Tag: ballet training
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Ballet Tips for Parents of Neurodivergent Kids
**Our first in a series on neurodivergent kids in ballet. Thanks to Chelsea Weidmann for the contribution! If your dancer has ADHD, that might have played a big part in why you signed them up for ballet in the first place. These dancers tend to be high energy and amazingly creative and when they were…
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Addressing Neurodivergent Needs In the Studio
*We are joined by our guest blogger, Chelsea Weidmann, better known on social media as the Geeky Ballerina. Chelsea has agreed to contribute some articles on neurodivergent kids and ballet. We hope you enjoy them! Hi, I’m Chelsea and I’m a ballet teacher and mom to a neurodivergent kid. As I’m writing this, my heart…
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Stressing at Your Summer Intensive?
This is a guest post by Elizabeth Sullivan, Founder of the Dancer’s Coach Many of you who are away at summer intensives may be hoping for a year-round offer. If that’s the case, you may notice that you’re approaching classes differently than during your year-round program: Maybe you’ve been told, “Every class is an audition!”…
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How Older Teens Can Make The Most Of Their Summer Intensives
**This post has been updated** In our last post we focused on sending younger dancers for their first summer intensive. In this post, we’re focusing on the older kids, primarily those ages 15-18. Parents, by this time, you know the drill, right? We’re assuming your kids have been to summer programs before. And, if not,…
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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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Introducing The Encore Fund
Fact: Most professional dancers make very little moneyAlso Fact: Most professional dancers are super smart and driven Logic would tell you that dancers would want to pursue some sort of higher education either while they’re dancing or once they finish. The problem? Most education subsidies that some professional dancers get while still performing don’t carry…
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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…