Drama & Dance

Grants & Scholarships

Drama | Dance

Drama

While there are no auditions for admission to the Drama program, we do hold scholarship auditions and portfolio reviews to determine initial offerings of Drama Talent Scholarships to incoming Freshmen, and to determine admission to the 4-year BFA in Production, which includes tracks in Design, Directing, Stage Management and Technical Theater.

Spring 2023 Drama Talent Scholarship auditions and interviews for incoming BFA Production students will take place on campus Saturday, March 11, 2023; please contact the Department of Drama for more details. All students attending in-person auditions or portfolio reviews must submit proof of full vaccination when scheduling your interview/audition time.

Students who receive Drama Talent Scholarships may apply for annual renewals and increases. We are only able to offer about six scholarships to incoming students, but once a student is attending Hofstra as a drama major, they may apply for activity grants. About 50 continuing students receive such grants. Like the Drama Talent Scholarships, these grants are applied to tuition and serve as a subsidy to students heavily involved in departmental rehearsal and performance activities that make outside employment inadvisable. In addition to these activity grants, many of our students qualify for other university scholarships and loans.

How To Apply

Submit an application to the University.

The student should file a formal application for admission to Hofstra as soon as possible, indicating on the application that he/she wishes to be a drama major. The standard Financial Aid Form should be obtained from the high school office and sent as soon as possible, asking that a copy be sent to Hofstra’s Admission Office.

Send all required Talent Scholarship Audition material to the Drama and Dance Department no later than March 8, 2023.

The applicant should write to the Department of Drama and Dance no later than February 28, 2023, informing the Department that he/she has applied for admission to the University. Your request for an audition/interview should also include home address, telephone number, a resume of experience in theater work and programs corroborating this work. Two recommendations must be sent by adults who can comment on the applicant's proficiency and potential in theater. These may be sent separately or included in the packet.

Angela Visco
Department of Drama and Dance
118 Hofstra University
Hempstead, New York 11549-1180
Fax: (516) 463-4001
Angela.Visco@hofstra.edu

Audition for, or interview with, the faculty.

Auditions and interviews will take place Saturday, March 11, 2023. A student will not be given a specific appointment on that date until the Department has been notified by the Admissions Office of his/her acceptance to the University, ie, only accepted students may audition/interview for a scholarship.

Students who are interested in performance, and wish to sing, must prepare a memorized, one minute monologue and one minute of a song from the Golden Age of Musicals (1940s-1960s). Bring sheet music. An accompanist will be provided. No recorded accompaniment, please.

Students who are interested in performance, but do not wish to sing, must prepare two memorized contrasting monologues, each of which is no more than one minute in length. One piece may be classical.

Students interested in design, technical production, stage management, or directing, should bring portfolios, prompt books, photographs or other appropriate supporting material.

All students who wish to apply for the BFA in Production must contact David Henderson at david.m.henderson@hofstra.edu to begin the application process.

Candidates who live at a considerable distance may submit an audition or portfolio online.

For Performance Students Who Wish to Submit an Online Drama Talent Scholarship Audition:

The same audition requirements apply as for in-person auditions. Contact Angela Visco at Angela.Visco@hofstra.edu for instructions on submitting a video audition. All video auditions and supporting materials must be submitted by March 8, 2023. Upload your video audition supporting materials and links.

For Production BFA Candidates Who Wish to Apply Remotely:

Students can send a link to their personal website, or send us their portfolio digitally through wetransfer.com. Once the department has reviewed the portfolio, we contact the student to set up a Zoom interview.

All supporting materials (CV, letters of recommendation, etc.) must be sent to the departmental address listed above, c/o Angela Visco, by February 28, 2023.

Scholarships are awarded to incoming first-years based on potential and talent. These awards are renewable and may be increased through significant activity in the department. Students not awarded a scholarship in their first year may reapply at the end of the first semester. Transfer students are eligible after their first semester.

 

Dance

For students entering Hofstra for the 2023-2024 academic year, there will be two “in person” auditions: Sunday, February 19, 2023, and Saturday, March 11, 2023, on Hofstra's South Campus at Lawrence Herbert School of Communication, Room 209. Please contact the Department of Drama and Dance secretary in January to reserve your place: 516-463-5444 or Angela.Visco@hofstra.edu

These in-person auditions and video submissions will be used for placement in the technique classes for both the BA and BFA, and to determine “Grant-in-Aid” awards. The Dance Program administers a limited number of talent/activity grants that may range from $500 to $5,000 per year and are renewable. They are based primarily on the student’s potential as a dancer and their contribution to the program. Additional grants are also available for outstanding continuing students. Departmental scholarships are in addition to any other university scholarships, grants or loans for which the student might qualify.

  • Students who wish to declare Dance as their major must first apply to Hofstra University.

  • Students interested in pursuing the BA degree may register with Dance as their major as soon as they are notified that they have been accepted academically.

  • If interested in pursuing a double major, students should declare Dance first so they may be placed in the majors only courses (and should also let us know what the second major will be).

  • Students wishing to pursue the BS degree in Dance Education should apply as BA dance students and they will join the School of Education and switch to the BS degree in their Junior year.

  • We highly encourage all students to audition for the Dance program so that they may be placed in the correct level of technique classes and also so that they may try for some "Grant-in-Aid" dance scholarship money. Students interested in the BFA degree must audition.

Guidelines and more information on the Dance audition process are available here.