If it’s November, it’s Summer Intensive planning time! For those of you who have not done a summer intensive before, be sure to read our blog post that explains just exactly what they are. Now that we’re heading into prep time for auditions, we wanted to give you an overview of what to consider when thinking about where your dancer should go for the summer. While it may seem daunting, with a little up front preparation as well as some open and honest discussions with your dancer’s studio, your family should be well-positioned to have your dancer make the most of their summer! So, where to start?

Make Decisions As A Family

The first thing we did was have a discussion as a family about what our upcoming summer looked like. As part of that, we asked Sam about what he thought he wanted to do in terms of summer training. As you can imagine, a ten-year-old is not always a reliable source of information! But, we found a way to agree on a goal. The main focus at that age was the duration of the program and how far away it was. 

Second, we looked at the costs. At ten, we were not prepared to spend much money on summer dance training! We then looked at timing. Sam had two conflicts when he was younger. The first was that his home studio did summer rehearsals for the competition team that he was part of. The second was the annual family reunion that we did at the beach. We decided that neither of those would be events that he could miss so we only allowed him to choose to audition for programs that would not conflict with our family’s other commitments. Note – this will very likely change for you as your dancer gets older and more serious. But, at ten, we didn’t know if Sam would even still be dancing two years later.

One important subject parents need to address is how ready your dancer may be to both dance long hours as well as to be away from home. Some kids are really independent. Others may need some time to get comfortable with being away from home. The most important part of this is to acknowledge which type of child you have and plan accordingly.

Finally, make sure you understand the policies of your dancer’s current home studio. Do they allow students to go away? And, is there an age cut-off for that? In addition, if your home studio does not allow dancers to go away and your dancer really wants to attend a summer intensive, are you prepared to have that discussion with your home studio? 

Studios often have good reasons to discourage younger students from going away. There can be concerns about whether or not a dancer is ready to have training that may be inconsistent with the training they get at home. Or, it could be as simple as a studio needing students to be there through the summer so the studio can continue to collect fees and keep their business afloat. Either way, be prepared to deal with push-back if students at your home studio typically are not allowed to go elsewhere for the summer.

Start Researching Programs

When we started looking at summer programs for Sam, we didn’t know much. He had done a few “junior” programs, but we really didn’t know the full landscape. Fortunately, there was the resident ballet parent expert (there is at least one at every studio). She overheard me talking about summer programs to another parent and she (politely) injected, “Houston has loads of boys. And, they’re really good! Sam should go there.” Now, at this point, I didn’t even know that Houston had a ballet company, much less a summer program. But, it got added to the audition list and he did end up attending. 

The point here is that your ballet parent network can often be a terrific resource.  Another resource you can use is the summer intensive reviews we have here at Ballet Help Desk. We have nearly 760 reviews that cover more than 160 programs. So, pour yourself a cup of tea and have a read! 

One thing that Jenny and I both did is that we built a spreadsheet to keep track of all the information we needed. This included the names of programs, the dates they took place, audition dates, times, locations, required photos and much more. If your dancer is planning to audition more than one or two places, we really recommend keeping all of the information organized in one place. You can download our spreadsheet template here:

Audition Spreadsheet: This was our audition bible every year! Use this and fill it out! Download an Excel File or Google Sheet (copy to your Google Drive).

As your dancer is putting together their audition list, consider whether or not you will need to travel to auditions. An alternative to traveling is submitting video auditions. In two of our upcoming interviews with adjudicators from large summer programs, we discuss the pros and cons of video auditions vs. attending in-person. 

There are also a few organizations that stage auditions for multiple summer programs at once. The largest is the National Summer Intensive Audition. This program allows dancers to audition for several mid-sized programs all at once. If your dancer is limited on time or must travel a long distance for auditions, this may be a great opportunity to get in front of a lot of summer intensive directors all at once. In an upcoming interview with Lauren Fadeley-Veyette, Principal of the Kansas City Ballet School, we discuss the pros and cons of attending the NSIA. Tune in on December 1 to hear our interview.

There are a few other organizations that aggregate summer intensive auditions. They include one in Saint Louis at the Center of Creative Arts and is called the Regional Summer Intensive Audition (RSIA). As the name indicates, more regional programs attend this one. There are a few others out there as well and most of them tend to attract smaller or more regional schools.

