Academie voor Theater en Dans

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) Hi Everybody! I will be online from 11.00 - 17.00 to answer your questions. Some of our students will also be online and help you out. Also check out our live q&a's where you can ask your questions live!

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) Good morning! I am already available for all your questions!

Eels Hii!! I’m really curious about how a regular school day looks like at ECD? :)

Eliza Roekens Hi, I would like to know which different dance style are in the programme.

student ecd2 Jimi Dormans A regular school day starts with 2 technical classes in the morning with a small break inbetween before you get a big lunch break. after the break there are usually classes which dive more into disciplines like how to analyze dance, how to understand your own habits and also classes like singing, alexander technique (which is a kind of body awareness through everyday life). There are also blocks where the afternoon will be free for your own projects or to work with a choreographer for a performance.

student ecd2 Jimi Dormans The 2 technical classes you get in the morning change each block and these can differ from : african contemporary dance to ballet to breaking to regular contemporary classes to countertechnique to house/hiphop classes

student ecd2 Jimi Dormans And in classes like movement analysis and mkvement research there is also a lot of space to explore the things you yourself are interested in

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) In about 2 minutes the session with our artistic director will start. @ Eliza Jimi is about to answer your question!

Frederique hii, what are some opportunities you can get later in the training?

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) Ah, see he already did :-)

student ecd2 Jimi Dormans I would also like to add that we also get contact impro and often when working with a choreographer they will teach you a certain technique or approach to dance that they use to create the piece for the prformance

student ecd2 Jimi Dormans @frederique what do you mean exactly with opportunities?

student ecd2 Jimi Dormans For now i can say that in the 3rd year you have some time to work on a project on your own and in the 4th year you have an internship year

Frederique okay thank you :)

student ecd2 Jimi Dormans You also get a chance to make a choreography with a small group at the end of your first year and a solo in the second year. You will also have a chance to make a video with a small group

student ecd2 Jimi Dormans I dont know if these are the things you were asking for but i hope it helps you a bit :)

Eliza Roekens Do you have video's from dance classes availale?

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) @Eliza, 2 classes will be streamed today! @14.30 countertechnique and at 16.30 hip hop

Aaliyah If you are positive to Corona, and you can't participate to the audition days, is there still possibility to do audition?

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) @Eliza On the main page you can also see several performances from last year!

Naima What do most people end up doing after ECD?

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) @Aaliyah: Pre-selections can be done by video. However, for now auditions will be live and there is no other way to audition. In case things change the people who are registered/ through to next round will be notified. Last year we had to switch to completely online which gives you more options. For now that isn't an option yet. It depends how the situation develops.

Frederique Thank you for answering it helpeld, also what are the admission requirements such as a previous education you should have had ?

student ecd2 Jimi Dormans @naima currently there are no ECD graduates yet (its still a new education) but basically you will be able to join a company if you audition or you can become a freelancer and work in projects. There's quite a wide spectrum of choices i would say and it depends on what you want to go for

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) @frederique, you will need a high school diploma. When you are Dutch this means MBO or Havo.

student ecd2 Jimi Dormans There is also people that go into commercials for tv So it really depends on

student ecd2 Jimi Dormans What you want*

Naima Thankyou! How many Dutch students and how many international students are at ECD?

Nefeli Kollia Hi ,I would like to ask if there is an age limit for access to studies and when is the audition for admission in the year 2022-2023?

student ecd2 Jimi Dormans In my class there are currently 5 dutch people and about 15 international students

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) @nefeli - There is no age limit! We've had people from 17 to 24 in the first year so far.

Naima What are you looking for in students who audition?

Rita Hey. Do you have a scholarships for non-Eu citizens?

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) @Rita - Scholarships is something you have to take care of yourself. We as school don't have scholarships. We do have a student councelor who can advice and guide you in case finances somehow become a problem or you need new funds during your studies. In case of unseen circumstances which aren't your fault, there is a fund that can help you out

Rita Thank you. Like I really would like to study in this programme and I have big experience as a dancer in street styles., but I need to find a funding 1st, so I was wondering if your academy does collaboration with any scholarships etc? Like Erasmus or smth.

student ecd2 Jimi Dormans for the first year there is a student accomodation which can help reduce your rent a bit as a normal appartment can easily cost from 600 to 750 or even 800 but the student house is somewhere around 300 i believe. i didn,t have the chance to use it since i am dutch but maybe it,s nice to know it exists

Amelie Zock Hello I have a question about the audition procedure this year. I had signed up for the international live auditions in Amsterdam and received a mail yesterday that the first round is now online. Can this still change or is it a definite decision with the deadline on Feb 18? Thank you :)

Rita Or maybe you can give some advice. Would appreciate that.

