Schools good at ballet AND modern

[JasmineDancer]

Hi,

I'm not sure if this belongs here...

 

Does anyone know if there are any schools comparable to Juilliard? I'm not looking for either a classical ballet or modern program, but a strong combination of both. I would prefer, in the end to dance in a larger ballet company that does a fair amount of contemporary work. So many college programs seem bent too much one way or the other, and I think it is becoming more and more necessary to be good at both.

 

Is Juilliard completely and utterly in a league of its own?

[balletboyrhys]

You should check out Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX. I'm about to be a junior there and I love the program. The training is top notch. The ballet professors are from the Royal Ballet, PNB, NYCB, and National Ballet of Canada. In the past few years we've done Balanchine, Forsythe, and Tharp rep. plus classical works like Paquita. Many dancers in the program go on to dance in great companies. The modern program is also superb. Though in the past all of the teachers have been from the Martha Graham Company, next year we're getting a professor from the Limon Company. Modern rep includes a lot of Graham, Parsons, and a Pilobolus piece. Great jazz instructors as well. The best part about the program is the strong emphasis on both ballet and modern. The school produces incredibly versatile dancers. Let me know if you have any questions!

[dancemaven]

JasmineDancer, we have a whole listing of programs with dedicated threads. Those threads contain many questions about each program with answers and experiences provided by folks (dancers and parents) with first hand information.

 

You might also review the topic titles in the General Discussion Forum of Career and Dance Education. There may be many topics you might find interesting to drop in on (and add any questions or comments of your own). I'm pretty sure there have been some general topics on the issue of programs with both ballet and modern. For instance, here's a thread that may be of interest to you: College Program Decisions and help get you started on programs to review.

 

I would recommend you spend some time reviewing the threads of the various dance programs. I know there are quite a few and it can be daunting, however, that is the best way for you to begin getting a feel for the various programs. Some programs that do have both disciplines require an election at some point of one over the other; other programs do not. But it appears to me that there are only a few that give equal time to both disciplines all the way through.

[Pierrette]

This tread got sort of lost here in the section dedicated to specific colleges, so forgive me for finding it so late.

 

My daughter graduated from the University of Arizona in May and tomorrow she's flying out to join a contemporary ballet company. She chose the UofA specifically because of the equal focus in styles - not just in ballet and modern, but also in jazz. And along with that equal focus is a very high level of training. She has been very surprised by the successes she's been having at auditions after not being one of the favorites at UofA, but clearly the bar was set very high out there. She also wowed the artistic directors at two other contemporary ballet companies (made it to the end and/or was offered a position), made it past first cuts for Broadway shows, and was offered a cruise contract.

 

As a state school, tuition at UofA was the lowest of all of my daughter's choices, even as an out-of-state student. (And then scholarships made it even better.) Housing is plentiful and affordable. And to top it off, I didn't have to pay for any extra classes/credits for my daughter to take as many dance classes as she could squeeze into her schedule (minimum 3.5 GPA required for more than 19 credits). For her three years there (after transferring from University of the Arts), she took 19, 26, 20, 19, 23 and 19 credits for the respective semesters. (Full-time status is over 11 credits, with technique classes being 2 credits.) Dance majors do not have to choose a specialty track; only complete the two, 400-level classes in one technique area. (My daughter did it in all three - and graduated summa cum laude.)

 

P.S. This thread may attract the contributions of other members who were beyond the "College Program Decisions" stage if it's moved to "Higher Education General Discussion."

[pal]

Also check out Point Park University in Pittsburgh - their conservatory program.

[hushinfazen]

Pierrette,

 

Congratulations to your daughter and you!!!!!!!!!

It's so great to hear that through her talent and great training at UofA she had so many fantastic options after graduation.

You have always been such a great contributor to this thread and one of the reasons UofA was high on my dd list.

 

Good luck to her and keep us posted.

 

 

hushinfazen

[QueSera]

I think The Boston Conservatory would be the most similar to Juilliard as it is strictly a conservatory style school for dance/music/theatre offering bachelor's and/or graduate programs, as opposed to those offered in a university setting.

 

However, I have heard that Purchase College which is part of SUNY, offers a more specialized conservatory program as well.

Edited April 5, 2013 by QueSera