Colleges for a strong dancer and student

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a former professional dancer and a graduate of MIT my thoughts are:
1) Choose a college in or near major city where you can take dance classes off campus - NYC, Boston, Chicago (to meet your daughter's geographic criteria)
2) If you are looking for dance programs on campus as well then I'd say (in no order):
NYU
Barnard
SUNY Purchase
Pace
Duke
UMass Amherst

not OP, but she said she didn't want a city

And how is Chicago even CLOSE to mid-Atlantic?

That said, I do personally think New England should be an option - there are lots of good schools with Dance programs AND you might be able to be close to Boston on public transport.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A dance degree is a pretty terrible invrstment of time and money. If she is not in a company drawing a wage by 18, it is not going to happen.
And please don't say that a dance degree is necessary to teach. The best teachers were former peofessional dancers, not college degree holders. Actually, the college degree holders are the worst teachers - they just go thru the motions, there is no understanding that it is a performing art because they dont have much experience performing.
If she really wants to stay connected to that world, dance companies always need savvy fundraisers, accountants, lawyers, business manager, stage support. Get skilled in other ways that can support her field of interest.

Dance might also be a strong but not exceptional student’s competitive edge. I know a dancer who was admitted to Princeton ahead of other students with more impressive stats. Some schools value well rounded applicants.

No, Princeton is just looking for their "stars" of various combinations. It's not about being "well rounded" there, ever.

[Anonymous]

Wisconsin - Madison?

[Anonymous]

I’m a retired professional dancer and I’ve known lots of dancers throughout my career. Some majored in dance, some didn’t. It’s very hard to make a living by performing alone. I don’t know anyone who has personally. The dancers I know are balancing rehearsals and performing with teaching, arts administrative jobs, costume design, lighting design, etc. Many of these skills were learned in college but some on the job. A few dancers I know retired from performing and went to law, medical, or PT school. While everyone chooses their own path, it’s rarely direct, and the one thing all the dancers I know have in common is their creativity in making it all work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A dance degree is a pretty terrible invrstment of time and money. If she is not in a company drawing a wage by 18, it is not going to happen.
And please don't say that a dance degree is necessary to teach. The best teachers were former peofessional dancers, not college degree holders. Actually, the college degree holders are the worst teachers - they just go thru the motions, there is no understanding that it is a performing art because they dont have much experience performing.
If she really wants to stay connected to that world, dance companies always need savvy fundraisers, accountants, lawyers, business manager, stage support. Get skilled in other ways that can support her field of interest.

You didn’t answer any of the questions presented by OP. The child wants to dance and study environmental science/conservation. Why even bother typing out such useless nonsense?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A dance degree is a pretty terrible invrstment of time and money. If she is not in a company drawing a wage by 18, it is not going to happen.
And please don't say that a dance degree is necessary to teach. The best teachers were former peofessional dancers, not college degree holders. Actually, the college degree holders are the worst teachers - they just go thru the motions, there is no understanding that it is a performing art because they dont have much experience performing.
If she really wants to stay connected to that world, dance companies always need savvy fundraisers, accountants, lawyers, business manager, stage support. Get skilled in other ways that can support her field of interest.

You didn’t answer any of the questions presented by OP. The child wants to dance and study environmental science/conservation. Why even bother typing out such useless nonsense?

+1 people are such jerks sometimes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting about St Mary’s - that is worth looking into.

American has a bachelor’s in dance, so also worth investigating

St. Mary’s traded its dance major for a performing arts major with watered down dance offerings. Not a good option for DD unfortunately. She liked the school otherwise, though it’s a bit small.

Boo to that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A dance degree is a pretty terrible invrstment of time and money. If she is not in a company drawing a wage by 18, it is not going to happen.
And please don't say that a dance degree is necessary to teach. The best teachers were former peofessional dancers, not college degree holders. Actually, the college degree holders are the worst teachers - they just go thru the motions, there is no understanding that it is a performing art because they dont have much experience performing.
If she really wants to stay connected to that world, dance companies always need savvy fundraisers, accountants, lawyers, business manager, stage support. Get skilled in other ways that can support her field of interest.

You keep making this claim about not making a living as a dancer if you aren't in a company by 18, and this just isn't true.

Based on just my year+ of following the journeys on the Dance Parent board, plenty of them have been able to find work, be it in a company, as a commercial dancer in a big city, working on cruise lines/amusement parks, and/or as choreographers. There are many schools that teach business skills if you want to open a studio some day. Radford actually has a BFA with an entrepreneurship focus that is exactly for this purpose.

It sounds like this student is making a good choice to double major. I applaud her for this and think it IS a wise choice.