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) @Rita Yes, we have a website that provides some info and tips for funds: https://www.atd.ahk.nl/en/practical-matters/student-manual-eu-non-eu/before-you-arrive/

student ecd2 Jimi Dormans it is only for the first year though

Rita Thank you. Have you had any students from non-Eu countries before?

student ecd2 Jimi Dormans the change to the auditions is deffinite, it is related to the covid measures. I'm sorry :/

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) that fund is from school. You can request for an amount via the student counselor. But thats only for people who are already in. .

student ecd2 Jimi Dormans i had in my class in the first year a girl from south korea and a girl from japan

student ecd2 Jimi Dormans @naima im not sure if i can answer the question for you but i can say that people from very different backgrounds and skills have been selected, in my class i have someone who had no dance experience before joining ecd

student ecd2 Jimi Dormans in the current first years there is also a girl from south america

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) @rita, absolutely! Also people in the first year now coming from the south of America and the UK!

cees I would like to repeat the question of Amelie Zock, cause of similar email which is confusing. Hello I have a question about the audition procedure this year. I had signed up for the international live auditions in Amsterdam and received a mail yesterday that the first round is now online. Can this still change or is it a definite decision with the deadline on Feb 18? Thank you :)

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) @cees No it cannot change. People who signed up for the international lives need to send in videos via the link in the e-mail

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) the international lives are cancelled

student ecd2 Jimi Dormans for the international students the live pre-selection has been cancelled due to covid restrictions so thats why the change has been made

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) The 1st and 2nd round will be live so far. Fingers crossed we won't have the change those! :-)

Caterina Vögel Hello! I would like to know how you all manage your studies financially? Because I feel like it's a lot of time and energy you put into the study... Do any of you work a minijob or parttimejob or something like that?

Jacopo Marrese ECD2 Student During the weekdays it’s hardly possible to work tho, excpecially because our schedule changes a lot and we don’t have fix times at school.

Jacopo Marrese ECD2 Student There is a lot of thinking even in the technique classes, we spend time analyzing our movements in a very deep and somatic way.

Caterina Vögel also the topic of education in urban dance styles.. because teaching and learning urban dance styles in a study or university context is always something completely different from its background. a lot of these styles come from the streets, the clubs and generally other cultures and have a lot of history.. so it's for me always a bit difficult to imagine myself as a urban dancer because i don't have this background and got to know these styles in a completely different context... Is this also something that you discuss and reflect on?

Jacopo Marrese ECD2 Student Absolutely! I am a voguer personally so I know how important history is for club and street styles. In school up until now we had house, popping and breaking and we have always been looking at the roots of these dances. Also you have to remember that when you are going through these courses your goal isn’t to master these specific dance styles, but mostly to add new qualities to your movement vocabulary. Lots of people in the education never had any street or club stryles before joining, and that is totally fine!

Amber Is it possible to audition again for a second time the year after?

Aaliyah How many students apply to the auditions and how many are selected to join the program?

Aaliyah How many dancers are in the studio during the live auditions in round 1 and 2?

Jacopo Marrese ECD2 Student And out teachers always comes from the specific scenes. We had real poppers in the popping scene, real breakers etc..

Jacopo Marrese ECD2 Student Tryout

Jacopo Marrese ECD2 Student Ok its working😁

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) Welcome Jacopo! :-)

Jacopo Marrese ECD2 Student It is possible to get a job!

Jacopo Marrese ECD2 Student Depends a lot on the person tho, personally I really like to use the weekends to rest, but some of my classmates do have a side job on the weekend.

Caterina Vögel Thank you! and something else... I'm really interested how much you also theoretically discuss your studies and dance in general.

