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Students who have been inducted into the National Honor Society for Dance Arts (NHSDA) Secondary Program and are current juniors and seniors in High School are eligible for the NHSDA Artistic Merit, Leadership and Academic Achievement Award, the highest student dance award in the nation. The National Winner of the award will receive up to a $1000 monetary award/scholarship and a certificate. The 2 National Finalists will each receive a $250 monetary award/scholarship and a certificate. Honorable Mention Recipients will receive a certificate.  Applicants may be eligible for a state level award if their NDEO State Affiliate chooses to present one.

Student Eligibility

The applicant must be an inductee of the secondary program 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 student's NHSDA Chapter must hold a current NDEO Institutional Membership.

***Dance Instructors: It's not too late to start a chapter of the National Honor Society for Dance Arts (NHSDA) to induct your qualified students in time to apply for the award! Visit nhsda-ndeo.org/startachapter to learn more about the program and its benefits for you and your students***

Applicants are rated based on the strength of their technical and artistic merit, leadership, and academic achievement. These categories are assessed through a self-choreographed solo video (solo video must be done in one shot with no edits), two essay questions, GPA and transcript, recommendation letter from current chapter sponsor, and resume. Each category is worth 300 points for a total score of 900 possible points. The applicants are judged in three main categories:

1. Artistic Merit: The Nominee must demonstrate artistic and technical excellence in dance.
   • Technical excellence as seen in solo video - Solo video must be in done in one shot with no edits
   • Artistic Merit as seen in solo video - Solo video must be in done in one shot with no edits
   • Essay #1: Choreography - What was the intent of your original choreography? Please provide the title of work, inspiration, and any challenges you encountered in the choreographic process. (Limit 250 words)
2. 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 - Must be from current Chapter Sponsor
   • Resume - Include leadership in and out of the field of dance
   • Essay #2: Impact of Dance on Life - What impact has dance had on your life, in and out of the studio? How do you plan to use this influence in the future to have an impact on other people and communities? (Limit 500 words)
3. 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 (all classes must be included in GPA, not just dance classes)
   • Transcript (official or unofficial) 
   • Grammar and Writing Style - Based on Essay #1 and Essay #2

Checklist of Components:

1. Essay Questions: Students will briefly address both questions provided using Times New Roman in 12pt font, one inch margins on all sides, and single spaced. Each essay should follow the specified length guidelines. Save the essay questions all in one Word document file, or in a PDF file.
   • Essay #1: What was the intent of your original choreography? Please provide the title of work, inspiration, and any challenges you encountered in the choreographic process. (Limit 250 words)
   • Essay #2: What impact has dance had on your life, in and out of the studio? How do you plan to use this influence in the future to have an impact on other people and communities? (Limit 500 words)
2. Resume: It should be divided into four sections (each should be labeled). Limit 1 page.
   • Dance Training History
   • Performance & Choreography Experience
   • Clubs, Activities and Leadership Roles – what else have you participated in the school, community, state and/or national level (can be dance & non-dance related)
   • Awards & Honors – list all dance & non-dance awards, honors or scholarships received. 
3. Video:  3-minute maximum of a solo performance by the student. It must be the student’s original choreography and must be done in one shot with no edits. It can be any genre of dance that best reflects the student’s artistic and technical abilities. While we traditionally receive a lot of modern/contemporary pieces, candidates should feel free to submit other styles such as tap, jazz, hip-hop, world dance, etc. It can be an actual performance on stage during a show, site-specific, or filmed in an informal setting or studio. We suggest that you view videos of past year’s winners. Videos submitted via DVDs and YouTube will not be accepted.
4. Photos: Two photos will need to be uploaded to the online application; 1) a headshot, and 2) a color photo of the applicant dancing, in a dance setting, or in a dance pose.
5. Chapter Sponsor Recommendation Questions: The deadline for the student to complete the application, pay the $15 fee and hit the SUBMIT button at the end of the application, is February 27, 2022. This will then trigger an email to Chapter Sponsor to answer Recommendation Questions, which must be completed by March 2, 2022. Please make sure the Chapter Sponsor checks their inbox for this email. 

Student nominees complete the application entirely online using the Acceptd platform. The 2021 - 2022 online application will be available on November 1, 2021. 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. An email will be sent to the school principal if applicable to inform them of their student’s award.
 
The online application consists of basic student contact information and GPA (in x.x out of x.x format) and chapter sponsor answered recommendation questions, school transcript (official or unofficial), resume, 2 short essays, along with a 3 minute maximum video of applicant performing their own choreography done in one shot with no edits, and two photos (head shot and dance photo). There is also a $15 application fee (payable only by credit card.) 

By submitting their application the student agrees that NDEO – NHSDA is allowed to use their material on NDEO – NHSDA’s websites, in marketing, and other forms as seen fit by the organization.

NDEO has the following State Affiliates that support the NHSDA and may hold state level adjudications: AR, AZ, CA, CO, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, MA, MD, MI, MO, NC, NJ, NY, OR, PA, RI, UT, WA, WI, and WV.

The deadline for students to complete the application, pay the $15 fee and hit the SUBMIT button at the end of application is February 27, 2022.

The student application submission will then trigger an email to Chapter Sponsor to answer Recommendation Questions, which must be completed by March 2, 2022.  Please make sure the Chapter Sponsor checks their inbox for this email. If they do not receive an email entitled Documentation Request from Acceptd, please contact Acceptd customer service at support@getacceptd.com or nhsda@ndeo.org