At Kansas City Ballet School, Mentorship and Meditation Merge With Elite Training 

Kansas City Ballet School summer intensive students had a packed schedule this year, with five weeks of classes covering classical and contemporary ballet techniques, cross-training, and career guidance. 

Each afternoon, the studios quieted. After hours of intense rehearsal, dancers shifted into their scheduled Cool Down—a purposeful pause for wellness, reflection, and stillness.

“I’ve never experienced anything like it at other summer intensives I’ve been to,” says first time Kansas City Ballet summer intensive student Payton Boddy. 

Kansas City Ballet School Director Oliver Till—who just wrapped up his first full year on the job—implemented this new summer intensive programming to help students learn the value of a daily reflection practice. Cool Downs incorporate physiotherapy exercises and guided meditations led by Kansas City Ballet School instructors.

“They were a really nice way to end the day,” says KCBS Daytime Program graduate and summer student Reagan Kinney. “If something happened that wasn’t super-great, I could just leave it behind me, because I’d had the time and the space to reflect on it.” 

A New Kind of Wellness 

The Cool Downs are one part of Till’s overarching effort to help dancers slow down and absorb everything they’re learning. “It’s about the experience you have during your training, but also what impact it creates for you going forward,” he says. 

Kansas City Ballet School programming combines elite training with a uniquely long-term view of a dancer’s trajectory—Till wants to make sure his alumni take a lifelong appreciation for ballet wherever they go.  

Faculty Who Prioritize a Growth Mindset 

The school’s faculty, consisting of more than 50 educators, have worked hard to shift their corrections into a “growth mindset” perspective, emphasizing positive reinforcement over negative. Till has also added more detail to the school’s evaluation feedback, expanding the original 1–5 scoring system to include explanations of what the scores mean, to provide more transparency for students and families. 

These shifts helped Kinney feel supported when the school invited her to join the pre-professional Daytime Program last summer. Intended for middle and high school students with alternative academic study options, the Daytime Program offers daily intensive training. “It was really nice to meet all the faculty before I came for the year,” Kinney says. “The teachers will typically ask us before a class how we’re feeling, and they actually want to know the answer.” 

For first-time summer intensive students like Boddy, the faculty investment in student wellness is also palpable. “They’re incredible,” she says. “By the second day, they knew all our names. And there are a lot of us!” 

Guest Teachers That Dazzle

With a strong base of full-time faculty, Till’s addition of guest teachers only further enriches student experiences. This summer, Kansas City Ballet School hosted The Royal Ballet’s Sarah Lamb, former Dance Theatre of Harlem star Charmaine Hunter, former New York City Ballet principals Ashley Bouder and Kyra Nichols, and others. 

“Trying to pursue a career in ballet is really hard,” Kinney says, “so getting to talk to somebody who’s done it is really important. Hearing from them and their experiences, you can learn so much.”

From Studio to Stage 

Students of all ages across the school’s Daytime Program and The Academy take part in company productions. Last year, for example, Kinney danced in Kansas City Ballet’s Don Quixote and The Nutcracker, while other students took part in ALICE (in wonderland). 

Kinney even had the chance to work with Kansas City Ballet artistic director Devon Carney. “He held us to a very high standard, and treated us the way he would treat the company,” she says. “It definitely gave me a really good understanding of what it’s going to be like in a professional setting.” 

Both Boddy and Kinney will return in the fall as new trainees in Kansas City Ballet’s Second Company, taking classes with the company, and say they feel prepared thanks to the support of their training with Kansas City Ballet School. 

In addition to the professional performances, students also gain stage time through Kansas City Youth Ballet, Kansas City Ballet Second Company shows, and competition opportunities, for which faculty provide coaching. 

A ChoreoLab Shaping the Future 

This summer’s ChoreoLab, a one-week workshop for student Movers and Makers, culminated in an evening that highlighted the creative process between dancers and choreographers. In the Mover Track, dancers presented works created under the mentorship of dancer, choreographer, and educator Caroline Dahm and artistic director of Smuin Contemporary Ballet Amy Seiwert. And in the Maker Track, aspiring choreographers unveiled their original pieces performed by the Movers, which were developed through seminars and direction. 

“It’s a very important skill to have, especially going into a professional career, to be able to pick up choreography so quickly,” Boddy says. “There’s a challenge in just taking classes, but this is a new challenge.” 

Want to learn more about Kansas City Ballet School’s wellness initiatives, full-time and guest faculty, performance opportunities, ChoreoLab, and other programs? Click here.