The University of Oklahoma School of Dance (SOD) will hold auditions for the Saturday Youth Program on September 9, 2012. Ballet auditions for the ages of 10 to 12 will be held at 2:00 p.m. with registration at 1:15 p.m. Ages 13 to 18 (pointe shoes will be needed) will be seen at 3:30 p.m. with registration at 2:45 p.m. Modern dance auditions for ages 13 to 18 will be at 2:00 p.m. There will be a $15.00 audition fee per class taken. All sessions will be held at The University of Oklahoma, Fine Arts Center, Room 110 and Room 305 located at 563 Elm Avenue in Norman. For the students selected, classes will be held on Saturdays September 15 through November 17, 2012. Tuition for the semester will be $130.00.

Prospective auditionees must meet the flowing requirements: students ages 10 through 12 need to have of a minimum of two years of training and be currently enrolled in two additional classes per week.  Students ages 13 to 18 must have a minimum of four years training and be enrolled in three additional classes per week in a local dance school.

Female students trying out for the ballet program are asked to wear a black leotard and pink tights and bring soft ballet slippers (pointe shoes will be needed for 13 to 18 year olds only.) Male students auditioning for the ballet program are asked to wear a solid color t-shirt, tights or bike-shorts, and dance shoes. Modern dancers should wear a black leotard and black tights without feet or a black unitard. All students must have hair neatly secured away from the face.

In previous years students have come from all over Oklahoma. Clara Cravey Stanley, Associate Professor at SOD states, “We think the Youth Program, is a wonderful opportunity to bring young students from local dance communities to the University of Oklahoma.”   Rebecca Herrin, Coordinator of the OU SOD Youth Program, observes, “We find that students enrolled in the Saturday Youth Classes demonstrate notable progress due to the opportunity to supplement local classes by working with other dedicated young dancers in an atmosphere that is disciplined, challenging and exciting.”

Audition registration forms are posted online and available for download at www.ou.edu/finearts/dance. Go to the Current Season tab and scroll down to Youth Program. Please plan to arrive at least one half hour in advance of the audition time to complete your registration form. If you have any questions about the classes or the audition, please call the SOD Director Mary Margaret Holt at (405) 325-4051.

The University of Oklahoma’s program in dance was founded in 1963 by Yvonne Chouteau and Miguel Terekhov, former principal dancers with Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. What had been a department became the School of Dance in 1998 with Mary Margaret Holt as Director. Undergraduate and graduate dance majors, along with general education students, total approximately 1000 enrollees in dance classes per semester. The School of Dance’s state-of-the-art facility in the Donald W. Reynolds Performing Art Center was completed in 2005.