Style Training

Looking for pre-professional college dance programs focused on ballet, especially balanchine style training?

I am currently a student at the University of California Irvine but am looking to transfer if I can find a pre-professional college ballet program. I work best in the Balanchine training style and am looking to audition for companies in the next couple of years so I need to train hard!

These college programs have ballet as their primary or only focus:

Butler University

http://www.butler.edu/dance/

Indiana University – Jacobs School of Music, Ballet Department

http://www.music.indiana.edu/department/ballet/

University of Oklahoma

http://www.ou.edu/finearts/dance/

University of Utah

http://www.ballet.utah.edu/

These programs have dual or triple-emphasis programs where you can get solid, pre-professional ballet training:

Southern Methodist University

http://www.smu.edu/meadows/dance/

SUNY Purchase

http://www.purchase.edu/Departments/AcademicPrograms/Arts/Dance/

University of Arizona
ttp://web.cfa.arizona.edu/dance/

University of South Florida

http://theatreanddance.arts.usf.edu/dance/

No program is going to offer just Balanchine-style ballet; not even Indiana University with Violette Verdy (former principal dancer with the New York City Ballet) on the faculty.

My daughter transferred into one of these programs in order to get rigorous ballet training. She got that, but along with it comes a pecking order that may not be to your liking. Your ballet castings may be limited to understudy roles, if that, if you find you’re not at the top in ballet. Transfer only if you realize that there is rarely a perfect dance program, only one that may offer you more than where you are now. You may trade in some “pros” at UC-Irvine for some “cons” that you didn’t expect.

I should also caution you that the ballet world is really hurting these days, with companies folding or downsizing. This is putting experienced, professional dancers into the audition pool, so the chances of college-trained ballet dancers making it into ballet companies are very close to zero. If you really want a BFA in dance, your chances of becoming professional are much better if you remain well-rounded in your training. Otherwise, I would recommend putting college aside for the time being in order to throw yourself into a “post-grad”/ trainee/ apprentice program – IF you can get into one. However, even those dancers are not faring well on the audition circuit. So think really carefully before you make the switch.