Vocational schools in the USA

[Dancermum]

It seems bizarre to be thinking about next years choices already for auditions.... but are there any vocational ballet schools in the US that offer full time training (and funding hopefully!) for year 10 age students (14 year olds)?

[Ellie]

The ones I know of (and I'm sure that there are more) are PNB, (Pacific Northwest) SAB (School of American Ballet) and JKO (Jaqui Onassis school which is linked to ABT) , DS has a friend (European) who was offered a full scholarship to PNB summer and full time school. x

[Fiz]

I think there is also the Harrid Conservatory.

[Kat09]

and the kirov academy in washington

[Circe]

Would be worth trying the american Ballet Talk forum to get more info too.

[Lisa O`Brien]

Not sure of the ages but there is the Juilliard School and the High School For the Performing Arts ,both in New York. But they might both be for older students.

[balletqs]

Boston ballet school

[goldfish]

san francisco ballet school

[aileen]

A couple of forum members have DCs studying in the US. Look for the thread entitled something like 'British students training abroad'.

[Dancermum]

More than I thought then - are they like ours and offer full boarding?

[Kat09]

Dancermum - Many offer boarding (but not schooling as many children will be doing that on-line) Kirov and Harrid offer the full package and in New York many attend The school for young performers (not a cheap option but some funding available) http://www.schoolforyoungperformers.org/about.php - good luck with your research,do share your results

[Melody]

San Francisco Ballet School has a residence but it doesn't accommodate all the students. The school doesn't offer academic tuition, just dance, so students will need to find a school or some sort of homeschooling setup.

 

http://school.sfballet.org/school/residence

 

Hopefully the school has some sort of scheme for helping students find accommodation, especially younger ones. There isn't much information on the website about what students are supposed to do if they don't get into the residence; I hope the older students aren't expected to just go out and find apartments to share because accommodation in and around San Francisco extremely expensive.

Edited May 17, 2014 by Melody

[Moneypenny]

Ellison school of ballet too.

[Guest BD19]

It's a lot easier for boys to get scholarships or part scholarships than girls. Juilliard is a modern dance school with a very strong ballet element but it is 18+ and also it's one of the Top 10 hardest universities higher education schools to get into in the world. I read an online article and apparently the number of places available each year to the number of students auditioning make it harder to get in to than Oxford or Harvard.

 

I've done summer schools in New York and stayed in dorms which belong to NYU and also one summer I stayed in a room in an apartment belonging to this woman who smoked like a chimney. she literally had candy dishes everywhere with cigarettes stacked in them. That was really grim.

 

US schools are very expensive and there's a lot more competition to get those few places from US students as the country is so vast. The best schools are in the big cities NY mainly and you really don't want to send a 14 year old there to live alone. There's a big difference too between doing summer school and full time.

 

Why do you want to send her to the US? Why not the UK or the really good European schools?

[victoriapage]

Professional Childrens' School is walking distance from the School of American Ballet and a lot of their students (as well as others) attend there.  It has a long list of distinguished alumni and was established some 100 years ago. http://www.pcs-nyc.org/ 

Edited May 17, 2014 by victoriapage

[Guest BD19]

Victoria Page, it still doesn't change the fact the girl's 14. SAB won't take a kid without a guardian in NY. And then there's the question about money they'll have to pay for SAB, PCS, for the girl to live. Don't ever count on scholarships or assistance, especially if you're a foreign student.

 

I just don't see how the OP plans to make it work? All the major companies in the US have schools attached, SAB is the most famous, sure. But it's not like it is here in the UK. At RB until the end of White Lodge you're boarding but as soon as you go to Upper school you're in charge.

 

If the OP has a guardian, is happy to send a 14 year old abroad, can pay for everything and that's if her daughter gets in to SAB or whichever school she goes for, fine, go for it, but it sounds like a half baked idea.

[Spax]

I think the standard is higher over there by all accounts.

I was talking to a CSB students dad at their show case at the ROH and he said she auditioned at two places over there and had no chance.