Jacopo Marrese ECD2 Student Also we have theoretical classes such as anatomy, movement analysis, performance analysis, dance history, dramaturgy

Jacopo Marrese ECD2 Student There is no specific required background! Personally I only had voguing and a bit of contemporary before joining! Everything else was very new for me, never had ballet, never had floorwork and many more! Lots of first times for me and many others! Ahah

Jacopo Marrese ECD2 Student It is possible to audition as many times as you wish! I have a classmate that entered after auditioning the second time!

Caterina Vögel thank you! :)

Jacopo Marrese ECD2 Student Around 400 people audition and the class is composed by 22/23 people

Jacopo Marrese ECD2 Student But don’t let this scare you! Everyone has a chance ;)

Jacopo Marrese ECD2 Student A lot!

Caterina Vögel nice thank you a lot!

Caterina Vögel about the background... what background do you have and do you feel like it is necessary to have a bit of classical dance background?

Caterina Vögel okay so do the classes start at a specific level and you have to try to catch up? :D or did you feel like you could really learn the basics in your study?

Jacopo Marrese ECD2 Student I was really able to learn the basics, for ballet for example the first times we had it the class was divided between who had more experience and who had less so that everyone was able to work at the right level for them.

Jacopo Marrese ECD2 Student We don’t have a specific answer yet for that, it will depend on covid situation and regulations! But they are gonna make sure that we’ll have enought space to respect the current rules!

Amber Is there a maximum age to audition?

Jacopo Marrese ECD2 Student No :)

Amber Thank you. Around what age is the oldest student of the first year class?

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) @amber, the oldest was 25

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena hihihi!

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) Hi Eivinas!

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena but most likely they are looking how are you able to adapt to the material you are given, are you able to grow and work even if the material is not familiar

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena A tip from me, try to stay yourself, enjoy as much as you can ( even though its audition) and try not to stress!

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena test

Nikka Freijser Hi, my question is what are the 'judges' looking at when they are looking at auditions? How to they decide who gets in and who doesn't?

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena Hi Nikka, I can only asume what they are looking for

Nikka Freijser Hi! My question is what do the judges look at when people are auditioning, how do they decide who gets in and who doesn't?

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena each jury/judge is looking for different things

Nikka Freijser I'm sorry for sending it twice, my chromebook was lagging so I thought it didn't send the question

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena at the end of the day after the whole audition the whole jury/judge group gather together and decide who they think is going to be selected and later they try to form a group all together

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena since I am a student myself and not a jurry, I do not know a specific thing that they are looking for

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena its okay!:)

Nikka Freijser Okay thank you, also what are some goals that people come with when they join this course?

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena people come with different goals at the beggining of the study, but I would say they can change pretty fast since you get to spend a lot of time in school and meet a lot of different people

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena some people want to be based in company work, some people want to freelance and work on projects, some people want to create

Nikka Freijser Thanks a lot!

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena I hope this helped a bit

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena do you have any more questions?

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena so in a way you can always join a jam/session!

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena are you going to do the audition?:)

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena When you go to our website you can find all the information about our educations and the application process: http://www.expandedcontemporarydance.nl

Farshad If I pass the audition, how much cost for the live classes?

Doortje Hey, my name is Doortje. I applied for the auditions a while back and I was wondering, how common is it for a dancer with mainly modern backgroud and very little urban experience to get accepted into this study program?

Farshad Hello everyone

Farshad I have theater back ground for about 1 year. I also have Tango dance, Bikrum yoga, professional swimming, sense of choosing good music, singing and comedy back ground. Nutritional healing is my specialty too. 😊

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena Farshad sounds nice!

Farshad Thank u Eivinas.

Farshad I like to join your class/practice

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena hi

Caterina Vögel hi another question... how's the dance scene outside of university? is there urban scenes like a house scene and sessions or do you mostly just get your dance experience from universiyt?

Caterina Vögel university

Farshad This is Farshad. I’m not good with public chat. It confuses me. But I do my best.

Farshad May u tell about yourself?

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena but now everything is opening up slowly

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena Farshad what do you want to know?

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena Caterina there is also events and battles that do happen here as well!

Farshad Sure, I participate in audition too

Farshad Is there any fee for audition?

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena first year you would need to pay arround 1.150euros per year, the other 3 years are 2.200euros per year

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena it depends on a year that you are in, but usually you would have 3 hours in the morning of technique classes, then a lunchbreak, after that it could be somatic/theoretical/workshops/creation proccess/self study time

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena it helps you to find your way of movement, taking responsibility, it depends on you a lot, if you want to achieve something it is always possible

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena you dont need to participate in the jam sessions, school does not organize ANY of jams/sessions

Nikka Freijser oh i see thanks!

