Audition Process and Requirements

  • Dear parents and future DSA students, thank you for your interest in becoming Achievers. Now it is time to take the next step into your destiny! Please complete the audition requirements that match your desired majors. 

    If you have any questions, please contact Nicole Burrell at nicole.burrell@detroitk12.org

    Apply Now!

Dance

  • Teachers:

    Shannon Palmer (Shannon.palmer@detroitk12.org) 

    Irene Roberts (irene.roberts@detroitk12.org) Imani Taylor (Imani.taylor@detroitk12.org) 

    Audition Requirements 

    - Students must dress appropriately for the dance audition as follows: 

    o Ladies: Black Leotard, Skin-Tone Tights (footless) 

     Hair off the face, in a bun 

    o Gentleman: Black Jazz Pants, White Tee-Shirt 

    - Students must demonstrate the following: 

    o Roll Down to 1st position (turned out) 

    o Demi-Plie & Grand Plié in 1st position, 2nd position, and 5th position (turned out) 

    o Tendu (Front, side, back, side), Both legs (turned out) 

    o Degage (Front, side, back, side), Both legs (turned out) 

    o Battement (Front, side, back, side), Both legs (turned out) 

    - Perform a one (1) minute solo dance selection. 

    o No costumes

Instrumental Music

  • Teachers:

    Victoria Fernholz (victoria.fernholz@detroitk12.org) 

    Maritza Garibay (maritza.garibay@detroitk12.org) 

    Audition Requirements 

    - Perform a one-minute solo 

    - Please submit a photocopy of the sheet music 

    - Do not play music "from memory." We want to see how well you perform music assigned to you by a teacher. 

    - Please submit a video from your most recent concert. Please include information about the title of the pieces and the composers.

Vocal Music

Multimedia Production

  • Teachers:

    Clinton Chico (Clinton.chico@detroitk12.org) 

    Jamila Slater (jamila.slater@detroitk12.org)

    Beverly Morrison-Green (Beverly.morrison-gre@detroitk12.org)

    Jerod Willis (jerod.willis@detroitk12.org) 

    Audition Requirements 

    - Submit examples of technical or media projects that you have filmed, built, designed, recorded, produced, and/or repaired. This may include, among other things, a short film/video made on a smartphone, a recording of an original piece of music, a piece of mechanical equipment that has been adapted or repaired, or a recording of an original radio show/podcast. No formal training is required. 

    - All content must be school-appropriate, meaning free from profanity and other inappropriate content.

Visual Arts

  • Teachers:

     Kim Hildebrandt-Hall (kim.hildebrandt-hall@detroitk12.org)

    Esther Rubyan (esther.rubyan@detroitk12.org)

    Audition Requirements 

    Portfolio Review & Artist’s Statement

    - Portfolio Please submit 8–10 pieces of original artwork. Mediums accepted: Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Fashion Design, Fibers, Digital Illustration & Animation, Mixed Media. (No AI-generated artwork will be accepted.) In-person or digitally submitted to the emails above.

    - Artist’s statement

    Please describe yourself as an artist. You may use the following questions to help guide your statement:

    What drives you to create art?

    What does your artwork reflect?

    How do you use the Elements of Art & Design in your work?

    Please use this link to reference the objectives: https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/design

    (This may be a written statement (1 full page, typed) or a video

    Submission of yourself-digitally or in-person.)

Theatre/Drama

  • Teacher:

     Jennifer Leija (jennifer.leija@detroitk12.org)

    Andrew Huff (andrew.huff@detroitk12.org)

    Corey Josephson (corey.josephson@detroitk12.org) 

    Audition Requirements 

    - Perform a memorized two-minute monologue on a topic of your choice. 

    - Your performance may be comedy, drama, classic, or contemporary. 

    - It can (but it is NOT required to) include music if the student would like to showcase singing and dancing skills. 

    - Students who focus on technical theater (costumes, light, sound, set construction, stage management) may submit pages from a prompt book, technical portfolio, or other evidence of their technical theater skills. The goal of the audition is to showcase the skills of the applicant.

Literary Arts (9th Grade only)

  • Teachers: 

    Angela Robinson (angela.robinson@detroitk12.org)

    Torie Anderson-Lloyd (torie.anderson-lloyd@detroitk12.org)

    Audition Requirements 

    - Writing samples must be from any of the three primary creative writing genres: fiction, poetry, screenplays or creative nonfiction, Creative nonfiction may include: meditative essay/journalistic articles, memoirs/sketches. 

    - Writing samples may also include persuasive and argumentative essays that address or explore the complex issues facing teenagers today. Applicants may use the essay format to communicate their critical thinking abilities, as well as their ability to be agents of change in the world. 

    - Submit an original writing sample. All works must be typed and free from significant grammatical errors. 

    - Fiction/Creative Nonfiction must be: 

    o 1-2 pages 

    o 300 words minimum 

    - If students are submitting Poetry, complete one of the poetry writing prompts provided: 

    o Option A: Explore the way that your first real loss affected you. This might be the loss of a pet, friend, or family member 

    o Option B: What does love mean to you? How do you describe love? 

    o Option C: Write a poem where you repeat the phrase: Detroit will rise. 

    - Poems must be: 

    o 3-4 stanzas in length 

    o Contain 5-6 lines per stanza 

    - Submission format: 

    o All samples must be typed in a Microsoft Word docx 

    o Prose (fiction or Creative Nonfiction) should be double-spaced; 

    o Poetry should be single-spaced; 

    o Essays must adhere to the five-paragraph structure and include a thesis statement; 

    o All writing should be 12-point Times New Roman typeface