How many auditions?

[trythis]

How many auditions do your dancers attend for Summer Intensives? Again HUSBAND and I are talking about the expense. At $30 each he wonders how many is reasonable. DD had selected four. One for her top pick, two local ones for back up, and one for "bragging rights." It is common for dancers in our company to list SI acceptances in their bios, and she would like one top place to list in her bio.

[12345]

My dd is doing 5 in person and 1 by mail.

[TwelfthNight]

Lol! I understand the Dad "thing". DD and I talked about which SI's she thought were good, then we went to DD's instructor and got her opinion, and then we prayed about it. Even after all this, Dad said, "Are you really thinking of letting her go to these? If you aren't serious, why audition?" To which we had to explain that one was to see what it was like and the others DD would seriously consider attending.

 

Right now we have four that DD is auditioning for. From listening to the older girls at DD's studio, the number appears to increase with age.

[wannabe]

The closest audition location for us is a 4 hour drive (if the weather is good)- so we must limit the number of auditions DD can attend. Last year (age 12) she auditioned for 2 programs (SAB and Boston). She was accepted to both!! This year she plans to audition for 2 programs again. Of course, she could also attend her home SI which is also a great program!

[Momof3darlings]

The answer will vary with distance to auditions and also age. Most people locally seem to do 4-6 because they are so close and can usually be worked around home studio rehearsal schedules.

 

Just be sure to look at the "affordability" list as well as the "desire" list when you pick the auditions you'll attend. Also be sure and pick from the "stretch" list, the "likely given list but still a good SI" and the "I'd be okay with" list. So that chances are great for potential for both acceptances and scholarships. And just do the ones you're truly interested in and don't fall into the "prestige" thing at the studio. Better to start now learning, it's about your journey and not the journey of your friends.

[TwelfthNight]

And just do the ones you're truly interested in and don't fall into the "prestige" thing at the studio. Better to start now learning, it's about your journey and not the journey of your friends.

 

Very wise words indeed. My daughter's instructor also cautioned us to not have DD attend auditions or SI's with friends because it can be a problem when one gets in or gets promoted and the other doesn't. Also, friends can sometimes be a distraction. It is great if they do have friends at the auditions & SI's but not to have your course revolve around someone else's (not that you are doing this trythis, just a general comment:))

[LauraR]

My dd is auditioning for two SI's...they are both SI's that she would attend if accepted. She didn't feel compelled to audition for anything else.

 

Just as a different viewpoint, our school doesn't focus much on top-tier SI's, but on very intensive SI's. So, having an acceptance may not matter as much if she were to go somewhere else later on. I agree with the others that you have to find your own way. I know the feeling that you want your dd to have the advantages of others or to "keep up", but peace in the family is important in the long run, too.

[yankee]

My DD ended up auditioning for six programs - accepted to three, and told to return for auditions next year for the other three. She additionally has the option of her year round school's SI but would really like to go away for the summer so she has made another choice. She had seven programs on her audition list but is not going to attend the seventh. She really wasn't sure how many to attend as this is her first year attending auditions with older students. She is glad to have attended as many as she did, and even more grateful to have excellent choices.

 

Something that helped her through this first "big program" audition season was attending the classes with friends as her year round school is an audition site in our area.

[Tarheeldance]

I guess we are among the lucky ones and the SI auditions come to our city. DS could've auditioned for many SI's (he's 12), but he choose to audition for six in person and one by mail. He was accepted to five, still waiting to hear from one in person and the one by mail. I don't think we'll do as many next year. I'm hoping he'll choose two to three of his top choices and only audition for those. This is the first year he was eligible to audition for several so I think we went a little overboard. In our defense, we really didn't know what to expect.

[puzzler]

DD is 15 this year and doing 5-6 auditions. Each program has something slightly different to offer and auditions can be way to get a (teeny-tiny) feel for a program. When she was 11-13 she generally auditioned for 2-4 programs. Her main concern at that time was not wanting to be away for 6 weeks so we were limited to shorter programs.

 

That said, after our experiences I'd look at class size. The program she grew the most at is also probably the least "prestigious" of the programs she's attended. Classes were smaller so she got more attention. At one of the other programs she attended, she was a small fish in a big pond and, overall, not worth the financial investment.

 

 

ETA: She turned down a scholarship offer last year and was offered admission again this year - so, no, I don't think it closes that door.

[BelaNina]

Dd auditioned for 5 intensives. She was accepted to 3, I thought she was declined from 2 but realized yesterday that one she auditioned for has multiple sites, and she's only gotten a "thanks but no thanks - please come again" letter from one of the sites. She had planned to do a couple more auditions, but one of the auditions she's already done was added in at the last minute, and she got accepted to that one, has decided to go there, and so there is no need to continue.

[WriteLife]

This was dd's first audition season. She originally planned to audition for 8 schools but she was accepted to the first three schools within a week and a half of the auditions, including her "stretch, there's no way I'll get in program" so she decided to attend that one and not do the other 5. - for which her parents were very grateful since the two hour drive up and back was killing us.

[Santos]

By the time they are 12 years old, the ballet world really opens up for most of our students, because by then they are eligible for many programs. Our first consideration has always been to choose for a program that is teaching a different style so our dk's could get "a taste' of a different way of teaching ballet techniques. If you're used to the Vaganova-style, you'll discover that SAB is completely different even when you're only 12 years old and vice versa. Since our kids have been/ are Vaganova trained, they went/ are going to at least 3 auditions every Summer and they end up going to the "different" one that they like the best especially the one with the best faculty (if they get accepted) and that offers the best scholarship (if at all ) They never did a SI at their regular year round school so far.

[BelaNina]

They never did a SI at their regular year round school so far.

 

Dd will soon be switching to a pre-pro school at which the younger students - up to 14 or 15 years old - are required to stay at their home SI for the summers. I'm glad that dd has had these 2 years of going through auditions. She is so confident walking into any class at any ballet school now. She's handled the "thanks but no thanks" letters very well, and has been inspired by seeing what other students her age are doing. I hope that that confidence will stick with her so that when she goes out to audition again in a few years, she'll still feel comfortable. All in all, the audition experience has been great for my young ballet student.

[trythis]

DD ended up auditioning for two. She auditioned for her first choice and for the one she considered far reaching. She was accepted to both! Once she had her acceptance to her first choice, auditions for back up choices were not necessary. (the far reaching school is cost prohibitive, so the choice between the two was clear.)