by Amy Brandt | Jan 7, 2026 | Audition Advice, Pointe+, Summer Study, Training
Summer intensive auditions are the perfect chance to showcase your dance skills—but there’s so much more that goes into making a good impression. While a school’s evaluators look at your technique and potential, they’re also observing how you conduct yourself....
by Kyra Laubacher | Dec 29, 2025 | Audition Advice, Pointe+, Summer Intensives, Summer Study, Technique, Training
At my first summer intensive audition, I was doing a développé à la seconde when my supporting leg suddenly felt like jelly. My foot rocked back and forth, I hopped, and my working leg came down. It was frustrating. I could do a stable développé in normal class! But...
by April Deocariza | Aug 22, 2022 | Training
On August 1, young, aspiring dancers from all over Mexico gathered in Monterrey, Nuevo León, to have their chance to earn a spot at London’s prestigious Royal Ballet School. It was the first time the school has ever held auditions in Mexico. The event was part of...
by Avichai Scher | Mar 7, 2019 | Audition Advice, Career, Profiles
Courtney Nitting started her first season with Kansas City Ballet last fall with the normal rituals of company life: headshots for the website, ordering her customized pointe shoes and claiming a spot at the barre. Each of these simple things was a “pinch...
by Kathleen McGuire | Feb 19, 2019 | Audition Advice, Training
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre corps member Victoria Watford recalls the first time she auditioned for the company: Even though she had attended PBT’s summer intensive several times, the Cleveland native felt completely unprepared. “I was treating it like a...
by Hannah Chang Foster | Feb 10, 2019 | Audition Advice, Career
Let’s face it: Auditioning is expensive. Between a $100-per-night budget-hotel room, a $300 round-trip plane ticket, $40 for food per day and $25 to $40 in audition fees, you may be out hundreds of dollars for one audition—and potentially thousands before you...
by Grace-Anne Powers | Feb 23, 2017 | Audition Advice
I felt shattered. Cut from the audition at barre. I was 24 years old and had been dancing professionally for eight years already. I’d been very fortunate in my career so far, and although I was no stranger to rejections, this was a first. I thought: I must not...
by Amy Brandt | Feb 23, 2017 | Ask Amy, Audition Advice
How do you “perform” at auditions without being obnoxious? —Mikayla Auditions are no place to hide or act self-consciously—but there’s a fine line between being assertive and being aggressive. Focus on keeping your movements lush without...