The College Dance Recruiting Playbook: Part 1
September 1 Is Coming: What Every College-Bound Dancer Needs to Know
By Allie Hopper, Founder of D1Vision Dance Academy & Former University of Kansas Dance Team Coach
If your dancer dreams of performing on a college dance team, there's one date that should be on your calendar: September 1.
For many collegiate dance programs participating in the Common Dance Team Recruiting Video, September 1 marks the early universal submission date. It's one of the first major milestones in the recruiting process and often the first opportunity for coaches to begin evaluating prospective dancers.
But here's what I want every family to understand: September 1 isn't where recruiting begins.
It's simply one of the first opportunities for years of preparation to be seen.
The Recruiting Process Has Changed - And Dancers Have to Change With It
When I was coaching the University of Kansas Dance Team, recruiting happened over the course of an entire weekend. Dancers arrived on Friday, and we made cuts throughout the weekend before selecting the final team on Sunday.
Many collegiate dance programs still recruit this way, and I think there is real value in it. As coaches, we weren't evaluating a dancer based on one routine or one moment. We had the chance to see how they handled pressure, whether they could apply corrections, how they interacted with teammates, and whether they stayed consistent from the first round to the last. Sometimes the dancer who made the biggest impression on Sunday wasn't the one who stood out on Friday.
Today, many programs have added the Common Dance Team Recruiting Video to their recruiting process. It's made recruiting more streamlined for both coaches and dancers by creating a standardized way to evaluate technical skills across participating schools. For families, that's a welcome change because it eliminates much of the confusion that came with every school requesting something different.
At the same time, the Common Recruiting Video and App has fundamentally changed how dancers need to prepare.
Instead of having until the spring of senior year to make an impression at auditions, many dancers now need to have college-level skills, a polished recruiting video, and a clear recruiting strategy ready months earlier. The timeline has shifted, and families who don't realize that often find themselves trying to catch up.
The other major difference is that your recruiting video has become your first impression. While many programs still invite dancers to clinics, host auditions, and recruit through additional touchpoints, coaches often begin forming opinions long before they ever meet a dancer in person.
That's why I encourage families not to think of the recruiting video as the recruiting process.
It's one piece of the process.
The clinics you attend, the relationships you build with coaches, the way you communicate, your performance in person, your academic record, and your continued growth throughout senior year all matter. The video may get your foot in the door, but it's rarely the only reason a coach decides to recruit a dancer.
That's also why preparing for college dance can't start a few weeks before filming. By the time you're standing in front of the camera, the goal isn't to become a stronger dancer - it's to demonstrate the dancer you've already become.
The Recruiting Video Is Only One Piece of the Puzzle
One of the biggest misconceptions I see is families treating the Common Dance Team Recruiting Video like it's the beginning of the recruiting process. In reality, if your recruiting video is the first time a coach has ever heard your dancer's name, they're probably already playing catch-up.
The strongest recruits are usually on coaches' radar before they ever submit a video. Maybe they've attended a recruiting clinic, visited campus, introduced themselves after a game, exchanged emails with the coaching staff, or competed in front of them at an event. Those interactions matter because recruiting is built on more than a single video submission.
That's not to say a recruiting video can't open doors - it absolutely can! Coaches discover new dancers every year through the Common Dance Team Recruiting Video. But the dancers who are the most successful typically approach recruiting as an ongoing process rather than a single deadline.
The recruiting video is one opportunity for a coach to evaluate your technique, performance quality, and potential. It should reinforce the impression you've already started to build and give coaches another reason to keep watching your journey.
That's why I encourage families to think beyond September 1. Submitting a recruiting video isn't the finish line, and it isn't the entire recruiting strategy. It's one touchpoint in a much larger process that includes building relationships, attending clinics, communicating professionally, continuing to improve, and showing coaches who you are over time.
The families who are most successful don't prepare for a deadline - they build a recruiting strategy.
