When David Guzman was contemplating the place to attend college, he auditioned for a lot of well-known dance and theater packages. He was excited to review in a conservatory surroundings, the place the trail was clearly paved—till he visited Bennington Faculty in Vermont. “I noticed a totally totally different tackle what schooling could possibly be,” says Guzman, who graduated in 2021. At Bennington, Guzman found the various benefits of a small program: the liberty to create his personal path and construct robust bonds with school, and distinctive alternatives for growing the management expertise and individuality essential for postgraduation life. Earlier than you set your sights on a bigger college or conservatory, take into account the distinctive advantages smaller packages can supply.
Know Your School
School at smaller colleges have extra time to get to know every pupil. “It may be a extra private surroundings for college students who really feel they might want a excessive help state of affairs in school,” says Meredith Sims, affiliate professor of dance at Coker College. With a extra concentrated student-to-faculty ratio, college students have extra alternatives for centered consideration.
Make Connections
Dance courses at Bennington can vary from two to twenty college students, most. With a extra condensed class measurement, college students can develop robust, supportive relationships with friends. “The small measurement actually helps them really feel snug and assured at school while you generally must be weak,” says Sims.
Discover Different Pursuits
If exploring passions outdoors of dance is essential to you, a small college might allow you to pursue extra alternatives with instructing, working backstage or in administrative work. “There’s simply much more to do as a result of now we have much less individuals to do these issues,” says Sims. Bennington affords college students the power to pair a number of concentrations with dance—2021 graduate Louisa Parker, for instance, concentrated in dance, sculpture and garment design. “When the group is small, there’s extra freedom to additional your particular person expertise or expression,” says Mina Nishimura, a school member at Bennington.
Embrace Group
Nearer relationships with school, smaller class sizes and extra alternatives to discover varied pursuits are all contributors to growing a close-knit neighborhood of dancers. Oftentimes, college students have a wide range of pursuits inside dance and past, which ends up in extra alternatives for collaboration. “The sense of competitors is much less as a result of the individual standing subsequent to you at school has a unique aim from you,” says Sims.
Safer Throughout COVID-19
An unlucky actuality dancers should now take into account when selecting a university program is the way it may be affected by the coronavirus. In lots of instances, smaller packages have been in a position to supply extra alternatives through the pandemic than bigger, extra densely populated colleges. Bennington Faculty and Coker College, for instance, have had looser restrictions due to their small class sizes and distant places. Whereas following CDC tips, these colleges have been in a position to proceed with in-person courses and performances. “We did see it as a bonus, and I feel our college students did too,” says Meredith Sims, affiliate professor of dance at Coker. “It allowed them to nonetheless really feel a way of neighborhood as a result of we have been in a position to be on campus and attend class.”
Is It Proper for You?
Small dance packages are for college students who need to…
• Select their very own paths. “You’ll be able to domesticate the power of navigating your personal journey as a dance artist, which I feel is a very powerful talent after school,” says Mina Nishimura, a school member at Bennington Faculty.
• Ask questions. “I’d advocate it for curious, open-minded individuals who have a number of questions and are open to totally different mediums of exploration,” says Bennington graduate David Guzman.
• Department out. “Individuals who dip their toes out of dance make their dance apply stronger and extra fascinating,” says Bennington graduate Louisa Parker.
• Create new initiatives. “We actually encourage our college students to work on their inventive voice and choreographic instruments and attempt to give them numerous alternatives to try this,” says Coker College affiliate professor Meredith Sims.
