Tip-toeing into this possibility -- prepping son to major in dance?

[Jenny in Florida]

I'll say right up front, so that none of the other dance moms have to worry about hurting our feelings by pointing it out: At this moment, my son is not anywhere near ready to truly consider shooting for a college dance program (not a good one, anyway). He dances only a few hours a week and is just now picking up ballet again after a two-year break. The only style he really loves and practices willingly is tap. He's not very flexible, and at the moment, he's not working hard enough to compensate for these problems.

 

Honestly, it wasn't until this week that he even realized it was possible to major in dance. He's been dancing semi-seriously (varying from year to year) since he was not quite seven, but it's always kind of been just something he does.

 

He's never had a trememdous amount of interest in college, just knowing he'd go because we expect him to do so. But his eyes just lit up when I asked if he'd like to explore college dance programs. He spent most of a morning (when I wasn't yelling at him to get back to his schoolwork) persusing the websites and course listings of the two state campuses that seem to be good bets for dance. And he's now excited about scheduling tours of both schools. This is the most interest in higher education I've ever seen him show.

 

He would not be aiming -- I don't think -- at a career in classical ballet. He's much more interested in theatre dance. He understands, of course, that ballet training will be a big chunk of whatever program he might do, but it's not his long-term focus. He's also a pretty decent singer and a good actor. If he does end up with an on-stage career, I suspect it's more likely to be in musical theatre. But he would like to ground his preparation in dance.

 

(Some of this may have been affected by a meet-and-greet/master class he did with the touring cast of a Broadway musical a couple of weeks ago. Two of the cast members had their degrees in dance, and that may be the first time either of us thought of that as a possibility for him.)

 

 

So, clearly, he (we) would have his work cut out for him. Obviously, we'd need to increase the number of hours he's training as soon as we can figure out how to do that. It's a challenge, since we truly don't have a budget for it. But I have some ideas on that front. Although his current dance studio is not the most prestigious one in town, he's very happy there and gets lots of individual attention. My gut tells me he's better off continuing there and continuing to love dancing than he would be moving somewhere "better."

 

Can someone who has been down this road (or is travelling it now) with a kid gently share some wisdom about the relative importance of things like:

 

- attending a presitious dance school

- doing summer intensives and, if so, where to look

- just how much your kid dances/trains during high school

- any additional coaching or anything that is necessary to prepare for college auditions

- how different any of these factors are (if at all) for males rather than females

 

Again, please know that I know this would be an uphill climb for him. But, before he gets his heart set on it, I figured I'd ask questions here.

 

Thanks!

[Rebecca VA]

Have you looked into Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton ( http://www.harid.edu )?

[anne1456]

No advice on the rest, but I know that in my area there are definitely dance schools that offer scholarships/reduced tuition for boys, because there are so few of them and they want them. Having more boys helps them attract the better girl dancers too. So I'd ask around, word of mouth from other boys who dance in the area is probably a good way to find out.

[hcrocker]

I'm from NY, so I can't speak to FL specifics for you - sorry! I can tell you that the high school kids where my dds dance take 5 ballet classes/week plus pointe, plus jazz for some of them. A few take a private lesson weekly on top of class. All together, it's around 9-10 hours each week.

 

Also, anne1456 is right - boys are free or reduced cost at many schools, so that ought to help keep expenses more manageable. A male teacher who can mentor your ds would also be great.

 

Good luck to your ds, and bravo to you for supporting his dance ambitions. People have sometimes looked askance at me for support my dd in hers.

 

Heather

[chepyl]

If he is thinking more towards a musical theatre career, I would look for one with a heavy dance load. It will prepare him for the type of auditions and rehearsal situations he will be in. One program here requires four semesters each of ballet, modern, and jazz plus a couple semesters of tap. They also have a dance company musical theater majors can audition for.

 

Look for both dance and musical theatre. It will give you more options :)

[abbeyej]

- just how much your kid dances/trains during high school

Ok, so this is the only one of these I can answer for now... Ds is in his first year of a pre-professional ballet program at a school connected to professional company. The students take two hours of ballet technique each day (5 days required for the lower levels, ages 13-15ish, with an optional 6th; 6 days required for higher level students). Most days have an additional hour of ballet in terms of either variations or pas de deux work after the two hour class. There might be a fourth hour for another discipline, usually modern or contemporary at our school. (A less ballet-focused school might put more time into jazz, tap, hip-hop, etc.) There's also a weekly history class (kids take notes and watch videos; there are tests and a paper due each semester).

 

The only real difference in schedule between the boys and girls is that the boys have an extra class or two each week in men's technique (a lot of jumping and big pirouette stuff as well as extra conditioning) and they don't take extra pointe classes (though they do sometimes take class alongside the girls and either do the same exercises on demi-pointe, or the teacher gives them a modified exercise to do instead).

 

Other than the optional 6th day becoming mandatory at some point, I don't think there's a big difference in hours between the younger teens and the older ones. Most days seem to range between 2 and 4 hours of actual dance, occasionally with a rehearsal on top of that. Hm, maybe there are more 4 hour days for the older ones and more 2 hour days for the youngers...

 

At our school, there seems to be a roughly even split between kids in public, private, and home schools. I'm always sort of amazed at how the kids in traditional schools manage. I can't help but think that they must be constantly sleep-deprived!

[Storm Bay]

As a boy, he isn't at a disadvantage as it's not unusual for them to start later, especially if it's not to concentrate in ballet. As far as I understand it, serious ballet is pursued at the big companies rather than college. I'm chiming in because I know dancers and was disappointed when my ds quit as he showed a lot of promise in tap (he's now playing trumpet & piano, so is still making music). I just heard about a dance school in this state that gives free classes to boys age 8 & older, but I don't know how good the school is.

 

Some dance moms volunteer at the dance school to help pay some of their costs, but there has to be an opening for that, etc. Also, you might be able to stay where you are and do one or two classes at a more prestigious school at the same time. Ds was doing that before he quit. fwiw he quit when he was 10 due to middle-school girls bothering him, but your ds is older & evidently not bothered by girls.