Tell that to the 20-something year old gal that I was roommates with while in grad school. She lamentef her SUNY Purchase dance degree as she was basically doing odd temp jobs here and there to pay the bills and dancung at night for no compensation. I met some others at a psrty. One who said that the only thing she had of vakue to offer was that she could make and bring a runny cheesecake. The only one in their circle whi could actually get by on dance had to take a teaching job at a Florida college - she lived and had a kid in NYC.
If you need to dance, there are plenty of adult classed available. You dont need a degree program to indulge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A dance degree is a pretty terrible invrstment of time and money. If she is not in a company drawing a wage by 18, it is not going to happen.
And please don't say that a dance degree is necessary to teach. The best teachers were former peofessional dancers, not college degree holders. Actually, the college degree holders are the worst teachers - they just go thru the motions, there is no understanding that it is a performing art because they dont have much experience performing.
If she really wants to stay connected to that world, dance companies always need savvy fundraisers, accountants, lawyers, business manager, stage support. Get skilled in other ways that can support her field of interest.

You keep making this claim about not making a living as a dancer if you aren't in a company by 18, and this just isn't true.

Based on just my year+ of following the journeys on the Dance Parent board, plenty of them have been able to find work, be it in a company, as a commercial dancer in a big city, working on cruise lines/amusement parks, and/or as choreographers. There are many schools that teach business skills if you want to open a studio some day. Radford actually has a BFA with an entrepreneurship focus that is exactly for this purpose.

It sounds like this student is making a good choice to double major. I applaud her for this and think it IS a wise choice.

Tell that to the 20-something year old gal that I was roommates with while in grad school. She lamentef her SUNY Purchase dance degree as she was basically doing odd temp jobs here and there to pay the bills and dancung at night for no compensation. I met some others at a psrty. One who said that the only thing she had of vakue to offer was that she could make and bring a runny cheesecake. The only one in their circle whi could actually get by on dance had to take a teaching job at a Florida college - she lived and had a kid in NYC.
If you need to dance, there are plenty of adult classed available. You dont need a degree program to indulge.

Just stop and answer OP’s question or go away please. OP’s child wants to double major. This is not the place to blast students who choose artistic careers. This thread is about a kid wanting to have both dance and academics. Read first, then blather.

[Anonymous]

Alabama

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A dance degree is a pretty terrible invrstment of time and money. If she is not in a company drawing a wage by 18, it is not going to happen.
And please don't say that a dance degree is necessary to teach. The best teachers were former peofessional dancers, not college degree holders. Actually, the college degree holders are the worst teachers - they just go thru the motions, there is no understanding that it is a performing art because they dont have much experience performing.
If she really wants to stay connected to that world, dance companies always need savvy fundraisers, accountants, lawyers, business manager, stage support. Get skilled in other ways that can support her field of interest.

You keep making this claim about not making a living as a dancer if you aren't in a company by 18, and this just isn't true.

Based on just my year+ of following the journeys on the Dance Parent board, plenty of them have been able to find work, be it in a company, as a commercial dancer in a big city, working on cruise lines/amusement parks, and/or as choreographers. There are many schools that teach business skills if you want to open a studio some day. Radford actually has a BFA with an entrepreneurship focus that is exactly for this purpose.

It sounds like this student is making a good choice to double major. I applaud her for this and think it IS a wise choice.

Tell that to the 20-something year old gal that I was roommates with while in grad school. She lamentef her SUNY Purchase dance degree as she was basically doing odd temp jobs here and there to pay the bills and dancung at night for no compensation. I met some others at a psrty. One who said that the only thing she had of vakue to offer was that she could make and bring a runny cheesecake. The only one in their circle whi could actually get by on dance had to take a teaching job at a Florida college - she lived and had a kid in NYC.
If you need to dance, there are plenty of adult classed available. You dont need a degree program to indulge.

Just stop and answer OP’s question or go away please. OP’s child wants to double major. This is not the place to blast students who choose artistic careers. This thread is about a kid wanting to have both dance and academics. Read first, then blather.

Exactly! All this pointless pontificating about the value of arts degrees. How about read and respond to the actual post, or just keep moving along…

[Anonymous]

My neighbor was a ballet major at Indiana and had a double major in the Kelley School of Business there. She danced with a professional company for a number of years after college and now she is working in a corporate job, using the business side of her degree. A smart young woman, who had a career in her passion and now is making good money in the corporate world while still keeping up her interest in dance.

[Anonymous]

Bucknell University meets a lot of her criteria. Strong environmental studies program, good dance program, rural setting, easy drive from DC/MD, generous with merit aid to well qualified students and your daughter would bring diversity to the college via her dance interests (we know a student musician who received a good amount of merit aid there for same reason - he is happy there!).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A dance degree is a pretty terrible invrstment of time and money. If she is not in a company drawing a wage by 18, it is not going to happen.
And please don't say that a dance degree is necessary to teach. The best teachers were former peofessional dancers, not college degree holders. Actually, the college degree holders are the worst teachers - they just go thru the motions, there is no understanding that it is a performing art because they dont have much experience performing.
If she really wants to stay connected to that world, dance companies always need savvy fundraisers, accountants, lawyers, business manager, stage support. Get skilled in other ways that can support her field of interest.

Dance might also be a strong but not exceptional student’s competitive edge. I know a dancer who was admitted to Princeton ahead of other students with more impressive stats. Some schools value well rounded applicants.

I know the same student, I bet. HY?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Alabama