Guest Medora Posted August 15, 2002 Report Share Posted August 15, 2002 I am a ballet student who will be 16 years old this Friday. I really want to dance in a major company, especially ABT when I get older. So I was wondering, what would the best course of action be for someone my age to make this dream come true? I have never been to a summer intensive before. What summer program would I get the most out of? I thought that ABT NY would be the best for me, but I could never afford housing there for 6 weeks. I am now thinking about ABT or SAB. Also, do students who attend a school like SAB year round have a MUCH greater chance of making it in the professional world? Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted August 15, 2002 Report Share Posted August 15, 2002 Hello, Medora and welcome to the Young Dancers' forums on Ballet Talk here at Ballet Alert! Online! I would say, from long observation, that it doesn't necessarily take a school in a major metro area to produce a dancer who will have the ability and watchability to find employment with a good company. If that school is near you, by all means attend it! Try to stay home as long as possible, but if it's not possible to do that and get the best training, then look into the residential program schools. The year-round students at some schools, like SAB, seem to have an advantage because there's a "pipeline" to NYCB which functions very effectively. Other schools may have it, but nothing works quite as well as the "Balanchine machine";) (BTW, this is not intended as a disparaging remark). ABT's school is so new that its relationship to the company is still being worked out, and other companies feed from their schools, but not to the same degree that SAB feeds NYCB. Link to comment
tsavoie Posted August 22, 2002 Report Share Posted August 22, 2002 i wouldn't suggest abt for a summer intensive, every thing that i have heard about it is bad. i would suggest sab, pnb, or huston ballet. Link to comment
Administrators Victoria Leigh Posted August 22, 2002 Administrators Report Share Posted August 22, 2002 tsavoie, I really don't think it is a good idea to negate a program based only on things you have heard. If you have not experienced it yourself, I don't think you should offer opinions, either positive or negative. There are many, many very positive posts on BA about ABT's programs, in NY and in the other places too. Personally, I was very unhappy with their audition procedures this year, and did post at some length about that. However, I have no problem with their programs. The students we have who have attended the programs have all been very happy! Link to comment
tsavoie Posted August 22, 2002 Report Share Posted August 22, 2002 yes i guess your right, i was just saying this based on what some of my friends who went to abt this year said about the program Link to comment
Guest dancergal Posted August 22, 2002 Report Share Posted August 22, 2002 I go to SAB during the year, and I have to agree with Ms. Leigh. I think that the students who go to SAB year round do have a pretty big chance of getting into NYCB... not so sure about ABT though. Link to comment
Administrators Victoria Leigh Posted August 22, 2002 Administrators Report Share Posted August 22, 2002 It's not the same at ABT because ABT does not have a year round school. They do not have a full time school at all, only their Summer Intensive programs in NY, Michigan, California, Alabama, and Texas. NYCB does take more students from the school into the company than most places, I think, but that is also because it is such a large company. They have more opportunity for employment than companies with fewer dancers. Also, the school was designed to feed into the company and has always had a strong record of doing that. Link to comment
Guest Medora Posted August 22, 2002 Report Share Posted August 22, 2002 What happened with the auditions? Is it something I need to know about? Link to comment
Rubies Posted August 22, 2002 Report Share Posted August 22, 2002 I was able to visit SFBS (San Francisco Ballet School) during an observation week at the end of their summer program. The school has a very strong group of students, especially from their own school. I also found out that 5 of their students received contracts with the Company for the upcoming year and overall 15 students got jobs - that's amazing! It sounds like there's more than one or two options for you if you're looking for a high-caliber, company-associated school: SAB, SFBS, PNB, Washington, MCB, HBA...... So good luck! Also, Ms. Leigh, did you ever hear from your students about their experiences at SFBS? Link to comment
Administrators Victoria Leigh Posted August 22, 2002 Administrators Report Share Posted August 22, 2002 Yes, I had one out there and she loved it. In fact she is going back for the year. She graduated from high school in June. Link to comment
Guest Medora Posted August 23, 2002 Report Share Posted August 23, 2002 What is the Washington Ballet School's sumer program like? Do the students dance all day, or just have a few classes? Do you have a few teachers that really get to know you, or many different teachers? Do the students get a lot of personal attention, or do they have to correct themselves? I was talking to my dance teacher and she said that this school was very good and that I might want to consider this program. Any opinions would be great! :cool: Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted August 23, 2002 Report Share Posted August 23, 2002 Off topic for a moment, but Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday, dear Medora, Happy birthday to you! (a bit belated, but better than never) Link to comment
Administrators Victoria Leigh Posted August 23, 2002 Administrators Report Share Posted August 23, 2002 Medora, how much you dance depends on your level. Everyone has at least 3 classes a day. Students in the top two levels also have a 2 hour Workshop class, where they learn repertoire and new ballets choreographed for them and perform at the end of the SI. There are also Pilates classes available in addition to the technique, pointe, pas de deux, modern, jazz, character and workshop classes. The main teachers are there the entire 5 weeks and have the students enough to get to know them. There are usually two guest teachers who are there for 2 or 3 weeks. Some seem to learn the students and some don't do well with names but they do know and work with the students. I think most will give individual corrections as needed. Students are certainly not expected to correct themselves! :eek: Link to comment
Guest Medora Posted August 23, 2002 Report Share Posted August 23, 2002 Thank you Mr. Johnson!!! At my dance studio we had a big all night party last week where we hung out, watched videos of ABT and La Bayadere, and had turn class at 3:30 in the morning! I also worked on my turns with my friends so long that night that by the time that my teacher had come to teach, I already had a huge blister and my shoes were giving out on me! It was so much fun though. Thank you also Mrs. Leigh. I have been reading past posts about ABT and somewhere someone mentioned that at ABT they have many teachers that do not get to know the students, classes are large and not many corrections are given. ??? I have always just wanted to go because I think it would improve my chances of getting into the company one day. But I have no idea whether any of thus is true or not, and I think that going to the program that would make me the best dancer would be in my better interests. But I have no idea, probably any program is good. Link to comment
Administrators Victoria Leigh Posted August 23, 2002 Administrators Report Share Posted August 23, 2002 Medora, it would be a good idea to audition for a number of programs if you plan to go to an SI next summer. That way you increase your chances of being accepted somewhere, and also you get a bit of an idea, at least with some of them, what the teaching is like. Most of the programs have someone from their own faculty teaching the audition class. There are a couple of exceptions to this, and one of them is ABT. From your location, it is highly likely that you will have to travel to these auditions, so when the schedules come out it would be a good idea to see which schools are holding auditions in a city that you can get to. Many of the schools also accept video auditions. The audition schedules and information about videos are usually up on the school's website sometime in the fall, and Dance and Pointe Magazines will have ads for each school's auditions in the January and February issues. (The Jan. issue is out in mid-Decemeber) (By the way, you can edit your posts, or add to them, by clicking on the Edit button at the bottom of your post ) Link to comment
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