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Small Christian Colleges with Classical Ballet Major


pmeilaen
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I was wondering if anybody here has a son or daughter at a small Christian college that offers a major in dance (classical ballet).  I am aware of the best colleges that offer such a degree, but was interested also in smaller places.  It is much harder to find information on those.  Any help is appreciated.  

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19 hours ago, klmama said:

I don't know anyone who has gone there, but Friends University in Wichita, KS, has such a program.

Note: The Friends program is going through radical changes. It was, I think, the only specifically classical ballet program offered by a Christian college. But the program directors who launched and ran the program for years and years (26, I think) are no longer there, as of last spring. They hired a new director, and her vision is very different: not as classic-ballet oriented. In the newspaper article I read, there were only seven students enrolled in the program this year.

https://www.kansas.com/news/local/education/article216661195.html

We know lots of Belhaven grads. The program there is not specifically classical, and many of the key ballet faculty members have moved on the last few years. But we know professional ballet dancers who have recently come out of that program.

I'll ask our older daughter if she knows of other good options. (She attended Friends for a while and is a professional ballerina.)

You might also ask on the Ballet Talk forum.

Edited: Daughter texted that, in her opinion, Belhaven is the best program at a small, Christian college. http://www.belhaven.edu/dance/Default.htm

Edited by iamonlyone
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6 hours ago, iamonlyone said:

Note: The Friends program is going through radical changes. It was, I think, the only specifically classical ballet program offered by a Christian college. But the program directors who launched and ran the program for years and years (26, I think) are no longer there, as of last spring. They hired a new director, and her vision is very different: not as classic-ballet oriented. In the newspaper article I read, there were only seven students enrolled in the program this year.

https://www.kansas.com/news/local/education/article216661195.html

We know lots of Belhaven grads. The program there is not specifically classical, and many of the key ballet faculty members have moved on the last few years. But we know professional ballet dancers who have recently come out of that program.

I'll ask our older daughter if she knows of other good options. (She attended Friends for a while and is a professional ballerina.)

You might also ask on the Ballet Talk forum.

Edited: Daughter texted that, in her opinion, Belhaven is the best program at a small, Christian college. http://www.belhaven.edu/dance/Default.htm

This is very valuable information for my daughter.  We were not aware of this and I don't think my daughter would care for the new design of the program.  Thanks so much for sharing and thanks for asking your daughter.  We will take a look at the Belhaven link.  The Ballet Talk forum is also a good idea!  Thanks again!

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11 hours ago, pmeilaen said:

I guess that is quite large!  Thanks for pointing out the size.  

I realized my post may not have been clear.  TCU has about 10,000 students; there are not 10,000 students in the dance program.  It is still a primarily residential college with a strong sense of community that makes it feel smaller than many schools of comparable size.  But it is not what I would consider to be a small Christian college, in the way that I hear many people use that term.  

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As an aside about dance in Jackson, Ballet Magnifificat (Christian dance company) is located there and holds its annual summer intensive at Belhaven. If your daughter goes to summer intensives, maybe she could go to that one and check out the campus and see if she could set up some informational meetings with Belhaven faculty and current dance students.

http://www.balletmagnificat.com/workshops/summer-dance-intensive

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My friend's daughter attended the U. of Cincinnati.  I know they wanted to find a Christian school for her, but this was the school that had what she was looking for, so she made the best of it and found Christian groups to join.

I also know I wanted to find Christian schools for my boys, but, at least for the oldest, there is no Christian school for what he is doing.

Edited by DawnM
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On 9/6/2018 at 6:22 AM, DawnM said:

My friend's daughter attended the U. of Cincinnati.  I know they wanted to find a Christian school for her, but this was the school that had what she was looking for, so she made the best of it and found Christian groups to join.

I also know I wanted to find Christian schools for my boys, but, at least for the oldest, there is no Christian school for what he is doing.

 

Yes, the combination of ballet and Christian school is a bit tricky, especially when you are interested in classical ballet.  Thanks for mentioning Cincinnati.  We will look it up.  

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On 9/5/2018 at 11:24 AM, iamonlyone said:

As an aside about dance in Jackson, Ballet Magnifificat (Christian dance company) is located there and holds its annual summer intensive at Belhaven. If your daughter goes to summer intensives, maybe she could go to that one and check out the campus and see if she could set up some informational meetings with Belhaven faculty and current dance students.

http://www.balletmagnificat.com/workshops/summer-dance-intensive

 

I think my daughter has a friend you wanted to go to this intensive, but then never did.  I will ask my daughter about this.  

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On 9/5/2018 at 10:56 AM, jdahlquist said:

I realized my post may not have been clear.  TCU has about 10,000 students; there are not 10,000 students in the dance program.  It is still a primarily residential college with a strong sense of community that makes it feel smaller than many schools of comparable size.  But it is not what I would consider to be a small Christian college, in the way that I hear many people use that term.  

 

Good to know that there is a sense of community.  I attended a university with 38,000 students and also did not feel lost.  But I think my daughter is very different.  

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35 minutes ago, pmeilaen said:

 

Good to know that there is a sense of community.  I attended a university with 38,000 students and also did not feel lost.  But I think my daughter is very different.  

If she is interested in TCU, you can PM me and I can give you more info

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On 9/8/2018 at 10:34 PM, jdahlquist said:

If she is interested in TCU, you can PM me and I can give you more info

 

I will keep this in mind!  She is working on a list of colleges she is interested in and depending on what she comes up with, I will contact you.  Thanks so much!

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  • 1 year later...
  • 3 weeks later...
On 4/17/2020 at 6:54 PM, Lori D. said:


Thanks so much for the update! How is that working out for her? What is her review of the classical ballet program there?

I think it is working well.  She has made friends and is taking a class in Russian Literature this semester.  All her other classes are dance related.  She complained about a teacher (stage manager) teaching a stage practicum class.  Apparently, he was not very organized, but that was last semester.  She prefers Russian ballet (Vaganova) to American methods and Mercyhurst does not offer that.  The professors seem to be very caring, though, and invest a lot in their students.  They do get to do a lot of ballet, although she would probably prefer all her classes to be ballet, but she also has to take some jazz and modern dance.  They have outreach programs and dance in Erie.  They have liturgical dance and also dance in nursing homes.   They support the students who try to do summer and other workshops.  My daughter went to NYC late fall to do a Russian ballet weekend.  She did not have attend classes when she went.  So far, I see her growing and developing in many aspects.    

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