Scholarship Auditions

Students are not required to audition to major or minor in dance. However, we use auditions for our first-year student potential class placements.

Distinguished artist award in dance

Each year we give $48,000 to talented artists through the Distinguished Artist Award. Students are required to maintain a GPA of 2.6, enroll in a minimum of two dance classes per semester and participate in dance programming.

The scholarship is $3,000 per year (totaling $12,000) per student. You MUST audition to be considered for this scholarship. Please see the audition dates and audition schedule of events.

Apply for a DAA in Dance

If you live out of state and cannot attend an audition in person you may send in a DVD for scholarship consideration. Please contact Stephanie Brumels for more details.

Students do not need to audition to be a part of the dance program at Hope College, only to be considered for the Distinguished Artist Award Scholarship (DAA).

This scholarship is not offered to transfer students.

Please call the dance department for additional information: 616.395.7700.

Audition Dates

• November 8, 2019
• January 20, 2020
• February 17, 2020

All auditioners will be notified early in March 2020.

Sign up to schedule an audition 

Information Required

1. Head shot 
2. Please supply one letter of recommendation (professional dance field preferred)
3. A one-page essay addressing: What is it about the dance program at Hope that interests and excites you?

Schedule of Events

• 8:30 a.m. – Check in (Dance office/Dow Center)
• 9–10 a.m. – Ballet audition
• 10:30 a.m. – Chapel (Dimnent Chapel)
• 11 a.m. – Lunch with current dance students (Phelps)
• 12–12:45 p.m. – Dance informational meeting
• 1–3 p.m. – Jazz, modern, tap, improvisation auditions
• 3–4 p.m. – Five-minute interview with faculty

For the interview portion of the DAA audition you will individually meet with one or two members of the Hope dance faculty. This conversation will last 5–10 minutes. The following questions will be used to prompt the discussion during the interview.

• What is it about the dance program at Hope that interests and excites you?
• What would you bring to this program?
• Thinking about your experiences from a variety of contexts, what do you consider as strengths? What areas do you find as a challenge?

WHAT TO WEAR (FOR FEMALES):

• Ballet – skin tones or pink tights, solid-colored leotard
• Jazz, Modern and Tap – dance shorts or leggings solid colored leotard
• Shoes – ballet slippers, jazz shoes, tap shoes (highly recommended)
• Hair – neat and off the face

WHAT TO WEAR (FOR MALES):

• Ballet – black tights, solid colored leotard or fitted tanktop
• Jazz, Modern Tap – form fitting dance shorts or pants, solid colored leotard or fitted tanktop
• Shoes – ballet slippers, jazz shoes, tap shoes (highly recommended)
• Hair –neat and off the face