DUE February 9, 2026

Scholarship Audition Registration Form Due

Please review all pertinent information and forms before submitting your form. No on-site registrations.

Students must have pre-registered to be admitted to the scholarship auditions classes.  

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List of 2026 Scholarships

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Eligibility

• College scholarships are only open to students in grade 12

• All other scholarships are open to students in grades 10-12

• A maximum of 10 students per school may audition

• Students in grade 12 auditioning for scholarships must have already applied to the colleges who are offering scholarships prior to the festival audition

  • Students must contact the dance divisions of those institutions and notify them of their participation in the National High School Dance Festival auditions prior to the festival

  • Students should call the institution directly for any additional information

• Students may only audition for those scholarships they can accept based on dates, travel and financial obligations

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Components of the audition

STUDENTS SHOULD BE DRESSED IN DANCE ATTIRE ALREADY AS THERE IS VERY LITTLE CHANGING ROOM SPACE.  

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Students will be asked to move in a variety of dance forms including Ballet, Contemporary, West African, and Improvisation. A warm up will be a part of the audition, but students are encouraged to warm up if they can. 

 

Audition Attire:  Students should be dressed in appropriate audition attire. Ballet shoes or socks are required for the ballet component. Students must remove shoes for the modern component. No warm-ups or sweats are permitted. It is suggested students wear convertible tights.

 

Audition Classes

• Festival scholarship auditions will take place on Thursday, March 5, 2026 beginning at 8 a.m.

• Students will be placed in audition classes. Classes will run between 8:00 a.m. – 4:45 p.m.

  • The supervising teacher will be informed of audition times and audition numbers of each student prior to the festival

  • If you are planning to send students to these auditions, please make appropriate travel plans to ensure arrival in time for your scheduled audition time

  • Please do not request specific audition times

  • If any student has not been contacted regarding your audition time by February 15, 2026, lead teacher please contact Deborah Thorpe at rhsdf@gsarts.net

• Students will participate in classes consisting of ballet and modern techniques, and there may be a brief improvisational element at the end of the modern segment

• Each audition class is approximately 1 1/2 hours in length

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Selection and Notification

• Some students will receive acceptance into a program that may or may not be accompanied by a scholarship

• Recruiters will either contact auditioning students via the audition call board (notice board) or notify the head teacher if a recruitment conference is necessary

• All conferences should be completed by 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 7, 2026

• Scholarships will be awarded based on the stated criteria from each institution

• Recipients will be selected either by a representative from the institution awarding the scholarship or by their designee

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SCHOLARSHIP AUDITIONS SCHEDULE (subject to change) We apologize for the necessity to start so early in the morning

Thursday, March 5, 2026: Virginia Arts Festival building, Hixon Theatre (2nd Floor), 440 Bank Street, Norfolk, VA 23510

7:30am- Registration open for Class #1 Pick up audition numbers at audition site 

8:00-9:45am- Audition Class #1

9:30am- Registration open for Class #2 Pick up audition numbers at audition site 

10:00-11:45am- Audition Class #2

12:30pm- Registration open for Class #3 Pick up audition numbers at audition site 

1:00-2:45pm- Audition Class #3

2:30pm- Registration open for Class #4 Pick up audition numbers at audition site 

3:00-4:45pm- Audition Class #4

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