The Dallas Conservatory: Personalized Training Tailored to Your Dance Aspirations

Sponsored by The Dallas Conservatory
February 3, 2025

The Dallas Conservatory (TDC), nine-time winner of the YAGP Outstanding School Award, believes that professional dance training should not be cookie-cutter. Every student has their own goals, interests, and abilities, and treating them as unique individuals can unlock a dancer’s full potential. Through its Pre-Professional Division, dancers receive training that’s tailored to them—with over 25 TDC alumni already finding success in New York City Ballet, on Broadway, and around North America and Europe.

The Dallas Conservatory’s Pre-Professional Division is a by-audition, year-round program where students may request a classical or commercial focus. Core classes for all dancers include 15 hours of ballet, pointe, contemporary, modern, and jazz classes. In addition, classically focused dancers study advanced ballet technique, pointe, partnering, and variations, while commercially focused dancers study hip hop, tap, acro, singing, acting, and theater dance. It is possible for full-time students to study everything.

Founding artistic and executive director Jacqueline Porter says that versatility is key. “Today’s audiences want dancers with the bright persona and movement quality informed by being trained in all styles,” she says, citing TDC alumna Olivia Bell, a dancer in New York City Ballet’s corps de ballet who was selected as one of Dance Magazine “25 to Watch” in 2024 and recently featured in The New York Times. “Olivia was equally outstanding in hip hop, jazz, and contemporary classes and performances as she was in ballet,” Porter says. “She is a truly stunning example of all that is possible. And we are thrilled to have so many incredibly versatile dancers representing us both here and abroad!”

TDC’s Pre-Pros are trained year-round by a faculty of 12 top professionals and another 12 esteemed guests, with credits from the Bolshoi to Broadway. Take, for example, year-round senior faculty member Jeff Amsden, whose resumé includes The Joffrey Ballet, Hollywood films and TV, working with Jerome Robbins, and teaching for Tremaine. “Jeff is iconic in our school, and he loves teaching all levels. We are very lucky to have him!” Porter beams.

The personalized training—plus the breadth of styles paired with the strong classical base—has not just been a draw for Texans. Approximately 10 percent of the current Pre-Professional Division consists of students who’ve relocated to Dallas to train. The school’s boutique feel is evident through its small class sizes and individualized coaching. Dancers are placed in levels based on their skill rather than just their age, so that “exceptionally fast children are as challenged as they need to be,” says Porter. “We give personalized, physical corrections throughout every single class, and we maintain consistent contact with every Pre-Professional family throughout the dancer’s training years.” And when it’s time for a student’s next chapter, The Dallas Conservatory provides company and college mentoring and recommendation letters. 

Many Pre-Professional students progress to year-round training at prestigious company schools like the School of American Ballet and the San Francisco Ballet School—with the support of The Dallas Conservatory, which prepares them for such a leap very carefully, says Porter. “When we know they will be ready to go in a few years, we start with a parent conversation, walking them through possible scenarios,” she says. That might look like transitioning to online schooling, “so it’s not a shock when they arrive at their new school, and so they can maximize training and travel opportunities in their last year at The Dallas Conservatory.” Porter says these dancers often end up being leaders at their new schools, thanks to the fact that the Pre-Professional Division trains students to “be strong in their bodies, minds, and technique. They’re also trained to be energetic, well-mannered, and confident!” 

Dallas Conservatory students are required to attend TDC’s renowned Summer Intensive in June and August with top guests. At the age of 12, students add more summer training, with programs selected carefully between the family and Porter at over 30 summer intensives including American Ballet Theatre, the School of American Ballet, The Royal Ballet School, Pacific Northwest Ballet, European School of Ballet, The Juilliard School, and more. The Dallas Conservatory’s own intensive attracts students from across the country in June and August, giving them the chance to connect with faculty members such as Youth America Grand Prix associate artistic director Alexei Moskalenko and choreographer Norbert De La Cruz III. 

How do dancers make the leap to TDC? Porter says that Pre-Professional Division students are selected by audition “for their potential as much as for their achievement,” with most students coming from competition schools or studios with more relaxed ballet training. Though they may feel behind their peers at first, “they experience a life-changing transformation within the first year,” she says. What makes dancers a fit for such a transformation? “Passion, positivity, and a great work ethic.”

The Dallas Conservatory’s Pre-Professional Division

Program size: 40–50 students (8–24 students per class)
Age range: 8–18
Performance opportunities: Annual Nutcracker and participation in competitions including Youth America Grand Prix, American Dance Competition | Youth International Ballet Competition, and New York City Dance Alliance
Tuition: $8,000–$12,000 per school year, depending on age and program. Summer: $2,000–$3,000.
Room/board: The program does not provide housing. 
Daily schedule: 3–6 hours of training Monday–Thursday, depending on age and program, 9 am to 5 pm on Saturday, and elective training on Friday and Sunday
Additional opportunities: Private invited coaching with Jacqueline Porter, whose students have won 15 Hope Awards, Junior Grand Prix and Grand Prix and over 100 Top 3/Top 12 placements at YAGP. Students may apply for choreography and student teaching, administrative work, and production work.
Alumni: Olivia Bell (New York City Ballet), Kali Kleiman (Pacific Northwest Ballet), Allison Whitley (Houston Ballet), Abigail Weber (Staatstheater Nürnberg Ballett), Rachel Rohrich (The Washington Ballet), Lily Bines (Colorado Ballet), Ausia Jones (Opera Ballet Vlaanderen), Ava Noble (& Juliet on Broadway), Téa Pérez (Parsons Dance). Alumni have also danced with the Radio City Rockettes, Mark Morris Dance Company, Ballets Jazz Montréal, and more.
Important dates in 2025: Online auditions for the summer intensive are currently being accepted. In-person auditions: February 15 (Kansas City, by appointment); February 16 (Frisco, Texas); March 22 (Boca Raton, Florida, by appointment); March 23 (Frisco, Texas); April 13 (Dallas, Texas); May 4 (Frisco, Texas). International Summer Dance Intensive (choose 1–6 weeks of study): June 2–6, June 9–13, June 16–20 (no Advanced levels), July 21–25 (no Advanced levels), July 28–Aug 1, Aug 4–8.
To learn more about The Dallas Conservatory’s Pre-Professional Division, click here.

Photo courtesy The Dallas Conservatory