Myths about dancing in college

Kathryn Van Yahres had an interview with Ashley Rivers for Dance Spirit Magazine where they discussed about Kathryn's decision with dancing in college. "She'd (Yahres) heard that college dance programs were fallbacks for dancers not good enough to get jobs right out of high school." Yahres auditioned for colleges out of parents insistence; Point Park University was the lucky choice that she decided to go to and get her degree.

Through out this interview they go through six myths of dancing in college and got additional information from outside sources. This post is myth one of six and I will be going on in other posts over the other five.

MYTH #1: "College programs focus on modern dance and modern dance alone"

Lee Buoy from Marymount  Manhattan College discusses that his school offers both modern and ballet technique classes. He was worried that the school he decides to go to will just have the dancers "rolling on the floor and never taking ballet". Many colleges are known for certain styles of dancing that is their specialization; such as Butler University and Indiana University are known for their ballet program according to Michel Tevlin, a dance professor at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Personally when I was a junior in high school I came up the idea of not going to college and just going out to L.A. and see where it takes me. I felt that if I went to college I would be four years behind those that was out there when I graduated. But after talking to many professional choreographers, my dance team coach and my parents they changed my mind and I decided to go to college. I also worried that I would not be able to handle modern, that it was the weird style of dancing but after taking two semesters it is not that bad and I feel stronger. At one of my conventions there was a talk time to discuss about dancing in college and they offered this book.

 

This book helped me see what each school offers from different styles, number of graduates, number of people in the major and scholarships. This book helped me narrow my choices of Slippery Rock University and Western Michigan University.

 

Look out for the next five myths on the blog and remember to keep on dancing!