For competition kids, pursuing a dance degree is a natural extension of the years of dedication they’ve put into their craft. But the transition from the fast-paced buzz of the competition and convention scene to the college classroom isn’t always seamless. As two former champions and a college dean share, once on campus, competitive dancers […]
Ever wonder what a typical week looks like for a college dancer? What’s it like to balance dance, academics, and a social life? And how do collegiate dancers look after themselves with such busy schedules? Dance Spirit has got you covered with our new series, “A Week in the Life of a College Dancer.” We’ll […]
Even after the whirlwind of Nutcracker season and finals dies down, summer break can feel very far away. Still, because applications for intensives, internships, and jobs open in winter, now is the time to start planning for the warmer months. Find Your Focus In her Intro to Dance Studies course at Chapman University, Jennifer Backhaus encourages dancers […]
Despite all the hours young dancers spend in the studio, for many coming out of high school, the idea of dance as an academic discipline—an intellectual as much as a physical pursuit—can be unfamiliar, even mysterious. What do college dance programs actually require? What do students’ days look like? A college’s faculty, size, location, and […]
The story took flight with a chance encounter at the 60th Street post office in Manhattan. It was the mid-’90s and Denise Jefferson, then head of The Ailey School, and Edward Bristow, then dean of Fordham College at Lincoln Center, would often bump into each other in the neighborhood. At that point, both schools were […]
No two dancers’ career paths are exactly alike…which is actually pretty great! Equally great: New kinds of opportunities are constantly cropping up in the dance world, along with new skills necessary to book them. (Did anyone really know how to make a self-tape before 2020?) But in an industry that seems to quick-change faster than […]
You may know what it means to earn a silver, gold, or platinum award for your performance—but probably not an A, B, or C grade. Often, dancers don’t encounter the idea of grading in dance until they enter collegiate dance programs. When you’re evaluating an inherently subjective art form, what distinguishes an A student from […]
It’s a scenario that only 2020 could create. Butler University student and popular TikTok user Chinyelu Mwaafrika (@chinforshort) posted this TikTok narrating his struggles of living under a “pod of dance majors” shortly after Butler University announced that all classes would be held virtually for the first two weeks of the semester. Ballet TikToker and […]
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