Dancers, Check Out These New Quarantine-Friendly Scholarship, Choreography and Job Opportunities
It’s a strange time to be a dancer. With the coronavirus pandemic causing much of the country to shut down, we’ve had to resort to taking class at home via online platforms, and many are still processing disappointment over cancelled competitions, auditions and performances.
But it’s not all bad news out there! Just this week, Youth America Grand Prix, which had to cancel its New York City Finals, launched a virtual scholarship program for any dancer who placed in the Top 12, Classical Category, during its semi-finals. And within the last few days, several quarantine-friendly opportunities for students, professional dancers and choreographers have landed in our inbox. Check them out below!
Win a scholarship to A&A Ballet’s summer intensive
Dan Swinson, Courtesy A&A Ballet
Chicago’s A&A Ballet and Center for Dance is offering a unique opportunity for young dancers to stretch their creativity and potentially win a scholarship to the school’s summer intensive.
From now until April 26, A&A artistic directors Anna Reznik and Alexei Kremnev are inviting dancers to submit videos for their online initiative, DIVE, a creative laboratory for young dance artists. To apply, create two minutes of choreography and send it, along with a one-minute verbal personal statement, to [email protected]. Submissions will be broken up into age brackets: 10–12, 13–16 and 17–24. Reznik and Kremnev will award one winner from each age group a $1,000 scholarship to any of A&A Ballet’s summer programs. Click here for more information on how to apply.
Bossov Ballet Theatre is launching a new apprenticeship program
Masaya Kaneko and Haruna Watanabe in Bossov Ballet Theatre’s production of Sleeping Beauty
Gene Schiavone, Courtesy BBT
Bossov Ballet Theatre
in Maine has launched a brand-new initiative for high school graduates looking to bridge the gap between student and professional. BBT’s Apprenticeship Program offers dancers a chance to continue their training, build performance experience and prepare for company auditions while also receiving free housing and meals and a weekly stipend. In addition to performing in BBT productions, apprentices will take on light duties (such as overseeing study hall) at the Maine Central Institute, the private residential high school with which BBT is connected. The program also offers time for dancers to take courses at local colleges if they choose.
While BBT had originally hoped to audition and interview dancers in person, due to stay-at-home mandates they are now accepting video applications and conducting interviews over Skype. For more information on how to apply, click here.
New York Dance Project announces choreography competition
Bill Prouty, Courtesy NYDP
New York Dance Project
, a dance company for emerging artists and freelance professionals, is holding a special choreography competition for these extraordinary times. Taking his cue from the COVID-19 quarantine, artistic director Davis Robertson is challenging both emerging and established choreographers to create a two-minute work within their home’s space restrictions. Submissions will be accepted until the quarantine has passed, and NYDP will feature the best weekly entries on its social media channels. The company will then choose an overall winner, who will receive a full commission with NYDP.
Submissions, which must be in an MP4 format and include your name, a working title and location information, can be sent to [email protected].
This online ballet fitness studio is hiring professional dancers
When The Ballet Spot, a ballet-inspired fitness studio based in New York City and Santa Monica, California, was forced to stop giving in-person classes, owner Eliza S. Tollett and her fellow instructors—all professional dancers—started streaming their workouts online. Now, at a time when many businesses are struggling, Tollett’s is growing fast. And she wants unemployed or furloughed dancers to know that she’s hiring.
The Ballet Spot is specifically looking for professional dancers over the age of 18, with two or more years experience teaching dance or fitness (adult ballet experience a plus). This is not just a New York City opportunity—since the classes are on a virtual platform, dancers can be based anywhere. Instructors will be trained in The Ballet Spot’s Cardio Ballet method and should be comfortable self-promoting to their network. For more details on how to apply, click here.
