As my first summer intensive of this year is coming to an end, I now have had one on-campus experience compared to an intensive at my home studio. This summer, I chose to go to a school located outside of Maryland, pretty far away from home. It was very unique and memorable in its own way.

A profound realization that I had was that when you go to a new school, there is no bond and tacit understanding between the teachers and students. The adjustment period for each dancer is always different too. This is another factor you should consider when you try to go elsewhere for the summer. There were many teachers here and each had a different teaching style, so a lot of the energy was used to become familiar to the environment and my surroundings comparing to the learning portion. Though that part was a little difficult to adjust to, each teacher gave corrections that were helpful for me.

Another thing that is always nice is getting to meet new people from around the country or even other places around the world. I have always thought that learning from other students is also important in addition to learning from good teachers. Corrections given to them or things that they do well is always helpful for my own education, since their mistakes could be my mistakes as well. Sometimes you must even adjust your mentality in order to understand and get along with your classmates because you are around them for so long every single day. Meeting and becoming friends with new people is another thing that you can gain from going to an intensive elsewhere, though close friends at home is something that you should always be appreciative of.

When preparing for the next summer to come, researching and gaining information about where you want to go is beneficial and necessary. Knowing their reputation and how you think their training might benefit you is a powerful influence when deciding. Also, recognizing that learning and having fun during your summer is a great priority, because nothing is more important than maintaining your mental health while away from what you are used to. It is never too early to prepare for your next summer as a dancer. My experience has definitely strengthened me as a human being in addition to studying ballet and other genres.

It was nice to receive knowledge from another place, but I can’t wait to head home and train at ABA for the next few weeks. After traveling far, I think the perfect way to continue my summer is to do the repertoire intensive to prepare for the next school year, as I train along with my best friends at such an incredible school with my amazing teachers!!


Publish Date: 07/15/2022