The South Carolina School of Dance was named as one of the top "under the radar" schools for ballet education by Dance magazine.
Entering its seventh year, the school was ranked with Mercyhurst University and the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati as top non-conservatory schools to consider. USC was compared to Juilliard, the University of Indiana and Butler University, schools known for their dance programs.
After the recognition, director and founder of the USC Dance Company Susan Anderson said that her phone "never stops ringing" with people wanting to be in the dance school.
She said she and the faculty can bring in great students and that contributes to the talent in the school — Anderson compares her faculty recruiting students to that of the football team with head coach Steve Spurrier and his assistant coaches.
“The dancers come here to be trained by the faculty … I am like the Spurrier," Anderson said. "I have put an incredible faculty underneath me, and the students come here to study with them.”
The school focuses primarily on classic ballet, while most other universities focus on modern dance.
“When you have a strong classical training and foundation, your body is allowed to move in and out of any position and you have the security and the strength to support it,” Anderson said.
The school has been able to bring big name choreographers to teach dance and perform complex choreography like that of George Balanchine.
Anderson said that the reason students come to the school is because of the different styles of dance they learn.
“You want to go to an orchestra because they play Beethoven," she said. "My dancers come here because they want to dance Balanchine and they want to have an incredible repertoire that pushes their career forward.”