I am hoping someone can help me. My 16 year old wants to attend her first “real” SI. We are in a small town, with really only recreational dance, but she has danced since very young, loves it, and has done a few local type intensives in the past (nothing big). She was just told that she was accepted into The Rock via our video audition, but at level 2X. From what I can tell, that looks like she will be with maybe 10 to 13 year olds. Does anyone have experience with this intensive and the age groups with levels? Could she possibly benefit if she were with such young dancers, or do you think she would have issues from being so much older? She wants to improve, but I just don’t know if this would be the right environment. We are not at all close (several states away), so it would be quite an investment for us. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Hi, epicurious1. My daughter is also sixteen. She is a serious ballet dancer and at the age of fourteen attended her first summer intensive. After three weeks she returned home in considerable pain, with spasm of her paraspinal muscles that took some time to resolve. My daughter’s orthopedist was aghast when he heard about the number of hours these kids are expected to dance. If your daughter, like mine, does not have the potential for a professional ballet career, then find a good summer program close to home where she can dance four to five hours a day. She will improve just as much, I guarantee it. Don’t drink the Koolaid!
I recommend you look at the website Ballet Talk for Dancers. Lots of SI info on their including forums for specific programs like Rock. You will learn a ton.http://dancers.invisionzone.com
I’m a little late to the topic here, so feel free to ignore if it’s not helpful. I wouldn’t put it quite the way 2wuhanmom puts it, but I would say that summer intensive programs are just that - intensive. They are designed for dance students who train at a certain level year round, so they can sustain the increase in hours, and if your daughter has been a recreational dance (say, under 10 hours a week - although that’s not a technical definition) it could easily cause injury. All that said, if she doesn’t mind being placed with younger dancers she might be able to improve her technique at a program like The Rock or CPYB, which is another larger program. I agree with jnkam24 that Ballet Talk can offer a lot more detailed information about both. It might help you make a more informed decision about whether it’s a worthwhile investment for your family.
@epicurious1 Third for Ballet Talk. What is your home state? It might be worthwhile to seek intensives that are closer to home (drive not fly) and less costly. My daughter did mostly local SIs for 2 to 4 weeks at a time for a few summers and then did a 3 week program with Joffrey that was far from home when she was 16. It was a tremendous learning experience - flying there alone, living in a dorm, etc. as well as the dance. Her base level of preparation was 15-20 hours of ballet per week between lessons, rehearsals, and performance, with maybe 30-40% of it on pointe.