Dance Major

[Anonymous]

I don't know anything about dance, but I know about higher ed. I teach at UMD, and I will say that the arts departments are really good about reaching out to prospective students and parents with truthful information. They should be able to give you information about their recent graduates and especially job placement rates. The arts and humanities are a bit under siege right now (to state the obvious), so many departments have responded by being proactive. If the dance departments at Towson and NYU (and any other schools that interest your kid) can't give you such information, I would be leery.

Also, the other thing I'll say from my higher ed perspective is that one of the benefits of a major like dance is that they tend to be highly selective (either officially by audition or unofficially by weeding out lesser/inferior participants). Assuming your daughter makes it, she will probably get very personalized attention. Oh--and that's another question to ask of these departments: who/what are their instructors connected to? They should be able to help your kid network.

Finally, I will say, I teach in a more "practical"/professional major, where we routinely have students who are doubling majoring in the thing that they love and our major because their parents said they had to. I find that they are some of our best students. They're engaged in school because they get to pursue their passion and they're also realistic about pursuing opportunities that will set them up for their future. Some of the arts majors make such a double major difficult, but I think it's worth it if it can work.

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm not sure if this got mentioned already but have your teen look online and order the annual college issue of "Pointe" magazine (even if going for dance other than classical ballet). Other magazines also may have college issues that list schools with dance majors -- try the other magazines published by the publishers of Pointe. These annual issues also have articles about topics such as whether to go to college at all (answer seems to be yes, unless a teen has an offer from a dance company).

[Anonymous]

I was a dance major and have been supporting myself since graduating 14 years ago. Right now I have a full time job teaching dance and work in fitness part time and am living very comfortably. I do not regret my decision to major in dance at all and never have. It's what I have loved since I was a child and I'm one of the only people I know that wakes up every day and genuinely enjoys going to work and doing my job. I consider myself so lucky to have my passion also be my career, if I had a daughter with something she truly loved, I would absolutely encourage her to major in it.

[Anonymous]

One of my best friends was a musical theatre major in college. She basically danced her way through undergrad. She recently got her PhD in higher Ed administration and is a professor working towards being a university president one day. She loved loved loved dance her whole life. Now her daughter dances.

I tell this story to illustrate that just b/c your daughter wants to major is dance or theatre in college doesn't mean she has to try to make it on Broadway. I think all the years of dance helped my friend be comfortable in her own body and very confident in how she projects herself. No fear. She is an amazing woman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HAHAHAHAH! Sorry. I was a professional ballet dancer. By 16 you should be established as a n apprentice through summer programs. By 18 you have accepted to a company. If your daughter is truly interested in making her way in this particular world then the must give us dreams of college until she ages out of ballet due to injuries 28/30.

+1. Serious ballet dancers rarely go to college. If they do, it's after they retire. They are usually established thru summer programs by ages 14-16 with serious companies. Also I danced ballet for my own enjoyment for a long time, I would never pay for NYU ($69K + add in airfare or train) for a dance major.

[Anonymous]

New to the conversation which is quite timely since DD who has been passionate about ballet since age 2 is a HS senior this year and deciding about how to pursue a possible professional ballet career. She, as most ballet dancers are, takes a challenging school load and is quite bright. She plans on college but wants a gap year and thinks a BFA isn't worth the debt load. She attends top summer programs and has done Suzanne Farrell etc. so is very well-trained.

I use Ballet Talk for Dancers and DanceMoms forums to gather information. Here's what I gleaned - don't pursue a BFA unless you can graduate without any debt or very little. Most ballet companies hire 19+ now unless you are a prodigy or a well-developed male. Aside from grads from IU or being a male in a top 3 college ballet program, you will most likely not get hired at a top company - perhaps at a regional company for the corps. Unless you are an award winning female dancer with amazing stage presence and technique at age 16-18, you will not be hired until you have another 2-3 years as a trainee/apprentice - where you pay tuition/shoes or maybe get a stipend for shoes.

The dance world has figured out parents are the cash cow and they can now string dancers along for years as tuition paying students while parents also pay for living expenses in another city. Dancers have no extra time for part-time jobs - as they are often used as free labor in the corp for company performances.

Frankly it's so depressing and hard to figure out what to advise DD in this situation. Salaries are unsustainable in the smaller companies - if there is a pit orchestra, they are paid way more than those dancers on stage! It's pretty crazy.

[Anonymous]

I would tell my kid that she can major in dance but she needs a back-up plan. Graduate school in physical therapy is a terrific back-up plan for people who have strong kinesthetic intelligence. Nursing or medicine is also a good back up plan.

To prepare for that back up plan, she needs two years of chemistry, a year of anatomy and physiology, and a year of physics. That's one science class per semester, which is completely doable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not allow it. I'd let her minor in dance, or double major in dance and some more lucrative major like accounting.

You "would not allow it"?? That's one sure fire way to loose your DD. I went to art school. Have a BFA from a top school and MFA from the top program in my field. My parents were definitely worried about my ability to find a job after graduation but I'm doing just fine now. DH also has a BFA from same art school and we both work in our fields of study (he more so than I) and our HHI is over $200k (since that seems to be important to you, OP).

Like a pp said, a lot can change. Also, if she's really good, and motivated, she'll be fine. Also agree that the school you go to is VERY important. So NYU, yes. Towson, no.

