Dance Magazine: 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?
4 comments:
This article provides a glimpse into the lives of college dancers and how academic programs can shape both their intellectual and physical growth. I went to a high school that had different majors, one of which was dance, and I feel like I never saw them because they were always working so hard; they literally made the building shake; we thought there was an earthquake going on. I would say they worked harder physically than almost everyone in that school yet still managed to be on top of all of their work and overall phenomenal students, and this article is a testament to that. I found it especially interesting how each student’s experience differs based on the type of school and the structure of their dance program. Which is similar to my old school, and even though there is shown rigor, it doesn't stop people from pursuing other interests. For example, one of my good friends loves dancing; she's been doing it for 16 years, but she's going to school for pre-law. This goes to show how we can honestly have the best of both words if we try hard enough.
I thought about attending Purchase College at SUNY for design & production, so I was intrigued to hear about what life was like for a dancer there. I thought it was interesting how many of these dance majors were also taking classes outside of just dance. They also had many other majors, except for the first girl who dropped her second major to focus on dance. I also thought it was interesting that Adelle at the smallest college of 1,800 students took lots of classes and had studio time with beginners in order to make room for her earth sciences BA, and that she says its a good thing because it teaches her to work with new dancers. I guess that could be good especially if she would like to have a career in teaching dance somewhere down the line- you have to be very patient and be able to help new dancers. I think I would prefer to go to classes with people more experienced than me, because I would learn a lot more from them. Also, I would feel like I have 'shoes to fill' and something to grow into. But, I guess every person is different and needs different things, as shown in this article! Each dancer goes to a very different program and it works for them.
It's very insightful to see what the daily schedule is of dance majors at different colleges. Rehearsal times can vary greatly place-by-place and even week-by-week (as we've all experienced). While the daily schedule for a performance major is drastically different from someone pursuing an academic degree, the schedule can be just as -if not more- intense. A lot of people may not understand how much work goes into a performance degree, but the classes and homework just looks a lot different. It's also really interesting to see the difference in a school with 1,000 students versus a more well-known school with 30,000+ students. I'm sure that dance is a very exhausting sport, both physically and mentally. When you go to school to pursue an art form, you have to be careful to balance it well so that you don't lose the joy and the passion that you find in that activity.
I really like that this article shed some light on the actual day to day schedule of a dance student. I can definitely see how dance could be looked down on as a career or major by society, and dismissed because it is not a ‘real job’. Just like the article states, there is a mysterious or unfamiliar quality to the details of a dance major, so it’s very insightful for this article to add context and prove that this is a serious major with a rigorous curriculum and demanding work.
I don’t think this phenomenon is specific to dance, because all art related majors and professions suffer from this same societal judgment. I can say from personal experience that theater arts are not seen as a real profession by many people, even though the details of such professions are unknown to them. I hope that this article reaches people who are unfamiliar with dance as a profession, or maybe a reluctant parent whose child has expressed interest in professional dance.
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