I was also talking to a lad who went to America with Matthew Bourne Company and he said they outshone them. 

Its really worrying when your own dc want to be artists. My dd had her heart set on going to US.

Might look at sending my ds over there."/

[Kat09]

My daughter was accepted at Ellison last year - she was 15 at the time . The tuition fees were $11700, accommodation in dorms which were within walking distance of the school (but didn't include food - student responsible for feeding and looking after themselves although there is a chaperone on site) were around $1800 for a single room and $1250 for shared per month - fees at professional childrens school were $36000 if I remember rightly - we decided that unless we won the lottery it was a no go and she is happy to have a place at ENBS this year with a DADA If you are looking at sending your DS Spax Mr Ellison does have ltd scholarships and is known to favour boys he is a great teacher.

Edited May 17, 2014 by Kat09

[Anna C]

Victoria Page, it still doesn't change the fact the girl's 14. SAB won't take a kid without a guardian in NY. And then there's the question about money they'll have to pay for SAB, PCS, for the girl to live. Don't ever count on scholarships or assistance, especially if you're a foreign student.

 

I just don't see how the OP plans to make it work? All the major companies in the US have schools attached, SAB is the most famous, sure. But it's not like it is here in the UK. At RB until the end of White Lodge you're boarding but as soon as you go to Upper school you're in charge.

 

If the OP has a guardian, is happy to send a 14 year old abroad, can pay for everything and that's if her daughter gets in to SAB or whichever school she goes for, fine, go for it, but it sounds like a half baked idea.

Very good advice, but before making a judgement and calling it a "half baked" idea, perhaps we should let Dancermum tell us more about her plans? She and her family may be relocating to the US for all we know.

[victoriapage]

Victoria Page, it still doesn't change the fact the girl's 14. SAB won't take a kid without a guardian in NY. And then there's the question about money they'll have to pay for SAB, PCS, for the girl to live. Don't ever count on scholarships or assistance, especially if you're a foreign student.

 

I just don't see how the OP plans to make it work? All the major companies in the US have schools attached, SAB is the most famous, sure. But it's not like it is here in the UK. At RB until the end of White Lodge you're boarding but as soon as you go to Upper school you're in charge.

 

If the OP has a guardian, is happy to send a 14 year old abroad, can pay for everything and that's if her daughter gets in to SAB or whichever school she goes for, fine, go for it, but it sounds like a half baked idea.

 

 

 

 

Just offering information as I cannot assume foreknowledge of OP's situation.

[Spax]

My daughter was accepted at Ellison last year - she was 15 at the time . The tuition fees were $11700, accommodation in dorms which were within walking distance of the school (but didn't include food - student responsible for feeding and looking after themselves although there is a chaperone on site) were around $1800 for a single room and $1250 for shared per month - fees at professional childrens school were $36000 if I remember rightly - we decided that unless we won the lottery it was a no go and she is happy to have a place at ENBS this year with a DADA If you are looking at sending your DS Spax Mr Ellison does have ltd scholarships and is known to favour boys he is a great teacher.

thanks I will keep that in mind.

I have had to pull him out of WL as it wasn't for him but he is in his third week at Elmhurst at the moment and so far so good!

[Anna C]

I'm sorry to hear that, Spax. :-( I hope he will be very happy at Elmhurst.

[2dancersmum]

I agree with Chaperone's advice to look at the American forum - the threads on the schools there and the posters on the forum are probably better placed to give advice and guidance than most of the members on this forum. 

[Spax]

I'm sorry to hear that, Spax. :-( I hope he will be very happy at Elmhurst.

Its what he wanted to do so he is happy He has his own mind does my ds! ha ha.

no need to be sorry but thank you anyway!

[Guest BD19]

Well since she asked about scholarships I assumed they'd need help to pay with the fees. And a fee scholarship doesn't cover living and accommodation and all the rest. If you're going to have to rely on help to pay fees in the UK, then it's going to be ten times harder in the US.

 

I had means tested assistance at RBS and it still was a stretch for my family to afford everything.