Yes, I would not allow it. Some choices are allowed to be made by my children. Some are not. They are not allowed to pursue any career that puts their life on the line (military, police, firefighter) and not allowed to pursue a career that burns out their body (sports). If they had chosen to do that, they would not have my support.. You are free to disagree and parent your children the way you think is best. But you will not change my mind. I have four, two of whom have graduated from college. So I'm comfortable with the track I'm on in regards to this.

It is a good thing that not all parents think like you. That would make for a very boring (and dangerous) world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was a dance major and have been supporting myself since graduating 14 years ago. Right now I have a full time job teaching dance and work in fitness part time and am living very comfortably. I do not regret my decision to major in dance at all and never have. It's what I have loved since I was a child and I'm one of the only people I know that wakes up every day and genuinely enjoys going to work and doing my job. I consider myself so lucky to have my passion also be my career, if I had a daughter with something she truly loved, I would absolutely encourage her to major in it.

Great for you PP! Kudos!

[Anonymous]

OP, if your dd dances at MYB, the faculty there are an excellent resource. They offer great advice about how dancers should move forward. If you/DD haven't had a conference with them, you should.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New to the conversation which is quite timely since DD who has been passionate about ballet since age 2 is a HS senior this year and deciding about how to pursue a possible professional ballet career. She, as most ballet dancers are, takes a challenging school load and is quite bright. She plans on college but wants a gap year and thinks a BFA isn't worth the debt load. She attends top summer programs and has done Suzanne Farrell etc. so is very well-trained.

I use Ballet Talk for Dancers and DanceMoms forums to gather information. Here's what I gleaned - don't pursue a BFA unless you can graduate without any debt or very little. Most ballet companies hire 19+ now unless you are a prodigy or a well-developed male. Aside from grads from IU or being a male in a top 3 college ballet program, you will most likely not get hired at a top company - perhaps at a regional company for the corps. Unless you are an award winning female dancer with amazing stage presence and technique at age 16-18, you will not be hired until you have another 2-3 years as a trainee/apprentice - where you pay tuition/shoes or maybe get a stipend for shoes.

The dance world has figured out parents are the cash cow and they can now string dancers along for years as tuition paying students while parents also pay for living expenses in another city. Dancers have no extra time for part-time jobs - as they are often used as free labor in the corp for company performances.

Frankly it's so depressing and hard to figure out what to advise DD in this situation. Salaries are unsustainable in the smaller companies - if there is a pit orchestra, they are paid way more than those dancers on stage! It's pretty crazy.

OP here, this is something I'm afraid of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New to the conversation which is quite timely since DD who has been passionate about ballet since age 2 is a HS senior this year and deciding about how to pursue a possible professional ballet career. She, as most ballet dancers are, takes a challenging school load and is quite bright. She plans on college but wants a gap year and thinks a BFA isn't worth the debt load. She attends top summer programs and has done Suzanne Farrell etc. so is very well-trained.

I use Ballet Talk for Dancers and DanceMoms forums to gather information. Here's what I gleaned - don't pursue a BFA unless you can graduate without any debt or very little. Most ballet companies hire 19+ now unless you are a prodigy or a well-developed male. Aside from grads from IU or being a male in a top 3 college ballet program, you will most likely not get hired at a top company - perhaps at a regional company for the corps. Unless you are an award winning female dancer with amazing stage presence and technique at age 16-18, you will not be hired until you have another 2-3 years as a trainee/apprentice - where you pay tuition/shoes or maybe get a stipend for shoes.

The dance world has figured out parents are the cash cow and they can now string dancers along for years as tuition paying students while parents also pay for living expenses in another city. Dancers have no extra time for part-time jobs - as they are often used as free labor in the corp for company performances.

Frankly it's so depressing and hard to figure out what to advise DD in this situation. Salaries are unsustainable in the smaller companies - if there is a pit orchestra, they are paid way more than those dancers on stage! It's pretty crazy.

This. This post sums it up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would tell my kid that she can major in dance but she needs a back-up plan. Graduate school in physical therapy is a terrific back-up plan for people who have strong kinesthetic intelligence. Nursing or medicine is also a good back up plan.

To prepare for that back up plan, she needs two years of chemistry, a year of anatomy and physiology, and a year of physics. That's one science class per semester, which is completely doable.

I know three dance majors. One tried to make it dancing, dead ended, works at a hotel. Another is a SAHM. Another danced for a while, scraping by, and eventually went back to school for physical therapy. She had to do all the science classes as a post-bac first, though. I agree with the above- back up plan. She loves doing physical therapy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would not allow it. I'd let her minor in dance, or double major in dance and some more lucrative major like accounting.

Or computer science. Seriously the ballet dancer from earlier is right. If she isn't being picked up by a company by now it isn't likely to happen. Her talent would have been discovered long before now and she wouldn't be thinking about college. Is she a natural talent like Missy Copeland or something? Folks like that get picked up on early and quickly. A dance major will spending a lot of time saying "do you want fries with that" and living in your basement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would tell my kid that she can major in dance but she needs a back-up plan. Graduate school in physical therapy is a terrific back-up plan for people who have strong kinesthetic intelligence. Nursing or medicine is also a good back up plan.

To prepare for that back up plan, she needs two years of chemistry, a year of anatomy and physiology, and a year of physics. That's one science class per semester, which is completely doable.

Nursing or Medicine - I love this. People just throw that out "Oh I will be a nurse" there is a huge time commitment for nursing school with clinical and classes. I doubt seriously anyone could be a nursing student and a dance major and survive. I hate that so much. The attitude of "I will just go to Nursing school". Most people can't get through the preliminary math test to even get accepted.