And that raises the next question: what are coaches actually looking for?
So What Are Coaches Looking For?
This is the question I get more than any other.
Parents want to know what skills their dancer needs. Dancers want to know how many pirouettes they should have or how high their jumps need to be.
The truth is, there isn't a simple checklist.
Every program has its own style, priorities, and technical expectations. Some teams place a greater emphasis on jazz technique, while others may value game day performance, versatility, or precision. That's why it's so important to research each program you're interested in rather than assuming every team is looking for the same dancer.
What doesn't change, however, are the qualities coaches are looking for.
Strong technique is the expectation - not the differentiator. By the time coaches are reviewing recruiting videos, they expect dancers to have a solid technical foundation. What often separates one dancer from another is everything beyond the skill itself.
Can they perform with confidence without sacrificing technique?
Are they consistent, or do they only execute a skill occasionally?
Do they look coachable?
Can they handle corrections?
Do they have the stamina and athleticism to keep up with a collegiate program?
Can you picture them representing your team on the field, the court, in the community, and in the classroom?
Those are the questions coaches are trying to answer.
And none of those qualities are developed in the weeks leading up to a recruiting video. They're built over years of intentional training, consistent coaching, and experiences that challenge dancers to grow both technically and personally.
So, What Should You Be Doing Right Now?
If you're reading this as a senior, the focus should be on execution. Your recruiting video, résumé, and communication with coaches should reflect the work you've already put in over the last several years. This isn't the time to completely reinvent your technique - it's the time to present yourself at your best.
If you're a freshman, sophomore, or junior, don't make the mistake of thinking this article doesn't apply to you. The biggest advantage you have is time.
Time to clean up your technique instead of rushing through it. Time to build strength and consistency. Time to attend recruiting clinics, research programs that genuinely fit your goals, and begin understanding what college coaches expect long before your own recruiting season begins.
One of the best pieces of advice I can give families is this: don't wait until senior year to learn how college dance recruiting works.
The dancers who look confident in their recruiting videos rarely became that dancer during senior year. They've been building toward that moment for years.
That's why I encourage families to think of recruiting as a long-term process rather than a senior-year checklist. Every class, every correction, every clinic, and every opportunity to perform is preparing your dancer for opportunities they may not have for another two, three, or even four years.
The earlier you understand the process, the more intentional your preparation can be.
My Biggest Advice
One of the questions I get asked most often is, “When should my dancer start preparing for college recruiting?"
My answer is always the same: as soon as college dance becomes the goal.
That doesn't mean your freshman needs to be emailing coaches or worrying about recruiting videos. It means they should be intentional about how they're training. The technique they're building today, the corrections they're learning to apply, the confidence they're developing, and the habits they're creating are all laying the foundation for opportunities they'll have years from now.
The recruiting process has changed, and today's dancers need to be ready earlier than ever. For many programs, September 1 has become an important milestone, which means seniors can't afford to wait until the spring to start thinking about recruiting.
What hasn't changed is what coaches are looking for. They still want dancers with strong technique, a willingness to learn, a great work ethic, and the maturity to represent their program well. Those qualities aren't developed while you're filming a recruiting video - they're developed over time.
If I could leave families with one piece of advice, it would be this: don't make the recruiting video your goal. Make becoming a college-ready dancer your goal.
When you focus on long-term development instead of a single deadline, the recruiting video becomes exactly what it's supposed to be - a reflection of the work you've already done, not a race to prove you're ready..
Up Next
Now that we've talked about why September 1 matters, it's time to talk about preparation.
In Part 2, I'll break down exactly how I would prepare for the Common Dance Team Recruiting Video if I were a high school dancer today. We'll cover timelines, required skills, planning your filming day, and the mistakes I see families make every year.
The D1Vision College Dance Recruiting Playbook is an ongoing series from D1Vision Dance Academy designed to help dancers and their families navigate the collegiate recruiting process with confidence. New articles are published weekly.
