Personal Statement in Dance School Application Forms

[sillysally]

Hi All,

My daughter was looking at the application for Rambert School yesterday and discovered you need to complete a Personal Statement. 

She has not written one of these before and was stumped what to include and how long it should be. 

What kind of information do you need to include in the personal statement?

Can anyone help explain what kind of things are worth mentioning?

 

Thanks for any help.

 

Wishing everyone a good start to the week 😊

[Jan McNulty]

I know it's a different school but we had a thread about personal statements a couple of years ago:

 

 

When I did the search it looks as though there may also have been some conversation on the "Questions about Upper School auditions" thread.

[dancefanatic]

My DD had to do these last year. She included in her Rambert one info about what drew her to start learning contemporary aged 10.5 and went from there, plus why she was applying to Rambert. Doesn’t need to be too long, just in her voice to tell them

more about her. Good luck and tell her not to stress about it. 

[Kate_N]

I've read probably thousands of UCAS statements for a performance-related degree over the years ... Can I commend this straightforward advice:

1 hour ago, dancefanatic said:

info about what drew her to start learning contemporary aged 10.5 and went from there, plus why she was applying to Rambert.

 

Also pleeeeeeeese try to avoid saying "passion." We take it for granted that someone who wants to undertake an intense 3 years (or however long) in a demanding area of learning has "passion." Focus on what you'e learning, how you understand and process your learning so far, what you're particularly focused on, and how you want to develop your learning/training to a professional standard. If you've done youth ballet, competitions, performances, reflect on how those have assisted your training (don't talk about loving to be in the spotlight or similar) - but think about, instead, what has learning repertoire brought to your education and training as a dance artist?

Edited December 7, 2020 by Kate_N

[glowlight]

I don't have any experience of reading or writing personal statements myself, but I think it might be a good idea to include something about what her career aspirations are.  It may feel obvious to her, but not everyone who wants to go to dance college wants the same thing.  If she is able to articulate it - even at a simple level it may make her statement more interesting to read.

[BlueLou]

Any performance experience or notable achievements. Particular dancers/choreographers/performances that have inspired her, and why. Ambitions for the future. Also, I’d tailor it to the school in some way - why is your dd applying to Rambert specifically? Is the 50/50 split particularly attractive to her, and if so why? 

[sillysally]

Thanks all for this. She was so worried that something she writes places her application in the "no pile" before they even look at her...after much persuading she accepted this was unlikely to happen...

 

I will encourage her to write from the heart without any diva or drama if that makes sense.

 

  

 

 

[glowlight]

I don't know if it is an electronic or handwritten form these days - but I suggest she writes or types it in rough away from the form before putting it on the form itself. 

 

Write from the heart - but then re-read, edit and correct it to make it even more perfect