Monday, June 27, marked the first day of our academy’s 2016 summer intensive, a rigorous training program designed to prepare pre-professional students for a career in dance. They’re selected by audition and come from all over the U.S. They’ll spend the next five weeks with us, taking classes from our esteemed faculty in both technique and repertoire.
Here are five fun facts about this year’s program:
Roughly 400 students auditioned for our summer intensive. We hosted auditions in 19 cities, including Boston, San Diego, Tampa and more, from January through March. We also accepted DVD auditions from students who couldn’t attend in person.
We have 125 total summer intensive students, including 15 boys. They take classes, ranging from Pointe to Character and from Anatomy to Dance History, Monday through Saturday.
Forty-five of those students are staying in the dorms at CCAD while they’re here, and we plan activities for them throughout the summer, including trips to Easton Town Center and Red, White & Boom.
They came from all over the U.S. Yes, most of the students are from Ohio, but they also traveled from Alaska, Massachusetts and Florida. The second largest pool of students came from California.
They’ll take class with a group of special guest faculty, including Patricia Barker, artistic director for Grand Rapids Ballet, Edwaard Liang, our artistic director, Susan Dromisky, our ballet mistress, and Emily Gotschall and David Ward, two BalletMet company dancers.