Director-Approved Tips for a Successful Summer Intensive Audition

There is no magic hairdo. No trendy leotard or lucky audition number that will earn you a spot in a summer intensive program and then—if the pre-professional path is your dream—into a year-round traineeship, second company position, and an eventual job with a ballet company.

When it comes to summer intensive auditions, follow the dress code if there is one, says Racheal Nye, director of the Oklahoma City Ballet School and Studio Company. If the program asks for black, a pink leotard will not earn you any points. But within the dress code, “wear the thing that makes you feel amazing,” Nye says. “If you feel great about yourself, that’s the kind of energy you’ll bring.”

For a video audition, Nye recommends checking the requirements for camera angles: “If no angle is specified, I would try filming from both profile and a 45-degree front view and then see which flatters your strengths the most. For example, a profile view would show off amazing turnout versus a 45-degree view, which may highlight foot articulation and shape.”

Nye has watched thousands of audition videos. You don’t need a fancy audio setup or technical engineering to stand out, she says, but make sure nothing is cut off or lost in the video format: Your fingers and toes should be in frame, each combination’s music should play through its final notes, and your emotive qualities should transmit. “Some energy and feeling are lost through video, so don’t be afraid to be very generous with presentation in your variation work,” says Nye.

During OKCB’s summer intensive audition tour, Nye and OKCB artistic director Ryan Jolicoeur-Nye are considering who could be a good fit for the company. Indeed, many of their current dancers rose through trainee and second company ranks after attending the OKCB Summer Intensive. For Jolicoeur-Nye, dancers who quickly pick up the combinations and display respect for other dancers in the room stand out. “I can’t have a company full of people trying to be soloists right off the bat. A studio rehearsal can suffer if the room is full of people for whom being right is more important than being together.”

It’s a fine balance in an audition, he acknowledges. Though you need to demonstrate your future readiness for the corps de ballet, to get into the summer program that could eventually lead you there, you need to catch the director’s eye. Jolicoeur-Nye finds that displaying a strong sense of musicality is the perfect way to express your individuality. Learn the combination, and then fully inhabit it. “Whether it’s the intention that I have or—if they don’t pick up on that intention—they’ve determined an intention for themselves,” says Jolicoeur-Nye. “They’re not mindlessly going through class.”

While companies are evaluating you for a good fit, make sure that you evaluate them, too. During Nye’s training years, she worked chores and side jobs to save up for what she thought was her dream summer intensive. “And then when I got there, there were large class sizes and I’m pretty sure no one learned my name. I felt very sad about that,” she says, “and I realized I preferred more of a personal setting.”

Now, that is exactly the experience she and OKCB faculty aim to provide for its summer intensive students: personalized, focused training. “We’re able to adjust the training for each dancer. Some students learn best by physical corrections, and some learn best by auditory or seeing it in action. How are we meeting them where they are?” says Nye.

The OKCB Summer Intensive offers a strong classical foundation with technique, pointe, and men’s classes. It also features classes in contemporary partnering, composition, and improvisation aimed to train the well-rounded dancer many of today’s companies look for. “I need dancers that can put on socks and really move and understand their joints and weight transfer,” says Jolicoeur-Nye, “who can then put on classical costumes and get onstage for Swan Lake.”

OKCB II dancers and trainees are selected from the summer intensive, a three- or six-week experience for dancers ages 11–22. The 2025 Summer Intensive Audition Tour includes stops in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (January 19 and March 2); Austin, Texas (February 1); Salt Lake City, Utah (February 23); and Chicago (date TBD). Visit okcballet.org/auditions for more details and video audition deadlines.