One word of caution about these multi-school auditions. Many adjudicators do not attend in person. So, your audition is actually being filmed and sent to many of the schools. Given the numbers that can often be in the room, one wonders if it might be more effective to simply film a video and send it directly to each of the schools you may be interested in. There are merits to attending as well, but think about how your particular dancer can use audition season most effectively.

How Many Auditions To Do?

People always ask us how many auditions their dancer should do and we’re always hesitant to provide a number. Everyone’s circumstances are different e.g. some have to travel for auditions and that can get expensive. Some may live closer, which makes attending more auditions sometimes more feasible . In addition, some kids may absolutely love audition classes, but others may recoil at the idea of doing a lot of them.

The main thing to consider is how difficult programs are to get in. There are a lot of summer programs out there and there isn’t just one perfect fit. It’s like applying to college — pick one or two reach programs, a few that are within target and one or two safeties.

In general, the most competitive programs are those run by company affiliated schools (San Francisco, School of American Ballet, Houston, Pacific Northwest, etc.). Less competitive programs, while they still provide excellent training, are associated with smaller companies and some conservatories.

As we’ve mentioned in previous blog posts, admission to the competitive summer programs, especially when a scholarship is attached to the admission, is a good indicator of where your dancer fits into the ballet ecosystem. Even if your dancer has no intention of attending a big, competitive program, we think it’s always a good idea to audition for one or two of them. As some of your are reading this, I know that you’re shaking your head and thinking about those “blacklists” you hear about. Let me just dispel that myth right now.

Schools do not blacklist dancers simply because they declined their summer intensive.

Even SAB, which is the the one that seems to be the school that most people claim have a blacklist, it isn’t true. We are aware of both male and female dancers who routinely got in to the most competitive of programs and declined to attend. Schools, even those at the tippy top, know that not everyone admitted will attend. So, go ahead and audition for them — you never know what might happen!

In addition, consider how much your dancer likes audition classes. While we believe that learning to audition is a necessary skill, you don’t need to throw your kids into the deep end right away. When my son was 13, he went to nearly all of his summer intensive auditions with a good friend from his studio. And, she HATED audition classes. She would literally fall apart in each class. While she ultimately overcame her fears, at age 13, she just wasn’t quite ready to hit the audition circuit that hard. And, that is totally fine. As we’ve said many times, kids all develop at different rates and the most important aspect in all of this is to know your dancer’s thresholds and plan accordingly.

Considerations When Researching Programs

When you and your dancer are researching summer intensives, there are a number of factors to consider. With a little sleuthing on the websites of each school you can usually find most of this information. And, our summer intensive reviews have a lot of this information as well. 

When we were looking at summer programs, the important aspect was whether or not a program offered housing. Although both of our kids did attend programs that offered housing for their first “away” summer intensive, neither of us had our kids stay there. In subsequent years, they always went to programs that provided dorms or some dorm equivalent. 

The decision to have your dancer stay in the housing provided is not one to be taken lightly. Some kids thrive in the dorms. But, we can both regale you with stories of kids who had trouble. There was the inevitable homesickness with some. And, for some kids, the social dynamics were just too much. 

Dorm living can be a lot of fun, but it’s not for the faint of heart. Think hard about whether or not your dancer is ready to be on their own that much. 

And, parents of boys, do your homework on how many boys not only attend the program, but also stay in the dorms. A cautionary tale – when Sam was 11, he attended the Joffrey Academy Summer Dance Program. Since he had always been extremely independent, we thought it would be fine for him to stay in the dorms. 

What we didn’t bother to check was how many other younger dancers would also be staying there. It turned out the answer was zero. So, Sam was paired with a boy who was 15. Although the kid was perfectly nice, I’m fairly certain he wasn’t thrilled about rooming with a kid who was under five feet tall and still sounded like Elmo.  Lesson learned.

Also, it’s important to understand the meal plan offered. Some programs, much to our surprise at the time, offered housing but no meal plan. As an example, Ellison Ballet, in New York, is set up like this. This was one of the reasons we would not allow Sam to even consider it until he was old enough to cook and not blow up a kitchen.

Also, if your dancer has any sort of specialized food requirements, some programs are much better at this than others. Jenny’s daughter needs to have a gluten-free diet and she can regale you with stories of which programs were truly gluten free and which ones served up lettuce and boiled chicken to support specialized dietary needs. Hit her up if you have specific questions about researching programs that offer specialized meal plans. Our reviews also asked past attendees if they required any sort of specialized diet and we have quite a bit of data on what the various programs offer.

