Artsy Ivy

I always pictured myself as a Yalie. Sure, I could see that Princeton had it over New Haven and tigers were fiercer than bulldogs — but I wasn't a jock.

I knew all about the administration's "Green Hair Initiative." But in my mind, the strategic push to get more actors, dancers and musicians to campus was evidence that such people were few and far between in the Orange Bubble. And Princeton's rankings as a top 10 "jock school" in both Sports Illustrated and the Princeton Review didn't do much to change my mind.

No, with 15 years of dance training under my belt and a hankering to keep at it in college, I was convinced that the so-called "artsy Ivy" was the place for me. But then I went to sit in on one of Yale's twice-weekly ballet classes, held in a dim and crowded room in the gym. I realized I was in trouble when the teacher apologized to me ahead of time. Taking me aside, she recommended that I try one the dance studios off-campus where local high school students took classes, because this one would be on a low level. Much as I tried to convince myself otherwise, this would have been a huge step down from what I was used to at home.

After my dreams of Yale had been dashed against the dance studio floor, my parents suggested I take another look at Princeton. Reluctantly, I agreed, and went to a class in the airy studio at 185 Nassau. To my surprise, the demanding teacher and the trained dancers' descriptions of the rowdy crowds at their student-choreographed performances won me over. This was exactly what I was looking for. When senior fall rolled around, I didn't even apply to Yale. And I have loved every minute of my experience at Princeton, as a dancer and otherwise. Some of my artist friends wear Birkenstocks and others wear polo shirts. My friends who are athletes — and yes, there are many, and they contribute a lot to campus, their games drawing alumni back and giving current students an excuse to tailgate — are thoughtful and interesting people. The Princeton I know is neither the jock school I believed it to be nor the artists' paradise I thought Yale was; it's the best of both worlds.

My intention is not to bash our cousins in New Haven — I'll save that for when the Bulldogs face the Tigers on the gridiron next fall. I'm writing because I'm sure I'm not the only pre-frosh ever to have the wrong idea about the arts at Old Nassau, and I'd like to set the record straight.

Based on my research, other artistically proficient students are just as happy as I am, with good reason. Take David Carpenter '08, for instance. Concertmaster and principal violist of the Juilliard Pre-College Orchestra, Carpenter won the 2004 Presidential Scholar Gold Medal and has performed at Carnegie Hall as well as at venues in Paris and Siena.

"I chose Princeton over a conservatory such as Juilliard or Curtis due to Princeton's first-class music scene," Carpenter said. "It covers the gamut of stellar music theory, musicology and superb performing arts groups."

Founded in 1896 and under the direction of Eastman School of Music grad Michael Pratt since 1977, the PU Orchestra boasts an ambitious repertory including classics as well as new works written by graduate composition students in Princeton's Music Department. In addition to performing eight to 10 yearly concerts on campus, the orchestra has taken well-received tours of the United States, the United Kingdom, Central and Eastern Europe and Spain.

"The amount of talent in the [PU] orchestra is extremely impressive by professional standards," said Carpenter.

Princeton subsidizes part or all of the cost of private lessons for certificate students in music performance, allowing them to travel to New York or Philadelphia to study with master teachers from schools including Juilliard, Mannes and Curtis.

Theater students also enjoy the proximity to those cities; many upper-level theater classes require students to review plays that they have attended in New York. That's not to say it's hard to find theater events on or near campus. Performances at McCarter are free with TigerTickets. And between creative theses, professional productions by the Program in Theater and Dance and student productions by Theatre Intime, the Princeton Shakespeare Company and the musical theater group Princeton University Players, more than two dozen productions grace campus stages each year, often more than one a weekend. The Triangle Club, one of the oldest collegiate musical-comedy troupes in the country and boasting such alumni as Jimmy Stewart '32 and Brooke Shields '87, also tours its original, student-written musical nationally each year.

For those singers who prefer straight vocal performance to musicals, Princeton has 14 a cappella groups, which release albums, tour the world and have devoted fans on campus. I've heard people call themselves "R20 Groupies" and "Tones Whores," only half in jest.

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"The audience at Princeton is so enthusiastic and diverse," said Chris White '08, a member of Shere Khan, an a cappella group known for its contemporary repertory, laid-back vibe and annual Holiday Arch Sing with complimentary spiked eggnog. "Every time I sing at an arch, there is always a sea of faces; people from all different backgrounds and groups who, even if they aren't involved in the arts themselves, still have an amazing appreciation for what their friends and classmates are a part of."

That spirit of community is pervasive, spawning collaborations among and between both student groups and departments. In 2000, the PU Orchestra worked with the Princeton Shakespeare Company to produce A Midsummer Night's Dream, and last spring it teamed up with the Program in Theatre and Dance to reconstruct the 1927 Soviet ballet Pas D'Acier, drawing international crowds and press. And in the Atelier courses (not to be confused with the French theater program by the same name) students collaborate with each other and with world-class professionals from various artistic disciplines, including Balanchine protegee Allegra Kent and opera director Peter Sellars.

The point is, the stereotype is just that — a caricature that ignores the richness and complexity that make Princeton the artistic ferment that it actually is.

"There are dancers who are on the Sprint football team, there are singers that are members of frats," said White, who is also a member of DiSiac Dance Company. (In the interest of full disclosure, I dance with DiSiac, too.) "One of the things that has been great for me at Princeton is that I can be in a dance group and a singing group and not be singled out as an 'artsy' person. I can take part in those activities without having them define who I am." White added, "The best part about Princeton is that everyone is so multitalented that stereotypes here are less important."

Now, after almost two years at Princeton, I know all this. Following my initial pleasant surprise at 185 Nassau, I haven't been disappointed. Princeton boasts — count 'em — 16 student-run dance groups (Yale has just four). Among them, Naacho and Kalaa perform various forms of Indian dance; BAC is known for its hip hop; Sympoh is a break-dance company; and BodyHype, Expressions and DiSiac draw from various dance forms. Inter-company rivalries are the stuff of campus lore, but some of my favorite memories are of dancing in the aisles at supposed competitors' shows.

In the Program in Theatre and Dance, I have danced in new works by professional choreographers, created my own works for my fellow students and performed for standing-room-only crowds of my peers. I've also written reviews and analyses of choreographers' work that have pushed me to think critically about dance. My classes in modern dance and choreography are for credit, I can take ballet class every day if I choose to do so, and senior year, I may choreograph a creative thesis.

I never could have guessed any of that back in senior year of high school. Peter Lewis '55's recent $101 million gift, which will allow Princeton to expand its art offerings to serve even more students at a high level, has put Tiger performing artists center stage in much of the University's media coverage this year. Still, on online college discussion forums many pre-frosh and their parents still appear to be as ignorant as I was. On the Princeton Forum at Collegeconfidential.com, discussion threads with titles such as "Is Princeton too Uptight For an Artist to Survive?" elicit defensive responses from a vocal minority coupled with tired rehashings of the stereotype. Well, take it from me. Artists don't just survive here. We thrive.