http://dancingperfectlyfree.com/2007/12/12/the-college-dance-departments-dilemma/ Mon, 13 Feb 2012 07:30:53 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://dancingperfectlyfree.com/2007/12/12/the-college-dance-departments-dilemma/#comment-59 Fri, 28 Dec 2007 15:40:31 +0000 http://dancingperfectlyfree.wordpress.com/2007/12/12/the-college-dance-departments-dilemma/#comment-59 Evan, I hear this kind of question all the time from students who come to college with a background in ballet, jazz or tap. Coming to a mostly modern department can be frustrating if that is not your desired focus. But, dodern dance dominates college dance departments because historically it is modern dancers who have run the departments. Modern dancers, as opposed to ballet dancers, have been more likely to go to college in the first place and then later choose to pursue teaching at the college level. Many of the most accomplished ballet dancers never go to college at any level, let alone get advanced degrees. Hence, they are not qualified to teach at a university (from the university’s point of view). The dominance of modern dance at universities won’t change until the directors of the programs are from more varied backgrounds. Of course, there are a number of universities that offer ballet focuses, as well as jazz, musical theater and ethnic forms – if a student is really interested in these forms of dance they just need to do some research and find those schools.

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