This next suggestion may sound silly, but it does make a difference. As we have talked about in lots of our blog posts and podcast episodes, networking matters. If your dancer is planning to attend a program where housing isn’t provided, then everyone will be in the same boat. 

But, if your dancer is looking at programs where housing is offered, consider how it will affect them if they don’t stay there. They may be one of a handful of kids not staying in the dorms, which could keep them out of the more social aspects of the program. Remember that much of the social interactions take place when kids are just hanging out after class or eating meals in the cafeteria. 

There are also financial considerations. These summer intensives are expensive. Like, really expensive. Some programs, however, offer generous merit and need-based financial aid. If you think your family will need some sort of financial support for your dancer to attend a certain program, research what kind of aid might be available. Most programs make it pretty clear on their websites what kinds of aid are available.

Parents of boys, I’m talking to you here. The reality is that there are more scholarships out there for boys. Sorry, but until society values male dancers as much as female dancers, this will be the case. There just aren’t enough male dancers out there to fill every summer program that exists. So, more money goes to the boys to attract them to programs. This isn’t necessarily the case at the biggest programs – they get plenty of everyone. But for the medium and small-sized programs, this is definitely the case. So, if you’re the parent of a boy, while not everyone gets scholarships, the likelihood is greater if you’re a boy.

And, parents of girls, don’t despair. We know plenty of girls who have gotten scholarships even to the biggest and most prestigious of programs.

What Does The Program Offer While There?

Ok, so let’s turn our attention to what a program might offer when your dancer is there. First, what technique is taught? Most summer intensives both inside and outside of the U.S. teach a mishmash of techniques that many refer to as “general classical.” But some are more focused. The one that comes to mind quickly is the Balanchine style. Yes, it’s a style, not a technique. A few U.S. programs are strictly Vaganova e.g. Bolshoi in CT and NY and Ellison. And, once you get outside of the U.S. you get programs that focus more specifically on Vaganova, Bournonville, Cechetti, etc. If your dancer is dying to try a specific new technique or style. Summer is often a great time to do this.

When Jenny’s daughter was 17, she decided she really wanted to learn Bournonville as many companies do pieces that are based on that technique. So, off she went to Royal Danish Ballet to get immersed and learn as much as she could. Sam did the same with Balanchine. He spent a summer at SAB when he was 17 and it made him realize that not only did he really like the style, he also wanted to aim to dance at a company that had Balanchine pieces as part of their season programming.

A consideration that we believe is paramount is whether or not a dancer can enter a year-round program through the summer intensive. If your dancer is ready to head off to a residential ballet program, many programs use summer as a time to recruit talent. We can both speak from experience when we say that many of the summer intensives our kids went to offered either a formal or informal way to indicate interest in and audition for a spot for the year. 

One example of this is the School of American Ballet. Their summer program serves as basically a five-week audition for its year-round school. The downside of this is that it can be quite stressful for students aspiring to that. Conversely, if a dancer is just there purely to do Balanchine for the summer, it can be worthwhile, not to mention a fun five weeks in New York!

This information is usually available in the summer intensive materials posted on a school’s website. If your dancer wants to attend the year-round program at that school, It makes sense to understand the process through which they might get admitted by attending the summer intensive. Please note that there are other ways into a year-round program. But, by attending the summer program, your dancer can get a feel for the teaching, the facility and the overall vibe. One word of caution – if your dancer is looking to move into full-time training, it’s not a great idea to put their eggs all in the summer intensive basket. They should have a back-up plan if entry through the summer program doesn’t pan out.

Another consideration is how many classes are offered each day. Some programs are more low-key and some are intense! Houston Ballet is an example of a program with really full days. If you’re considering Houston, be ready physically when you arrive because you jump right into A LOT of dancing!

There are some schools that have a reputation for not having enough classes or for having oddball schedules during the day, leaving students with large blocks of time to kill between classes. We do want to dispel one myth. For years we were told to skip SAB – they don’t offer enough classes. Or, people would tell us that the reason SAB had so few classes is because they are so intense. Yes, they are intense but my son didn’t find them any more intense than other programs. And, there were plenty of classes. I’m not sure if that was the case several years ago, but in recent, post-Covid years, the class schedule was more than adequate.

