any state or country)

Australia

I hope that all of this helps! :)

And, I hope you <3 (love/ heart) this! :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)