Students who wish to pursue a degree from TCU’s School for Classical and Contemporary Dance must undergo a rigorous admissions process.
To join the School for Classical and Contemporary Dance (SCCD) each applicant must be admitted into the university through the traditional admissions process, aside from the dance program.
For the audition portion, students interested must first send in a few documents and files, including a summary of training/performance experience, dance resume and a series of dance photos and videos and they then wait to be invited to a live audition. If a prospective student is awarded a live audition, he or she picks one of four dates the SCCD hosts auditions. The audition application checklist can be foundhere.
Madison Winter, a senior dance major, said auditioning can be tough.
“Auditioning is nerve racking, the day I auditioned they had a tour before and there were a bunch of current students that popped in and out,” Winter said. “I felt at home even considering it was audition day.”
On audition day there is a ballet class, pointe portion and a modern class. The entire staff is present during the live audition and has a say in who advances onto the solo round. Applicants know within two weeks after their audition if they have made the cut.
Elizabeth Gillaspy, director of the program, said the solo component empowers student to show something that they excel at and gives faculty more insight into the strengths of candidates.
Typically there are 65 dance majors and the incoming freshman class is around 20 students, SCCD staff said.
“We recognize we are basing our decision on that one audition day,”
Applicants that are not invited into the program are welcome to come back and reaudition at the next audition date.
