Summer Intensive Programs

Most Ballet Schools have auditions from January until March. Each ballet school posts their touring schedule on their websites.

Visiting academy web site's for summer programs information can be very time consuming. However it is the only way to find out all the pertinent information about each school. It is always great to consult with your dancer's coach and get their opinion on the academy they feel would be best or is better for your dancer.

I often get lost in different programs that are being offered, but keep in mind, each program is good in its own way. It is intensive ballet training for your dancer, so make sure to make it fun and something that you and your family can commit to. Taking into consideration your school's ballet style will also influence your decision but as soon as you see it becoming cumbersome and you and your dancer lose the fun of the actual process, it is time to take a break as it will be ineffective.

Focusing on a couple of favorites may be a better approach rather than trying to up your chances and audition for more than 2 schools.

Most programs have $30-$50 audition fee, so audition season can be very pressing financially for the parents. We have experienced that with this audition season as Mia auditioned for 4 programs: Kirov, ABT, Royal Ballet and Southland. She was also invited to attend a summer program at Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Windsor. It was too much to handle and make a decision. I never expected her to get into each program, and did not prepare mentally for that.

They all seemed like great programs! What do I do? Things got more complicated when she was offered a 25% scholarship at Kirov Ballet Academy, but just a thought of her being away for 5 weeks was not something I was prepared to do. 15% scholarship was very tempting for Bolshoi Academy, however Mia made my decision easy, or hard, I still cannot decide which, by telling me it was her dream always to attend Royal Ballet Summer Program or Southland.

I had to break the news to my husband and the rest of the family, and try to make all this work. A lot of sleepless nights, late texts with Mia's coaches, my parents, my aunt, my brother, my friends just trying to justify the fact that I wanted her to have this summer be the best summer ever.

We agreed that we will all somehow come up with enough money to support her dream and let her do both. Pheew, once the decision is made the rest is easy - kind of.

Links to some of the programs we considered

https://www.royalballetschool.org.uk/

http://www.festivalballet.org/southland-ballet-academy/sba-summer-programs/

https://summer.joffreyballetschool.com/

https://kirovacademydc.org/

http://www.bolshoiballetacademy.com/

http://www.abt.org/education/