Grace Holmes, director of the San Francisco Ballet School, says every dancer’s path is different.
“There are many ways to get to that goal of being a professional dancer,“ she says. “And here and at other schools where I’ve taught, sometimes the students just need a little extra time, and dance program in college is one way to get that extra time and experience before moving into a professional company.”
San Francisco Ballet School is providing 40 dance-oriented Bay Area high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to explore extending their studies once they enter college in its first-ever College Dance Fair on its campus on Oct. 3-5.
The fair offers master classes from dance professors and information on dance programs at the University of Southern California Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Oklahoma University School of Dance and TCU School for Classical & Contemporary Dance in Texas. Students also will have the opportunity to sit for interviews with representatives from the participating universities.
Holmes conceived of the idea for the fair not just because she wanted to give students extra time to study dance, but also because college gives them enhanced world experiences that may help them determine what they do after their dance careers.
“We’re trying to look at all of our constituents—our students and dancers—from a holistic perspective, like the whole person,” she says.
The fact that the ballet world has evolved since Holmes was a student was another rationale for staging the fair.
“When I was a student, if you went to college, it was considered like a little bit of a cop out, that you didn’t make it in a professional company,” she says. “But nowadays, especially with the advent of second companies, the companies are taking dancers when they’re a little bit older, have a little bit more life experience. … So it’s not an anathema to go to college. It’s a great way to build your skills set.”
Except for one 15-year-old, participants in the fair are 16 or older and all have studied dance, including a few from San Francisco Ballet School.
Holmes says the decision to limit the number of enrollees was intentional.
“We decided we better start small because we weren’t sure what we could accommodate, as this is our first time exploring this opportunity with our students,” she explains. “We reached out to high schools and dance schools in the Bay Area, so I’d say 99 percent of the kids who are on the roster are from the Bay Area.”
Split into two groups, the participants will first meet with school representative to learn about college dance in general, including explanations of the differences among research facility, bachelor of fine arts or bachelor of arts programs and conservatory-style dance training.
Each group will take one master class from each of the universities, all of which have ballet programs in addition to modern or contemporary dance. The universities will have allotted time to talk with the students about their programs, and in turn, the students will be able to sign up for one-on-one meetings with the schools’ representatives.
Holmes says the ballet school and company hope that participants in the fair, which cost $125-$150 to attend, will acquire a broader understanding about opportunities that are available to them.
“I think some of them think that school is school and don’t understand that most of these universities that are coming have a full performance season, so if the students go to college, they can still have a company performance,” she says. “And there are other options if things don’t work out the way they want to and they don’t directly get into a dance company right from school.”