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Thank you to all the wonderful NHSDA students who submitted their work for the award! Check out our outstanding 2013 award winners!
Award Information for 2013
New for 2013, the entire application process will take place online via the Acceptd platform.
The National Honor Society for Dance Arts (NHSDA) serves to identify those honor students of junior and senior high school age for nomination for the NDEO Artistic Merit, Leadership and Academic Achievement Award, the highest student dance award in the nation. There are two levels of adjudication: State and National. At the state level, the top applicants are selected to receive a state award and are then forwarded for adjudication at the national level. New this year, the National Winner of the award will receive up to a $500 scholarship and a certificate, and is invited to attend NDEO's national conference to receive the award in person. There will also be National Finalists and Honorable Mentions. Personal congratulatory letters from NDEO's Executive Director are sent to the school district superintendent, school principal and state program arts coordinator.
Student Eligibility
The applicant must be an inductee of the NHSDA and a high school junior or senior student (16-18 years) studying dance in any private or public middle or high school, dance school/academy, performing arts center, or community center. The program may be in-school for credit or an out-of-school recreational/professional program. The student's NHSDA Chapter must be a current member of the State Affiliate (or surrogate affiliate when applicable) and hold current Institutional Membership in the NDEO.
Award Criteria
Applicants are rated based on the strength of their technical and artistic merit, leadership, four essay questions, GPA, recommendation letter and resume. Each category is worth 100 points for a total score of 300 possible points. The top two applicants with the highest score in their state or sponsoring organization are forwarded on to the National office for national adjudication. The applicants are judged in three main categories:
- Artistic Merit: The Nominee must demonstrate artistic and technical excellence in dance.
- Technical excellence as seen in video
- Artistic Merit as seen in video
- Essay #1: Choreography
- Leadership: The Nominee must demonstrate outstanding leadership in and outside of the field of dance at the school, community, state, and/or national level.
- Recommendation Letter
- Resume
- Essay #2: Leadership
- Academic Achievement: The Nominee must demonstrate academic excellence with a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher.
- Overall school GPA of 3.0 or higher
- Essay #3: Future Plans
- Essay #4: Impact of Dance on Life
Process
New for 2013, student nominees will complete the application entirely online using a website/company called Acceptd. Mailed paper or emailed applications will not be accepted. The Chapter Sponsor identifies eligible NHSDA students and assists in completing their application online. Besides basic contact information the student will need to supply contact information for their school principal, and if possible, their district superintendent and fine arts coordinator.
The online application consists of a basic student contact information, and then file uploads of a chapter sponsor recommendation letter, resume, 4 short essays, along with a 3 minute video of applicant performing their own choreography and a head shot. There is also a $25 application fee (payble only by credit card.)
State Affiliates
NDEO has the following State Affiliates that support the NHSDA and will have state level adjudications: AZ, CA, FL, MA, MI, MD, MO, NJ, NY, SC, UT, VA, WA, and DC. Applicants that reside in a state where there is not an NDEO state affiliate, should select the Other States category when completing the application.
Deadlines
You should hit the SUBMIT button in the online application no later than February 21st. This then triggers an email to be sent to your Chapter Sponsor requestig that they upload the Recommendation Letter by the award deadline of February 28th. The State Affiliates that support the NHSDA will complete their State Level Adjudications and forward their results to NDEO's national office by March 28th. National Winner, Finalists and Honorable Mentions will be notified by mail on or after April 28th.
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