Tag: ballet parent
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Sending Your Young Dancer Off To A Summer Intensive
**This post has been updated** A while back, we got a question from a reader that asked the following: My dancer is heading off to their first “real” summer intensive. What can I do to make sure they have the best experience possible? We addressed this in one of our podcasts but some of you…
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College Ballet Programs: The Pros And Cons
It’s an age-old question: “Which path sets my student up to get a job as a professional ballet dancer – college or straight into a post-graduate training program?” It can be a tough decision for a lot of students, especially with the proliferation of post-graduate programs that often have large numbers of dancers all vying…
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Happy Anniversary To Ballet Help Desk!
One day, about 18 months ago, Jenny and I were out hiking. We got to talking about how many people were calling us to ask for advice on sending their students to San Francisco Ballet School. Since our kids had been there for four years, apparently we were considered some sort of resident experts on…
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The Culture Of Fear In Ballet Schools Is Real
When we launched our summer intensive reviews back in May of 2023, we hoped to get a few submissions for a handful of the larger programs. But, wow, did people come through! As of today, we have nearly 900 reviews for 169 different programs! We can’t thank you enough for the huge levels of participation!…
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Mental Fitness Maintenance
Today, we’re joined by Elizabeth Sullivan, a success coach and wellness mentor for pre-professional dancers. Full disclosure: Both of our kids have worked with Elizabeth over the years. While we might be biased, we think she brings a fresh voice in the ballet training world. Winter and early Spring, better known as audition season, brings…
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Are European Summer Intensives Worth It?
It’s time for a bonus entry to our Summer Intensive Boot Camp! This article is all about European summer intensives. What are they? How do they work? How do you get admitted and are they worth it? Sometimes it feels like everyone is talking about going to a summer intensive in Europe. It definitely felt…
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What Boys Should Look For In Summer Intensives
The first part of this week’s installment of our Summer Intensive Boot Camp is all about the boys! Let’s talk about ballet summer intensives – what to look for, how scholarships work and how to avoid going insane in the process! Much of what we’ve written as part of our boot camp series applies to…
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What The Heck Is A Summer Intensive?
It’s time for the Ballet Help Desk Summer Intensive Boot Camp! Before we jump into all of the great content we’ll be publishing, let’s take a step back and talk about just exactly what a summer intensive is! You’ve probably heard people throw around the term “SI.” I know when I first heard this, I…
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An Open Letter About Boys In Ballet
We have some exciting news! Today, we are launching two podcast episodes dedicated to addressing the issues that affect young boys in ballet. The first is an interview with Peter Stark, sometimes referred to as the Pied Piper of boys ballet training. As the President and Director of the Rock School For Dance, Peter discussed…
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Competition Judges Pull Back The Curtain
I just spent over an hour reading comments from a few old Facebook posts about ballet competitions and whether or not they’re “rigged.” Are they? We asked three YAGP judges for their thoughts on a variety of issues related to competitions and we learned some interesting stuff, including whether or not they think they’re rigged.…