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena depends on what type of style you are looking for!

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena dance scene is pretty big in NL, in Amsterdam they usually do jam's every week or two, a lot of different studios were you can also take some classes if you want to!

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena there is a lot of studios in our university, so if you decide to organise a jam/session with your friends on a weekend, it's pretty easy to do so! All you have to do is to book a studio in that case!

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena have you already applied? Or are you still debating?

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena classes are happening live inside of university!

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena https://onlineopendag.atd.ahk.nl/p/ecd

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena read a bit! you will find a lot of information about it here!

Farshad I see. When and where is Audition?

Farshad How many class per week will be?

Nikka Freijser and what was meant with the jam sessions, is that for people that are already in the school or can you do it without that too? i didn't really understand from the stuff above

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena I can not reply to this question Farshad, it is always unpredictable with corona

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena most likely free, i am not an organiser so I can not be 100% sure about those

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena usually you can find information on facebook! they create events

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena a lot of people from our school likes to go there to dance!

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena with corona all the jams/sessions got cancelled for January

Farshad I know that physical regular classes r cancelled, but if we have a class outdoor and keeping social distance, O don’t think that the authorities complain. What do you think?

Farshad I didn’t know that there’s audition.

Farshad Really? Can I join the classes in university? Not online

Farshad I don’t want any online class

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena yes, classes are happening live

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena but first you have to pass the audition

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena it is common, it is not a requirement to have urban technique to be selected for this education

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena I have classmates who had 0 dance background before coming to this education!

Doortje oh, okay. thank you for the quick reply!

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena you are welcome!

Doortje what does a typical day look like?

Farshad How many hours is each class?

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena usually the day goes from 9 till 18!

Nikka Freijser hi, my question is what do you mostly get out of this course? like what does this help you with in dance

Farshad Does the lock down effects the classes if happens again in the future?

Farshad I see. How many days per week?

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena 5 days per week

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena Nikka could you make your question more specific?

Nikka Freijser well you talked about jam sessions in weekends with farshad, could you explain what that means?

Nikka Freijser like what are the jam sessions and for who

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena jam sessions of breaking/hiphop/electro/house/locking/etc. (clubbing styles) that anybody can join!

Nikka Freijser is it like just dancing and jamming with friends outside school but in a studio from school?

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena but it happens somewhere in Amsterdam(usually in north)

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena yes, you can see it in that way!

Nikka Freijser are they free classes?

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena what do you mean free classes?

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena *by

Nikka Freijser and is it only for people from the school or could for example someone that's not in the school join too?

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena jam sessions are not related to school

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena therefore anybody can join

Nikka Freijser and is that free? as in no costs

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena it was a question from Caterina, maybe it will help to understand

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena but the times I went were it was free

Farshad May I get some info about jam sessions?

Farshad Where?

Farshad What days and hours?

Nikka Freijser about the course itself, how does it differ from for example the DD course?

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena Farshad I can not provide you with that information right now, you should try to look up yourself, I am sorry!

Farshad Nice, then I will meet future classmates

Nikka Freijser can you also go into teaching with the ECD training?

Farshad What should I type in search box in FB?

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena I think DD is more a teacher training course, while ECD is a training to become a dance performer

Farshad Just Jam sessions?

Doortje What aspects would you say differentiate this course from other HBO programmes?

Nikka Freijser can you join the course with a (dutch) vwo diploma?

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena Anouk will help you with these questions!

Farshad 🙏🏻😊

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) @ Nikka, what Eivinas says is exactly how it is. DD programm will train you to become a teacher. ECD is an education to become a performer. If you can become a teachers after ECD depends on your skills and if companies and organizations are willing to hire you. The experience is that you can. A lot of our teachers have a professional dancing background.

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) @nikka, Yes you need a Dutch Havo, VWO or MBO diploma to get in

Nikka Freijser thanks!

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena Personally I have not experienced other HBO programmes, but I would say that there is a lot of differences, the one that gives me the most hope is that ballet is not the most important thing!

