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Purchase College, State University of New York
Purchase is a preeminent conservatory program from which to launch a career in dance. It offers professional, comprehensive, in-depth, personalized training in modern dance and classical ballet/performance and composition. The Conservatory of Dance curriculum in the School of the Arts has a shared emphasis for all students in performance and composition. Prospective students must audition in person, except for international students residing abroad, who may send videotapes. Scholarships are awarded based on the talent demonstrated at the entrance audition. Students in the Conservatory are from thirty-six states and nine other countries.
Performance credits are required for graduation. Students may perform in the Purchase Dance Corps concerts, international and national tours, senior project concerts, M.F.A. concerts, lecture demonstrations, galas and fund-raising events, student concerts, studio showings, and workshops. Performance of a major professional repertory piece is required for the B.F.A. senior project. Purchase Dance Corps International Tours have included Amsterdam (1991); Taiwan (1992, 1995, and 2004); Beijing, China (1994); France (1995); Hong Kong (1987, 1990, 1997, and 2006); Germany (2002); and the Kennedy Center in the United States (2004 and 2006).
The four-year composition curriculum involves each student in performance of a sophomore and junior composition showing. The senior choreography project is mentored by a faculty member and monitored by the faculty senior project committee. The senior project concerts, coproduced by 3 to 4 seniors in the Dance Theatre Lab, are culminating artistic and directorial events that serve the student as a bridge to the profession.
The B.F.A. degree conservatory professional training program requires 120 semester credits to graduate: 90 credits in the professional dance curriculum, 30 credits in liberal arts, which fulfill the SUNY-mandated general education requirements. The program emphasizes modern dance technique/classical ballet technique daily, anatomy for dance, music for dance, dance history, dance production, improvisation, ballet and modern partnering, ballet or modern composition, and pointe. The M.F.A. degree is a 60-credit, two-year, residential curriculum in choreography or performance/teaching.
The Conservatory of Dance faculty members are active in the profession as choreographers, teachers, coaches, musicians, and performers. Alumni are performing or have performed in the Martha Graham Dance Company, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, the Trisha Brown Dance Company, the Frankfurt Ballet, the Houston Ballet, the Parson’s Company, the Mark Morris Dance Group, Limón Dance Company, American Ballet Theatre, Feld’s Ballet Tech, the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, and the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. Alumni are founders of their own companies or are freelance choreographers. An extensive listing of alumni accomplishments is available on request.
Campus and Surroundings On campus, The Performing Arts Center provides professional theaters for performances by the Conservatory students as well as an annual professional concert series of major contemporary and classical companies. Each company provides a master class for students. Companies included are the Miami City Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Hubbard Street, Bill T. Jones, David Parsons, Mark Morris Dance Group, Urban Bush Women, Jant-Bi, and Lyon Opera Ballet.
Purchase College is 35 minutes north of New York City in a suburban setting where students have the best of both worlds. They reside on campus in residence halls or apartment complexes with students from the other arts programs and liberal arts and sciences. The ease of living in a campus setting, combined with the cultural advantages of Manhattan, informs the students’ artistic stimulation and knowledge of the real challenges they are likely to face upon graduation. They travel to the city to attend concerts, take classes, go to auditions, visit museums, and absorb the rich culture. New York City is a crucial resource in the education of these future artists. It is the reality check and the constant reminder of what students work for in their programs in the Conservatory.
Facilities The award-winning dance building at Purchase College is the first specially built facility in the United States designed exclusively for the training and performance of dance. There are nine fully equipped, light-filled studios; a 270-seat Dance Theatre Lab, and The Performing Arts Center, with four theaters, where the Purchase Dance Corps performs.
Faculty B.F.A. and M.F.A. faculty members have performed with Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Alvin Ailey, José Limón, Viola Farber, Mark Morris, New York City Ballet, and the American Ballet Theatre. They choreograph, teach, and/or set masterworks in Asia, Europe, and South America. They produce their own work in Manhattan. The faculty members teach the students daily. Musicians accompany all technique classes.
Performance Opportunities Students are required to perform. The Purchase Dance Corps, the performing company of the Conservatory of Dance B.F.A. program, for which all students are eligible to audition, presents two concerts annually of major professional repertory in The Performing Arts Center, including modern works by artists such as Paul Taylor, Merce Cunningham, and Mark Morris; ballets by George Balanchine, Robert Hill, and Gerald Arpino; works by stellar alumni, such as Doug Varone and Nicolo Fonte; and co-commissioned collaborations with the American Ballet Theatre Ballet Studio Company; the Nutcracker Ballet; works by international choreographers Lin Hwai Min, Shen Wei, and Robert Cohan; as well as commissioned pieces by emerging choreographers and works by faculty members, created especially for the Purchase Dance Corps. Additional performance opportunities include B.F.A. senior project concerts and M.F.A. showings and concerts in the Dance Theatre Lab, special fund-raising events and galas, and summer tours to Asia and Europe.
Special Programs Student exchange programs in dance are available in London; Amsterdam; Rotterdam; Perth, Australia; or Taipei. The College also offers a B.A. degree in an arts management certificate. A physical therapist is available two days per week.
For additional information, prospective students should visit the Web site at http://www.purchase.edu/dance.
Application ProceduresDeadline--freshmen and transfers: April 15. Notification date--freshmen and transfers: May 1. Required: high school transcript, college transcript(s) for transfer students, audition, minimum TOEFL score of 550 for international applicants. Recommended: SAT or ACT test scores. Auditions held 9 times on campus and off campus in Miami, FL; Chicago, IL; San Francisco, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Interlochen, MI; videotaped performances are permissible as a substitute for live auditions for international applicants and applicants from Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
Undergraduate ContactLisa Labeille, Counselor, Office of Admissions, Purchase College, State University of New York, 735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, New York 10577-1400; 914-251-6317, fax: 914-251-6314. Graduate ContactMs. Sabrina Johnston, Counselor, Office of Admissions, Purchase College, State University of New York, 735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, New York 10577-1400; 914-251-6479, fax: 914-251-6314.
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