 

Sure, maybe they're relocating to the US, but in that case she's going to be competing for an entry place against many more 15 year olds than here. Like another poster said the general standard in the US is far higher than here and that's a lot to do with there are so many more ballet schools and students, by the time you get to the top level of schools they have a far greater choice of students.

[balletla]

It's a lot easier for boys to get scholarships or part scholarships than girls. Juilliard is a modern dance school with a very strong ballet element but it is 18+ and also it's one of the Top 10 hardest universities higher education schools to get into in the world. I read an online article and apparently the number of places available each year to the number of students auditioning make it harder to get in to than Oxford or Harvard.

 

I've done summer schools in New York and stayed in dorms which belong to NYU and also one summer I stayed in a room in an apartment belonging to this woman who smoked like a chimney. she literally had candy dishes everywhere with cigarettes stacked in them. That was really grim.

 

US schools are very expensive and there's a lot more competition to get those few places from US students as the country is so vast. The best schools are in the big cities NY mainly and you really don't want to send a 14 year old there to live alone. There's a big difference too between doing summer school and full time.

BD19 Interested to know which summer schools you did and what age you were and how beneficial you found them? My DD would love to do an American summer school, but they always seem to clash with English term dates and end of term performances and I don't think vocational schools are sympathetic to letting their students out early.

[Guest BD19]

I did SAB & Joffrey. SAB when I was 16, Joffrey when I was 14. My mum came with me to Joffrey. SAB you have to audition for by DVD, Joffrey you don't. The problem with that was anyone could sign up and the classes were huge, you can go any time in the summer period and there were far too many girls.

 

SAB was much better, I was at vocational school at the time, RBS. I went after term ended.

[Lisa O`Brien]

BD19,Hope you don`t mind me asking,are you still in full time training or are you dancing professionally now?[ Tell me to mind my own business if you like!]

[Dancermum]

Goodness, I feel a bit overwhelmed and judged... I was simply asking what other options there were, since places (other than for year 7 or 16+ Entry) over here are extremely limited.

Thank you to those that offered information.

[hfbrew]

Goodness, I feel a bit overwhelmed and judged... I was simply asking what other options there were, since places (other than for year 7 or 16+ Entry) over here are extremely limited.

Thank you to those that offered information.

I am sad that you ended up a bit overwhelmed and judged over what to me was just a straightforward question! For what its worth I cant blame you for feeling that way as some of the posts perhaps could have been more sensitively worded although I am sure no one meant to be anything other than helpful. There have been responses on other threads like the lady seeking advice about her performance shy dd that perhaps could have been more tactful and Ive noticed that some people have stopped posting after the odd disparaging comment which is a shame.

 

Wishing you the best of luck on your audition adventures and I hope you continue to post and let us know how you get on.

[invisiblecircus]

I'm afraid I have no information about schools in the US but I was wondering if you had considered any of the European schools. Their fees are often much less than in the UK and I'm sure there are scholarships available too.

Edited May 18, 2014 by invisiblecircus

[Anon2]

There is a short series of videos following a group of students at SAB - Search Teen Vogue and videos comes up as a link.

Gives some insight into life at school.

[Guest BD19]

Invisible Circus

 

This is why a little information is bad information. Which European schools? I know UK dancers who trained at the Bolshoi, the costs for a foreigner were around £50k + a year and there was no financial assistance, not even from the UK.

 

The costs listed at Hamburg, Stuttgart, POB etc are for nationals. To say you're "Sure" there's financial assistance doesn't mean it's true, in fact from what I know about British dancers studying abroad which is actually quite a lot, the one big problem they all faced was money. It's as expensive to study in one of the big European ballet  schools, if not a lot more so than it is to study here.

 

And that brings me to another point if someone doesn't have the technique or talent to get accepted at one of the top schools in the UK they won't be accepted at one of the European schools either.

 

And why would you want a British kid to go into a foreign school system at 14/15? Not only will she be studying a completely different curriculum but also in a language she doesn't understand.