Why Summer Intensives Are Crucial for the Career of Collegiate Ballet Dancers
As a collegiate dancer, it is okay to admit that you may become burned out and need a break from dance. Often, it can be easy to take two-thirds of the summer off from dance.
However, if you are serious about pursuing your career as a professional dancer, I recommend a rest period that refreshes your mind, soul, spirit, and body, without allowing your carefully trained skills and abilities to regress. Taking too much time away from dance makes it harder to get back into shape as the body loses muscle strength and coordination after just two weeks. While you are making your summer plans, intentionally set aside a couple of weeks for rest and then consider how you can progress your training forward. Make the most out of the few summer breaks you have left before graduation.
Summer intensives are a convenient way to boost summer training, and they do not fill the entire summer, leaving you time to rest before the fall semester. During my college years, I found summer intensives to be inspiring, reinvigorating, and motivating. After each summer intensive, I headed into the fall semester inspired by the fresh perspective I had gained from different instructors, reinvigorated in pursuing my goals, and motivated in my work ethic by all the talent I had witnessed. While the number of summer intensives that allow college-age dancers or offer a collegiate summer intensive are limited, do not let that deter you. I discovered summer intensives are even more enjoyable as a collegiate dancer because I benefited more from the summer intensive training as a smarter and more mature dancer. Because I knew my body better and how it worked, I understood class corrections faster and applied them to my dancing more quickly than I would have as a younger dancer. As a result, I felt as if I could absorb more of what the teachers were offering and learned much more at the summer intensives than when I was in high school.
In other career fields, people are often hired because of who they know, rather than what they know. In ballet, this translates into utilizing summer intensives to make connections, learn more about ballet companies and their directors/faculty, experience their training and repertoire, and assessing their work environment. When I was looking at summer intensives in college, I auditioned for the programs by companies that I wanted to know more about. I wasn’t about to spend time at a summer intensive with a company where I knew I would not audition for a professional contract.
One of the summer intensives I was interested in in college was Ballet 5:8’s summer intensive. As a Christian dancer, I found it appealing that they shared my beliefs, offered quality training, and had small class sizes. At the time, they did not have a collegiate summer program, but they were always open to dancers of all ages and treated them the same. With the start of their Collegiate Summer Intensive this summer, I think it reflects the heart of Ballet 5:8 toward collegiate dancers, and their desire to know and be known by collegiate dancers. If you’re a collegiate dancer, I highly recommend Ballet 5:8’s Collegiate Summer Intensive because you will be able to evaluate the environment and training of Ballet 5:8, determine whether or not you enjoy Ballet 5:8 repertoire, and personally connect with Artistic Director Julianna Rubio Slager and Associate Artistic Director Brette Benedict.
Even if you are less serious about compiling your audition list of companies for your senior year, Ballet 5:8’s summer intensive will encourage you as a Christian dancer and will give you fresh inspiration for the fall semester in a supportive environment.