In the past little spring break week, I took a trip with my dad to go and see five colleges as potential choices for what I want to study. I may want to do musical theater or acting but I really cannot make a finite decision yet. The more that I think about it, the more that I lean towards musical theater because I feel like my acting is great at this point, but I do not want that to be my only focus in college.
I crave improvement on my singing and dancing, with dancing being more crucial. This is because I, sadly, have never taken a dance class in my life. Some people may look at it as sad for a guy who wants to do musical theater and that I should have seen this coming. I really need to bulk myself up and say to myself "You're doing this to improve your capabilities and to not look stupid when you have to take dance classes in college." The main obstacle is myself and the fear that kids my age who have been taking classes since they were five are going to make fun of me. Also, I want the majority of girls who will be in my class to feel comfortable around me. I guess to avoid that, it goes without saying that I shouldn't do anything that gets me kicked in the balls.
While my parents and I were discussing this the other night, my dad told me "Even if you do take dance classes with 3-5 year olds, what could take them three to four years to learn can take you a couple of months." This made me feel a little better because it reminded me that I can process information fast if I spent a great amount of time on what it is I had to memorize. I just need to get over it, leap into the program and see if I like it. Also, the younger kids may look up to me if I do get that good and the kids my age can be supportive to me if I talk to them and tell them how I feel.
The colleges that my dad and I went to go visit were Hart School of Music in the University of Hartford, Syracuse University, Ithaca College, Carnegie Mellon, and Muhlenberg. The ones that stuck out to me the most were Ithaca, Carnegie Mellon, and shockingly, Muhlenberg. Ithaca interested me greatly because of the gorgeous campus, the way that the program is laid out (I got a copy of the full curriculum), and it felt very welcoming and supportive. Carnegie Mellon was also interesting because it's like Julliard, but with musical theater layered on top of it. I need to work hard for it though because of the 24 people that get accepted into the School of Drama program for acting and musical theatre, if you do the math, six of them are guys. The odds of getting in are like winning the lottery, so I will have to stay strong when I audition. Muhlenberg's tour was enjoyable. The school had this overall beauty about it as the guide took us around the campus. What came upon me as slightly nerve-wrecking and scary was when my dad and I made the appointment at the theater with the man who found the program.
After a few questions, he asked me "Do you dance?" and I did my cringe face when I know the answer "no" will lead to something bad. I said no to him, and he told me "Well, it's a good thing that you're a guy because you can still get up to the potential that people who have been taking dance since they were five can. If you were a girl and you said 'no', I would have told you 'no way'." I responded with a "Good thing!" and he replied as he was taking us on the tour "If I were you, I would sign up for a ballet class sooner than later. Do it tomorrow!" He further went on to say that ballet was the foundation of the other dance styles (jazz, tap, modern, and theater).
It feels strange to say because I never thought I would be saying this, but I will be starting basic ballet classes next week in the city. It feels like being a little kid again because I think I can reinvent myself through this process and hopefully get to where I have to be to find work in the musical theater/acting world.
