Choosing Your Next Step

March 24, 2014

I remember my audition for Juilliard like it was yesterday. I can tell you which leotard I wore, where I stood at the barre—and that I didn’t make it past the first cut.

I bring this up for two reasons:

1. It’s college admissions season, when high school seniors anxiously await envelopes containing options and decisions surrounding their future. It’s a terrifying time of year, and one that can be extremely exciting and heart-wrenching at the same time.


Juilliard students Daphne Fernberger and Lorrin Brubaker in Lar Lubovitch’s Concerto Six Twenty-Two. Photo by Rosalie O’Connor

2. Juilliard’s dance department celebrated another successful spring performance run this past weekend. Their sophomore, junior and senior dancers excelled in a repertory smorgasbord: Twyla Tharp’s Baker’s Dozen, Lar Lubovitch’s Concerto Six Twenty-Two and Eliot Feld’s The Jig Is Up. It was easy to forget the dancers were students and not professionals the way they tackled Tharp’s wiggly phrasing and Lubovitch’s flowing, expansive movement.


Juilliard’s Kristina Bentz in Eliot Feld’s The Jig Is Up.

Photo by Rosalie O’Connor

On Friday night, Dance Spirit‘s very own September 2013 cover guy (and Juilliard junior) Corey John Snide shimmied his way through Feld’s quirky mix of Irish-jig-meets-Soul Train-meets-flower-child choreography.

While watching The Jig Is Up, I remembered one of Corey’s quotes from the feature: “College has given me options for how I can make a living and feel fulfilled artistically. I’m not just trying to kick my leg up to my face anymore.” He captures exactly what college dance has to offer. It’s the time to explore everything we love—and don’t love—about dance. It’s awesome.

Choosing a school, however, is not always as awesome, or easy. When I was rejected from Juilliard, I was definitely disappointed in myself. But as they say, hindsight is 20-20, and I know now my reasons for choosing to audition there in the first place weren’t exactly grounded. I didn’t know Juilliard’s rich history; I’d never seen a performance there; and I had no idea of which company I dreamed of joining after graduation. I hadn’t considered what I truly wanted out of a dance education, compared to what the school—or any school for that matter—actually offered.

All classic mistakes.

But Dance Spirit is here to help. Check out “University of NYC” to find out what school in The Big Apple is really like. “Streamline Your College Search” offers countless tips to help you target your dream dance program. And look in your April issue for “I Have No Idea What I Want to Do After High School!” where you’ll hear from five professional dancers about how they chose their paths—some heading to college and others directly to a career.

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