AUDITIONS

DANCE | MEDIA ARTS | MUSIC | MUSICAL THEATRE | THEATRE | VISUAL ARTS

AUDITIONS/PORTFOLIO REVIEW DATES

Each arts department has specific audition/portfolio review requirements. Please review them prior to your scheduled audition date as applicants are expected to fulfill all requirements from their selected arts discipline. Parents and guardians may not observe auditions/portfolio reviews.

Auditions for the 2012-2013 School Year

December 10, 2011

January 14, 2012

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DANCE

Dance majors at CAA take intensive classes in ballet, modern, and jazz. The Dance audition includes a group class featuring ballet and modern technique, a solo audition and a departmental interview.

Requirements:

• Be prepared to take a ballet class and modern combination
• Prepare a one to two minute solo routine in ballet, jazz, modern, or a dance form that is representative of your talent
• Bring your own accompaniment on CD or cassette. Please have cassettes cued to your music

Attire:

• Dress in suitable, clean dance attire
• Ladies: black leotards, black or pink tights, ballet slippers
• Gentlemen: white t-shirt, black tights, ballet slippers
• No sweat clothes or baggy shorts

Printable Dance Guidelines

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MEDIA ARTS

Media Arts majors explore their vision within two distinctive modes: as writers or as digital motion picture makers. Media Arts applicants should be prepared to discuss their work, either film or writing, participate in a departmental interview, and discuss their experience in their medium of interest.

Media Arts Writing Requirements:

1) Submit a portfolio containing a selection of your work (typed). Please be prepared to talk about your creative work (fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction) as well as what you read on your own for pleasure and intellectual or artistic stimulation.
Note: Please submit copies only; materials will not be returned.

2) Read one of the listed short stories and please respond to one of the following questions in 300 words or less.

Printable Writing Guidelines

Media Arts Film Requirements:

1) A short video (on VHS, CD-ROM, or DVD) of five minutes or less, or a screen play with story boards (five to ten page script with one or more pages story boarded)

2) Two movie pitches: written ideas for future films that the prospective student would make (without financial restraints)

3) Watch scenes from one of the films listed below and write a typed essay (approximately 500 words) addressing the following:

• First, list the aesthetic decisions: shot selections, camera angles, composition, color, editing and pacing, costuming, set, sound, and score.
• Next, using these observations discuss the mood and tone of the selected film scenes. Especially, note how the director's aesthetic choices contribute to the general atmosphere of the small section of the film.

Printable Film Guidelines

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MUSIC

The Music Department prepares students with highly diverse musical backgrounds for successful college-level music study and professional careers. The music audition is comprised of solo performance, sightreading, and a departmental interview.

In addition to an accompanist, approximately four faculty members will be present during an applicants audition. The audition will be followed by a short interview with the faculty. This is a relaxed conversation aimed at gaining insight into the student’s background, motivation, and potential for successful study and growth in the music program.


Requirements for all Auditionees:

• Discuss his/her history of training and music experience (lessons, ensemble experience, competitions, etc)
• Discuss any prior training in music theory
• Play and discuss major scales
• Sightread a short excerpt on his/her instrument (or sight sing for vocalists).

*Opportunities exist for study and performance on secondary (non major) instruments in the program, but for audition purposes students should be prepared to audition on his/her major instrument only. A discussion of any secondary instrument is welcomed during the audition interview.

Requirements by Instrument:

GUITAR
Perform two pieces: one jazz standard and one piece or etude from the standard classical repertoire.                                


PERCUSSION
Perform any two of the following:

• Perform various drum set grooves: jazz/swing in 4/4 and 3/4 at slow medium and fast tempos; bossa nova; straight eighths
• Perform a level-appropriate snare drum piece and/or rudiments
• Perform a level-appropriate vibraphone, marimba, or xylophone piece (highly recommended for incoming juniors)

PIANO
Applicants must perform two pieces. Choose one option from the list below:

Option 1:  Two contrasting pieces of etudes from the standard classical repertoire
Option 2:  One jazz standard in addition to the two classical pieces (optional)


STRINGS
Perform two contrasting pieces from the standard classical repertoire.


BRASS and WOODWINDS
Applicants must perform two pieces. Choose one option from the list below:

Option 1: Two jazz standards (see list of “suggested jazz standards”)
Option 2: Two pieces or etudes from the standard classical repertoire
Option 3: One jazz standard and one piece or etude from the standard classical repertoire


VOICE
Applicants must perform two pieces. Choose one option from the list below:

Option 1:
Perform two pieces (art songs or arias) from the standard classical repertoire. It is recommended that the student chooses a piece from the following anthologies: Twenty Four Italian Songs and Arias (Schirmer publishing) or Twenty Six Italian Songs and Arias (Alfred publishing) or by composers such as Mozart, Handel, Bach, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Fauré, Debussy, Purcell, Duke, Barber, Rorem.

