Since I've been talking to Danielle about the ballet program at Butler, and I just heard that Kristi is joining our ranks next year, I thought I'd start a post for any dance-related questions so other people interested in the dance department can read them. For those of you who don't know me, I'm a freshman dance major eager to answer any questions you can throw at me!
And Kristi, my good dancer friend Emi is also from Northern Virginia, the DC area. She's from Falls Church. She also wrote for her school's newspaper and might double major in journalism. (I'm looking at an English major myself.) So you guys should get along really well. :)
If anyone is interested in seeing what the dance program is all about, go to: http://www.butler.edu/dance/?pg=6108&navID=17224
You can see what types of productions are put on each year, view the curriculum, and so much more. Ask these dancers for their experiences, they have a lot to share with you!
Awesome! Ok so my first question, do you guys have to wear a uniform colour for class? When i went to audition everyone was in black and can you guys wear warm-ups and stuff?
And how many pointe shoes do you and most students usually go through? I guess the question really is how many classes or hours do you guys usually have to wear pointe shoes, like do you have to wear them for technique class and all rehearsals?
What is like the normal day for you or any other dance major??
Do some majors study abroad and dance with other companies during the year?
Where are some of the graduating seniors going to go next year?
Ya, lots of question and will probably have more when i think about them! And Thats so cool that your friend Emi is from VA, i dont know anyone who leaves near me going to Butler, What grade is she in? Thanks so much!! :)
You auditioned on either a Friday or a Monday: We wear black leotards and pink tights on those days. On Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday we can wear black or pink tights and colored leotards. The leotards are supposed to be all one color, though you can have differently colored trim. Actually, I have Yumi leo that has a different colored top part, and I wear that and it’s fine. This year, we can wear tights on the outside of our leotards if we want, but Michelle Jarvis (the head of the dance department) doesn’t really like it, I think. Well, I’m not wild about the look myself—I feel like it tends to enlarge certain areas! But sometimes I like to wear them outside just because it can be more comfortable. Anyway, I heard a rumor that we might have to wear tights inside on Mondays and Fridays next year. Not really a big deal.
I never really wear warm-ups in ballet class. I might leave a shirt on for the first combination at barre if it is freezing in the studio, but if you’re working hard, you warm up quickly enough. Sheer skirts are always fine. Shorts are not. In modern and jazz class, the rules vary slightly. The modern teacher is fine with warm ups as long as they are tight fitting: She has to be able to see your body (especially your back/spine), and she will make you take off anything that is too baggy. The jazz teacher is fine with warm-ups, though, again, I usually discard anything before too long because I get hot! I’ll wear jazz pants… Shorts… You get the picture.
Pointe shoes… that depends on your feet, of course! As a freshman, you will have a hour-long pointe class Monday and Wednesday, and you take your technique class on Friday en pointe. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but you can always put them on. It also depends on your rehearsal schedule. For example, I was in the Arabian dance for Nutcracker, and that was on pointe, so I had different amounts of rehearsal time in pointe shoes every week. For our Midwinter Dance Festival, the piece I was in (we were supposed to be aliens landing on a strange planet—it was very modern), I only had to wear flat shoes. So during that time, I would take center on pointe during our technique classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I had some pointe every day: pointe class M W, center technique on pointe T R (R=Thursday), technique on pointe with the rest of my class F… We wear deshanked shoes for technique classes. I had never worn them before I came here, and some girls complain about them, but they really don’t bother my feet at all. If you are having problems or pain or something, you just put on soft shoes for a few days for technique, and it’s fine. I didn’t wear deshanked shoes for about a month because I cracked my toe.
Normal day: It varies. I’ve told Danielle my schedule, so I’m going to post that here for you if you dare read it all!
“What happens is that rehearsal is in your schedule a bit like another class. It's called "Butler Ballet." Butler Ballet meets Mon 4:30-5:30, Tues and Thurs 3:15-5:30, and Sat 8-5. They can call you for rehearsal at any time within this frame, which means you cannot schedule classes during those times since you're already in one! This week, I have rehearsal for Cinderella from 4:40-5:30 Monday and will have it Tuesday 3:30-4:30 and Thursday 2-3 (unusual--during lunch) and 4-4:30; Saturday is from 2-5. It changes every week and it changes depending on which parts you have.
My schedule (a good luck if you actually read all of this!):
8 am M W F Masterworks of Dance. Basically we watch ballets and talk about them and have quizzes on the choreographers, the composers, etc.
9 am M W Public Speaking. Ew.
9 am T R (R stands for Thursday in scheduling-lingo) Piano
10 am T R Body Placement. That's a bit like Pilates/Yoga. We also get nutrition and some anatomy.
10:20 am M F Modern class for an hour and a half
10 am W Professional Practices. That's sort of a grab bag class for anything the dance department wants to teach you. We've done lighting, copyrighting, injury...
11 am T R Jazz class
12:20 T R Ballet technique
1 pm M W F My English class
2 pm M W F Ballet technique
3:40 pm M W pointe class (we take technique en pointe on Fridays)
Then Butler Ballet at the times I already gave you…
Then 7-8:40 pm W is my honors class about Community, Ecology, and Design.”
