by Hannah Chang Foster | Sep 26, 2024 | Pointe+, Training
Kellen Hornbuckle attended Houston Ballet summer intensives for six years in a row, being invited back on scholarship. But she didn’t let the artistic staff’s evident interest in her make her complacent. When she was finally ready to make the leap to leave her home...
by Gavin Larsen | May 31, 2024 | Pointe+, Training
Grace Li trained hard at her local studio all through high school, and by her senior year she was excited to take the next step towards a ballet career. But she and her parents knew higher education was also in her future. After Li applied to both colleges and trainee...
by Amy Brandt | Aug 16, 2022 | The Latest, Training
Joffrey Ballet artistic director Ashley Wheater announced last month that the Joffrey Academy of Dance is starting a full-time Contemporary Ballet Trainee Program this fall. The school has appointed two new leaders to oversee the launch: Katlin Michael Bourgeois, who...
by Lucy Van Cleef | Jul 19, 2022 | Training
When David Hallberg entered the Paris Opéra Ballet School during his final year of training at age 17, he remembers feeling like a fish out of water. “I wasn’t prepared for the cultural shock. Not only the language, but the mannerisms, style, technique,” he...
by Gavin Larsen | May 9, 2022 | Training
Today, Ben Lepson is a corps member with Miami City Ballet. But as a teenager at the School of American Ballet, he struggled—and not just with demanding classes. Almost all his classmates lived in SAB’s residences, but Lepson, a native New Yorker, commuted every day...
by Amy Brandt | Jun 7, 2021 | Ask Amy
I’ve always wanted to be a ballerina. Nothing makes me happier than when I’m performing on a stage. I want to pursue this career, but so much goes along with it. How do I mentally and physically prepare myself for when I’m old enough to get into a...
by As Told To Helen Hope | May 20, 2021 | Training
Imagine taking all your academic classes with fellow dancers—plus actors, painters and musicians. Imagine spending all day, every day, on a campus designed and outfitted to support your total dedication to dance. If you’re a ballet dancer who attends a public or...
by Haley Hilton | May 10, 2021 | Training
Many dancers have goals of taking their training to the next level by attending full-time pre-professional programs next fall. But it’s hard to get to know the organizations without physically experiencing them first. Even when the world isn’t practicing...