Some schools are not great about scheduling. We got feedback from dancers who attended both Boston Ballet as well as San Francisco Ballet and the big complaint was that there were often multi-hour breaks between classes. If this is something that would be a deal breaker for your dancer, be sure to take it into consideration. 

For some, especially the younger dancers, the scheduled outings are important. It’s usually not the thing that tips the scales but if two programs are otherwise equal, this may help with the decision. Most programs offer “weekend field trips.” Some go to the beach or a water park. Others take the entire program to see a ballet company perform. For others it’s a baseball game (interestingly, baseball games were the outings the students listed as liking the least in our summer reviews!). You can usually find the planned outings in the handbook available for each program. An example can be found here.

Programs also differ in terms of what the last few days entails. Some offer a day where parents can observe class. Others have the students do a small demonstration of what they’ve learned over the past several weeks. And others may stage a full show. Your dancer should know what they prefer as they’re compiling their audition list. Because my son didn’t get a lot of performance opportunities at his year-round ballet school, he always chose summer programs that featured at least a smallish type show. Every student is different, though. You may have a competition kid who is going to a ballet program to get drilled on solid ballet technique. Or, you may have a student who needs that performance time. Regardless of what your student needs, I can assure you there is a program out there that will fit the bill.

Determine Audition Schedule

Phew! That research took a lot out of us! Now that you’ve got your list, it’s time to start scheduling. This is where you can take advantage of a great resource called Ballet Scout. Ballet Scout is a one-stop shop for all things related to auditioning for ballet programs. They have information on auditions for summer intensives, year-round ballet schools as well as company auditions. Ballet Scout also offers some robust search tools that allow you to input a location and a date range. It will spit back results for every summer intensive audition that is scheduled  based on the parameters you set.

On the “Intensives” search, you can search for summer intensives by location, date, and number of weeks, allowing you to line up multiple intensives throughout the summer. You can also search by style, budget, housing, scholarships, financial aid and more.

On the “Auditions” search, you can maximize your audition tours by finding multiple auditions on the date in the same location. In addition, you can find auditions that double as an audition for a year-round program or even a post-grad program. So, if you’re driving from Des Moines to Chicago, you’ll quickly be able to establish an audition schedule based on a particular weekend.

It’s well worth it to pay for a subscription as it gives you great tools to help figure out your dancer’s audition schedule. 

We had the pleasure of sitting down with Robert Fulton, the co-founder of Ballet Scout and a professional ballet dancer with the Nevada Ballet. You can hear our full interview with him on November 8th on our podcast.

Scheduling Strategies

Scheduling summer intensive auditions can be complicated. If you live in or around a major city, it’s easier. But, if you need to travel, it can be a bit more complicated. First, most summer intensive auditions are simply a ballet class and they typically last 90 minutes. Our recommendation, and Robert confirmed this in our interview with him, is that your dancer should schedule as many auditions as closely together as possible. We’d even go so far as to say, do two on a Saturday and two more on a Sunday if it’s feasible.

Why? It all comes down to timing. Schools usually send admission/rejection notifications within seven to ten business days. Once notifications go out, students must reply with a decision (and often put down a deposit) within two weeks. This total elapsed time between audition, and the time when you must make an initial payment, can be as little as three weeks. So, if you have auditions scheduled for the first weekend in January and then the first or second week of February. This doesn’t give you enough time to complete all auditions before decisions must be made.

This doesn’t even include any video auditions that were submitted to both U.S. and overseas programs. Note, most programs in Europe don’t even notify until much later in the year and often well-past when replies to U.S. programs are due. Be sure to consider the financial implications of auditioning for U.S. programs while also auditioning for overseas programs. If your dancer is auditioning for both and has their heart set on Europe, you may be looking at putting down a deposit on a U.S. program to secure a spot while waiting for notification from Europe. Just remember that those deposits are usually non-refundable.

What’s Next?

In our next installment of the Ballet Help Desk Summer Intensive Boot Camp, we’ll be focusing on the boys. Like many things in ballet, young boys face unique challenges when it comes to choosing summer intensives. Because there is a finite pool of boys, not all programs get enough of them to round out summer classes. This has implications for everything from distribution of classes to the availability of partnering instruction. 

After that, we hear from Emily Brunner, a professional dance photographer who gives a detailed overview of everything you need to know to shoot great audition photos and videos!

And, as always, never hesitate to reach out with comments and questions!