Comparison between Bird & Urdang

[afab]

Hello all, I have been searching the forum quite a lot but didn't find the answers to my DD's questions so maybe some of you can help me...

DD is going to audition in MT colleges for entry in 2015. She's very specific in what she wants because she describes herself as a dancer who sings or maybe a singer who dances... She's tried a few SS to help her decide and, for example, even though she loved GSA, she decided with the help of the teachers that it's not for her as the focus is too much on theatre for what she wants to do... Same reason with the Northern Ballet School as there is not enough singing...
Anyway, to cut a long reflexion short, she's decided to go for Laines, Bird and Urdang and maybe Performers and LSC. After having read their websites, we can't manage to see exactly what the differences are between the teaching at Bird and Urdang! Can someone who's been there or has understood the curriculum better than us tell us what they actually study? One of the websites is very clear but the other is not!
Last question, DD worries about the flexibility test at Urdang? What is it exactly?

Is there a college more adapted to a dancer-singer interested only in minimal theatre?

Thanks a lot everyone!

[FelixGirl]

DD just going into her 3rd year at Bird…..so she has experience there (but not at Urdang, obviously!!) and I suspect it's the Bird website that isn't giving you the information you need!!

I would say that Bird is definitely for dancers who sing, or singers who dance (acting is good, and DD loves it, but there are fewer classes). Just for comparison her 2nd year timetable included something like the following:
- 18 hours of dance - (ballet - inc PDD, contemporary, jazz - inc technical, commercial and PDD, tap)
- 8 hours of singing
- 3 hours of acting
- 4 hours of musical theatre (singing and dancing!)
- 5 hours of other lessons (body conditioning, music theory and contextual studies)

Bird timetables are infinitely flexible and can change regularly…..so this is just to give you an idea!! Add on to this rehearsals for performances, additional classes for exams (if you want them), teaching qualifications (again, only if you want them), oh, and time to eat….and it's a pretty packed week!!

[afab]

Thank you very much FelixGirl, that's exactly the kind of information she was after!

[islandofsodor]

It's a few years out of date but my dh used to teach singing at Bird. Singing is a very important part of the curriculum & they study how the voice works & how you can create different types of sound for different MT styles.

They do have actor singers but they are on a separate course.

Has she considered Hammond? Lots of dancer singers there too.

[carriecrafts]

My DD, a dancer who can act and sing, found it really difficult to choose between Bird and Urdang. The courses sound so similar. All her teachers for dance, musical theatre and acting had different opinions. The Move It videos on youtube are equally good, graduate destination for both are good. In the end she just decided that either would be 'right' for her and neither would be 'wrong' so went with the one that was the most enjoyable audition and who made it clear they really wanted her.

Good luck x

[afab]

Thank you carriecrafts! Is she happy with her choice now?

[carriecrafts]

We don't know yet... she moves to London on Thursday and starts at Urdang on 2nd September.. so fingers crossed! She feels happy with her choice but if it isn't what she expects she can re-audition next year I suppose

[afab]

How exciting! Good luck with it all! x

[afab]

Islanofsodor, thank you... We did think of Hammond but if I'm not mistaken, they don't offer Student finance which we need...

[2dancersmum]

Islands posted on the ballet forum that Hammond is to introduce a degree course and therefore possibly also student finance? so it may be worth keeping an eye out for news on that front. I believe it was mentioned at a recent open day so perhaps further information will be available once schools start back.

First year is a common year for all students but the majority of hours are dance based - for years 2 & 3 there is either musical theatre or dance but on the dance course students can choose between a choreography option or a singing/acting option for part of their course. This is for the diploma but I would imagine the degree will be similar. The school is relatively small with a maximum of 40 students per year (usually less) and lots of individual attention so I think degree and diploma students would be taught together for the most part.

[suesmith]

Hi afab - will your dd be auditioning for Diploma or Degreee or both? Can't offer much advice about differences between courses as my dd is only just about to start her Diploma at Laine in a few weeks. All I would say is keep an open mind, audition at them all, see what you are offered and go with "gut" feeling! The colleges your dd is looking at are all amazing and would offer her fantastic training I think. Good luck to you both - you will find masses of useful info on here and there will always be someone who can help with advice

[carriecrafts]

Hi afab,
You may know all this, so apologies if I'm butting in with unwanted info!

If you need student finance are you only looking at degrees? At the moment Laine and Performers only offer the Diploma (Hammond is the same unless they are now offering a degree) all offering DaDA funding for some students which is based on household income + merit and also offer a few individual bursaries. Bird and Urdang offer both Diploma and Degree.

Of the schools that you mention, my understanding is that only Bird and GSA offer a degree which is completely covered by student finance. Urdang charge £12,000 pa, only £9,000 is available from student finance but they do offer a few bursaries to cover the extra £3,000. I think only £6,000 is available from student finance for LSC but again there are some bursaries for the remaining fees.

I'll ask my DD about the flexibility test at Urdang... she hasn't mentioned it.
x

[afab]

Hi carriecrafts and suesmith,
no apologies needed, carriecrafts, on the contrary any advice is welcome...
DD will certainly audition for both degree and diploma. I would prefer her doing a degree as she will have finished A'levels by then.

We live abroad and even though DD is entitled to a Dada if she's lucky enough to be offered one, the calculation for household income with the euro worries me as I don't know at all how it's done, which exchange rate is applied, etc... I don't want her to get in somewhere to have to turn it down because the Dada doesn't cover enough of the expenses. We also have a second DD who will auditioning for +16 vocational schools a year later, and a 3rd one 3 years later!!!

So Student finance is a much safer bet for us parents... That's why she's not sure to audition at Laines, which was one of her first choices. She doesn't want to have to turn it down if she were offered a place!

Hearing about flexibility test at Urdang would be great, thank you carriecrafts!

[carriecrafts]

Hi,

Laine's has always been my DD's first choice; she was offered a place at 16 and again at 18 but sadly no DaDA both times so had to turn the place down. To be honest it would have been difficult with a DaDA as even the maximum amount of maintenance wouldn't cover living expenses. If only they offered a degree...

DD says the flexibility test is nothing to worry about, not much more than splits and arabesque!
x

[islandofsodor]

I need to check which bits of the information I have about the new degree course at Hammond has been made public (it was announced at an open day & junior prize giving that I do know) & which bits are not yet.