Nikka Freijser what dance styles do the classes contain?

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena in all 4 years of education you will experience a lot of different dance styles

Nikka Freijser do you need certain qualities before auditioning?

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) @Doortje This is a good question to also ask Bojana Bauer. Session starts at 15;00. She can tell you more about the artistic philosophy and background of our education, how it is build and what differentiates it from other HBO programmes. Interesting and valid more question! :-)

Nikka Freijser and is the hiphop class that's said to be at 16.30 live or is it a prerecorded video?

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena breaking, hip hop, popping, counter technique, floorwork, house, modern classes, partnering, contact impro, ido portal movement, afro, etc... I can not name them all

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) *-more

Amber Is it possible to audition for multiple studies from the ATD?

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena yes!

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena of course, if you pass all the auditions to different studies in the ATD

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena you can audition to as many as you like ( if it is possible time wise), but at the end you will still need to choose one education as your study

Caterina Vögel sorry about the fuss i caused with my dance scene outside the university question :D i also wanted to ask how much making your own choreographies takes a part in the study?

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena I would say that we do that a quite a lot, of course it depends on a year and type of performance that we have to do

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena there is a lot of creating in movement research classes ( since you have to set material

Caterina Vögel thanks! and do you collaborate often with other programmes like sndo or mime for example?

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena it is okay:,)

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) In case you also want to talk to our artistic director, Bojana Bauer. She is now online: https://zoom.us/j/6030196678

Caterina Vögel of course corona times limit that i guess

Caterina Vögel thank you!

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena so far during these 3 years, I had collabs with MTD, SNDO and I had a personal colab with reggie students

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena yes it does!

Nikka Freijser is there some structure during the course, because i hear a lot of people today saying it's what you do yourself and it's a bit of everything and it's for you own development

Nikka Freijser like someone said you don't need perfect lines and stuff like that

Nikka Freijser (in ballet)

Nikka Freijser but is there some kind of training to get better in certain dance styles as well?

Nikka Freijser or is it only focussing on the feeling and message of dance and stuff like that

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena you get your classes with your peers

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena its up to you to push yourself to catchup to others!

Barend Elias during the program, if you find out that you really enjoy making, are there options to get more experience in that?

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena you can always try to create by yourself, talk with other teachers, students.

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena SNDO is mainly for creating\

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) Last chance to talk to students: https://zoom.us/j/6030196678

Barend Elias during the program, if you find out you really enjoy making, is there a way to get more experience in that?

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena Last chance to talk to students: https://zoom.us/j/6030196678

Student ECD3 Eivinas Dziena if you want to research and go deeper in creating you can always try doing that! but its up to you to do that

Barend Elias during the program, if you find out you really enjoy making, is there a way to get more experience in that?

Flore Laplace Is it possible to send an improvisation for the solo to be sent for the preselections ?

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) @flore yes it is. For the solo is important you show us the qualities you want us to see, which you couldn't show us in the assignments

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) Think about what you'd like to add and what makes you you and therefore a reason for us to take you in

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) So you can improvise, but do think about it on forehand! Although improvising of course can be a quality also you'd like to show. Make sure that's clear for us then.

Anouk Wognum (Assistant Expanded Contemporary Dance) Thank you everybody for showing your interest in our education! If you come up with any question you forgot about, you can send us an e-mail: anouk.wognum@ahk.nl

Saturday 29th of January 11:00 - 16:30 hrs.
In conversation with students, teachers and artistic director Bojana Bauer of Expanded Contemporay Dance
Language: Dutch & English

11:00 – 11:30h Q&A with artistic director Bojana Bauer (English)

11:30 – 12:00h Q&A about the education with students (Dutch)

12:00 – 12:30h Q&A about the education with teachers (Dutch & English)

12:30 – 13:00h Q&A about the education with students (English)

13:00 – 13:30h Q&A with artistic director Bojana Bauer (English)

13:30 – 14:00h Q&A about the education with teachers (Dutch & English)

14:00 – 14:30h Q&A about the education with students (Dutch)

14:30 – 15:00h break

15:00 – 15:30h Q&A with artistic director Bojana Bauer (English)

15:30 – 16:00h Q&A about the education with teachers (Dutch & English)

16:00 – 16:30h Q&A about the education with students (Dutch)