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What Does Intensive Mean in Dance?

Feb 28, 2022 | Ballet

A ballet summer intensive is a training camp for aspiring ballet dancers. Participants, who are usually aspiring ballet dancers from the primary division to the pre-professional level are given the opportunity to grow as dancers under the tutelage of regular and visiting faculty.

Intensives feature rigorous training schedules with an equally demanding curriculum. Despite that, students participating in intensives can enjoy a wide array of benefits.

Benefits of Dance Intensives:

1.    Exposure to Various Ballet Styles

All ballet intensives feature local, regional, and national guest instructors. They help expose students to the various ballet styles, which expands their artistic outlook in the art of ballet.

2.    An Opportunity to Receive Mentoring

Professional dancers and faculty members often serve as mentors during summer intensives. They offer guidance, advice, and life skills to students, helping them develop their capabilities as dancers and individuals.

3.    Improves Technique, Strength, Flexibility, and Endurance

Ballet intensives happen during the summer break. It frees students from their academic responsibilities to focus solely on ballet. As students participate in different dance-dedicated classes, they slowly improve their technique, strength, flexibility, and endurance to reach their full potential as ballet dancers.

4.    Provides Social Interaction

Participants come from different schools, training centers, and backgrounds during a ballet intensive. This mix of people encourages the development of friendships that last long after the program ends. In fact, many summer intensive alumni continue to keep in touch and have become lifelong friends.

5.    Boosts Confidence and Self-Esteem

A summer intensive is an excellent way to build perseverance, self-esteem, and other life skills, which are necessary for the development of a dancer. These lessons help young ones become confident and strong individuals in their communities and beyond.

6.    Living Apart from Home

For the first time, some students get the chance to live apart from their parents. While staying at the ballet intensive, students must become more disciplined and independent. In this environment, they can focus their artistic direction and come to their own as dancers.

7.    Career Preparation Opportunities

Students are exposed to the ins and outs of a professional ballet career, gaining knowledge they can use later on in their careers. Aside from that, during a ballet intensive, students pick up skills vital to a professional dancer. These lessons prepare students for the demands of the dance industry, like building connections and improving their social skills.

8.    Exposure to the Professional Ballet Community

Students get to interact with professional dancers, gaining insight into their lives as dancers and how to reach their true potential. It opens the students’ eyes to various companies that may eventually employ them as professional dancers one day.

The Lasting Benefits of Summer Ballet Intensives

Ballet summer intensives are an excellent opportunity for students to increase their knowledge about ballet. It can help them improve their technique and build their skills as dancers.

The opportunity to interact with other dancers, faculty, and guest instructors introduces students to a variety of viewpoints, styles, and the ballet community at large. These experiences can help them grow as individuals, build their perseverance and self-esteem, and help them come to understand themselves and others better.

Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet’s Five-Week Summer Ballet Intensive Program offers unparalleled training opportunities, helping students advance their strength and technique. We are proud to hold our ballet summer intensive classes under the guidance of our prestigious faculty and esteemed guest faculty. Build your skills and confidence as a dancer—apply for the 2022 intensive today!

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