Option 2:
Perform one piece (art song or aria) from the standard classical repertoire and one jazz standard.


Printable Music Guidelines

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MUSICAL THEATRE

Musical Theatre is comprised of three disciplines: dance, music, and theatre. The Musical Theatre audition includes participation in a dance class, song repertoire, acting requirement and a departmental interview.

Dance Requirements:
Applicants will be taught a jazz combination specific to Musical Theatre and should come in appropriate attire for moving (see dance guidelines for attire specifications). All applicants should wear jazz shoes.

Music Requirements:
Applicants must bring sheet music for the provided accompanist and must perform both of the following:

• One up-tempo song from a musical written before 1970
• One ballad from a musical written before 1970, or a classical piece (aria or art song in any language)
• All applicants must sing 32 bars (or one verse and one chorus)

Acting Requirements:
All applicants must:

Incoming Freshman or Sophomore:

• One Contemporary (after 1900) monologue,* one to two minutes. We suggest - but do not limit you to - one chosen from the CAA list of approved plays
• One Shakespearean Sonnet (performance ready)

Incoming Junior:

• One contemporary (after 1900) monologue* totaling one to two minutes. We suggest - but do not limit you to - one chosen from the CAA list of approved plays
• One Shakespearean monologue* totaling two minutes

* All monologues MUST be from a scripted play. No internet monologues, no original work, no poetry will be accepted. Applicants must read the entire play from which the piece has been selected. Be prepared to have the monologue(s) work-shopped by a CAA faculty member.

Other Requirements:
Please bring a resume or a list of your performance and training experience, and be prepared for an interview with the department faculty.

Printable Musical Theatre Guidelines

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THEATRE

The Theatre audition is comprised of three parts: guided group ensemble work, solo audition and departmental interview.

Incoming Freshman:

• Participate in guided group ensemble work
• Prepare a two-minute monologue from the list of CAA Approved Contemporary Plays
• Read the entire play and be ready to discuss it and answer contextual questions about your monologue
• Participate in a department interview
• Resumé of previous work and study

Incoming Sophomore and Junior:

• Participate in guided group ensemble work
• Prepare two monologues, not to exceed four minutes total. One from the list of CAA Approved Contemporary Plays and one from CAA Approved Classical Plays
• Read both plays in their entirety. Be ready to discuss them and answer contextual questions about your monologues
• Participate in a department interview
• Resumé of previous work and study

* All monologues MUST be from a scripted play. No internet monologues, no original work, no poetry will be accepted. Applicants must read the entire play from which the piece has been selected. Be prepared to have the monologue(s) work-shopped by a CAA faculty member.

Theatre Printable Guidelines
 

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VISUAL ARTS

The Visual Arts Department audition consists of a portfolio review, a discussion of student artwork, and a departmental interview. Applicants should be prepared to discuss their work in detail and their previous experience with the visual arts, i.e. mediums interests, classes taken, etc. The portfolio includes the required pieces listed below and other examples of the applicant’s artwork. Your work is evaluated on technical skill, use of composition, and the degree of difficulty of the individual works. Applicants should also present their sketchbook/s. In addition to their portfolio review, applicants must fulfill the artwork analysis listed below.

Portfolio Requirements:

• Self-portrait (from direct observation)
• What you see while looking out your window
• A section of your room, including your bed
• A pair of shoes
• Something from your imagination
• In addition to the above requirements, it is important that applicants bring other examples of their work including artwork from art classes, work that has been completed independently, and sketch books.

Artwork Analysis:
Answer the following five questions by selecting one of the approved artworks listed below. If possible, go see the work in person at The Art Institute of Chicago. You can also answer the following questions from looking at the piece on line http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artists. Your response should be no more than 1 typed page.

Questions:

1. Describe the composition of the piece including the overall organization of elements?
2. Is there an illusion of space or movement in the composition? How is color being used?
3. How does the form of the artwork mirror the content (meaning) of the work?
4. Why did you select this work? What do you find interesting?
5. What questions do you have about this artwork?

Approved Artworks:

Artist: Edward Hopper
Artwork title: Nighthawks, 1942

Artist: Willem de Kooning
Artwork title: Excavation, 1950

Artist: Jasper Johns
Artwork title: Corpse and Mirror II, 1974-75

Artist: Agnes Martin
Artwork title: Untitled #12, 1977

Artist: Glenn Ligon
Artwork title: Stranger in the Village #13, 1998

Artist: Kiki Smith
Artwork title: Blood Pool, 1992

Visual Arts Printable Guidelines

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