Well, this week is not normal, since we are performing Cinderella. Dress rehearsal is tonight and the shows are Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, so my week looks very different from that right now.
Study abroad. I know it is possible. I know it is difficult. I have not even looked into it because, under ideal circumstances, I will graduate with a double major in Dance Performance and English Literature, and I will have completed the honors program. That’s probably not going to happen, but I don’t have time to study abroad. I have a dancer friend who was talking about it. If you want, I can ask her if she is still going to try to fit that in. You don’t have time to dance with other companies, and, frankly, I don’t think you would be able to find a job (i.e. a company willing to work with a college student’s finicky schedule) with the economy in such a shambles.
Graduating seniors: Let’s see. I think someone is going to Louisville Ballet. I think someone is going to Dance Kaleidoscope. Umm… I’m having a brain blip. If I think of any more, I’ll tell you.
I’m sorry that this turned into the mammoth post. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask! Good luck with your senior year.
Oh, and yes, my friend Emi is a freshman with me. She wants to know where you dance.
Hello dancers!
I wanted to add that even though it would be really difficult (almost impossible) to study abroad for a semester as a dance major, there are a few summer travel opportunities for dancers. This summer 16 dancers from Butler Ballet are going to Russia and Poland for a month to study the culture and history of Eastern Europe. They will dance everyday and they will perform several times in St. Petersburg and Warsaw. A downside of traveling and studying in the summer is that you do have to pay for it entirely, which can get expensive, but its an opportunity of a lifetime!
My sister dances at IU...and im able to watch her performances live on the internet and i know you guys are in the middle of Cinderella right now, so i was wondering if it is shown online or not! i would love to watch! oh and goodluckk:)
I'm afraid it's not online--it if were, I would want to see it too! I didn't know IU had online shows. That's pretty neat. I know the Nutcracker aired on TV on a local channel.
I used to play softball at South Lakes!
Let me think... My friend Leigh Lotocki went there but she is a junior in college now; I also know Yuko Ruch and her sister and Keenan.
My schedule may seem packed, but actually I have a lot more breaks than most people in my class. This semester I'm only taking 15 credits whereas next semester I'm taking 20 (which is the max amount). I'm sorry I might have not been clear enough, but we never dance until 10:00 (at the earliest). At 8:00 in the morning we either have piano on Tue. and Thu. or Masterworks on Mon. Wed. Fri. Masterworks is a class in which we watch famous ballets/modern works/contemporary works and then discuss them and their elements, so there's no dancing involved.
There are 16 dancers from Butler Ballet that are going to Russia. The trip is lead by Professor Cholewa, who teaches dance. We are done with school on April 29th (next Wed.) and we are leaving for Russia on May 11th. We will be in Russia for a little less than a month and we are coming back June 6th. It is pretty much impossible for dance majors to study abroad during the school year, so we do it in the summer!
I think there are about 14 seniors this year, which is a really small class. Not all of them are done with auditioning/have heard back yet. With the economic crisis it is a hard year for anyone to find a job, especially for dancers, because companies are restricting their budgets.
I'm not entirely sure but I think that some of the seniors have found jobs/traineeships at the following locations: Louisville Ballet, Dance Kaleidescope, Portland Ballet in Maine, and Ballet Met. One girl was offered a job with Richmond ballet but they told her they couldn't hire her until next year because they don't have the money to hire anyone new. Regarding their plans for the future, that is a very difficult question because the life of a dancer is soo uncertain and unstable. Those that won't get jobs will probably continue their training and will keep auditioning until they find a job.
Olivia asked me to tell all the freshmen dancers that I am in contact with to post their questions on the main dance forum so that other people can read them, and perhaps it can answer their questions too, because this conversation cannot be seen by anyone else. By all means, if you feel more comfortable asking me through private messages that is perfectly fine, it's really up to you so do whatever you'd like.
Let me know if you have any other questions and I'd be happy to answer them! One of my friends from my studio is also going to be a freshman dancer at Butler next year so we will have a mini NoVA clan :)
Best wishes,
Emi
hey sorry emi i had to copy the message you gave me so i could remember what you said and reply back on the dance forum!
Awesome! yes keenan is one of my best friends! and so is her younger sister who is my age!! is piano for all dance majors? yes i def understand about not finding a job, my sister who is also a dancer has been auditioning and many are not hiring.
Yay for the Nova clan! Yeah, I dont know anyone that lives near me going to Butler, not many people have heard of it! But im pretty sure i will meet a lot when i get there.
Although now I am not sure if I am going to Butler because i also applied to University of North Carolina School of the Arts and they just said they are reviewing my file just now! but the deposit for Butler is due by May 1st anyways so i will probably not get results back in time. But even if I did get I think i would most likely stick with Butler
Not only can the Richmond Ballet not hire anyone new, but their reason is because Virginia cut $100,000 in funding to Richmond-based arts organizations. The Richmond Ballet lost $13,838. Recessions stink.
Piano is required for all Dance Performance majors. Dance Arts Admin majors might not need it, and if they do need it, they don't need more than one semester (I think). I'm not sure about Dance Pedagogy.
And what Emi said about not dancing until 10 am is true for freshmen, but next year as sophomores we will have a character class on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9 am.
By the way, come to Butler.
:)