Editor's Introduction

How college helps you choreograph a career

By Janet Weeks



During the final stages of preparing this year’s College Guide, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company announced that it would permanently disband after its 90-year-old leader retired. With this sad loss, the number of traditional, “full-time” modern companies (like Alvin Ailey, Mark Morris, and others able to offer dancers an annual contract) continues to dwindle.

This might seem discouraging—especially if you’re considering a dance degree. But, in fact, the declining number of big dance companies hasn’t diminished the number of successful dancers. It’s just led them to approach their careers in new, creative ways and to set different goals. The traditional model still works for a handful of people: They study with a choreographer (or at her school), apprentice, and then join the company. But the majority of today’s modern dancers are crafting careers by working for a variety of choreographers, training independently, and finding flexible side jobs that feed their dance interests. In this new model, college becomes even more important since it offers dancers the knowledge and experiences they need to develop into independent artists and creative thinkers. In “Dancer/Bank Teller” (page 30), modern dancers discuss how they weave jobs like teacher, business owner, and physicist into their professional dance schedules.

Ballet companies still tend to provide salaries substantial enough to live on. But as their repertories grow more diverse, ballet dancers are asked to excel in more than one dance style and to take part in the choreographic process—demands made easier by the variety of techniques offered in college and other standard courses like improv and choreography. In “Enter College. Exit an Artist” (page 10), Leah Cox, now a dancer with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, discusses how getting her degree prepared her for professional life by giving her an artistic voice, vision, and confidence. And, though she benefited greatly from her college’s strong dance department, she didn’t even major in dance!

As you begin to shape your own dance career, you face plenty of decisions—whether to go to college and when, what to study once you’re there, whether you want a program that is mostly academic, artistic, or a mix of both. The search for the perfect program is exciting—and, okay, a little overwhelming! But the College Guide can make your job easier:

n To find out what college dance life is like, check out “Letter to a Future Dance Major” (page 13) by two dance professors who offer advice on how to enter college fully prepped and read the diaries kept by three dance majors  in “A Week in the Life” (page 24).
n To investigate individual schools, go to our Dance Program Finder chart (page 4), where you can compare tuition amounts, dance department sizes, and more. To find schools within a geographic area, start with our Address Book (page 112). Both will direct you to the dance department profiles where you can get more detailed information.
n For guidance on getting in, don’t miss “Apply Yourself” (page 17), by Dean College admissions officer Clarissa Walker, and successful M.F.A. applicant Rebecca Salzer’s “Knowing and Showing Your Strengths” (page 21).