The summer intensive process is something many students in the Dance Department at Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA) have become familiar with. Auditions start as early as January, which leaves these artists concerned early on in the year about which programs they would like to attend, and with many incredible intensives to choose from, these decisions aren’t as simple as they seem.
BSA’s Dance Department is fortunate enough to have an array of schools visit and audition for their rigorous training programs. This year BSA has collaborated with multiple schools, ranging in styles from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater to The School of the American Ballet.
These optional on-campus auditions are a convenient way for students to learn about these programs and gain additional knowledge about what lies ahead in their potential artistic careers.
Outside of BSA’s studios, dozens of programs visit the DMV area as part of their national tours, auditioning thousands of dancers who hope to receive that acceptance letter. Many BSA students attend a range of these auditions; sophomore dancer Cannyn Shelton is one example of someone determined to find a summer intensive that best suits her needs as an artist.
“I’ve auditioned for many places over the years, some of the same places, and the exhaustion and stress is something that hasn’t gone away,” Shelton explains. She emphasizes that audition season is not easy, especially after coming back from a busy December filled with BSA’s Nutcracker: A Magical Tale in Mount Vernon performances.
“It takes up a lot of time and effort that is worked off in an hour and thirty minute audition time frame, but it is usually worth it in the long run.”
Shelton also says that even though there is a lot of mental and physical preparation beforehand for these auditions, it works out in the end after getting the feedback from her pool of programs.
Audition season is demanding and brings many unique challenges. Junior dancer Khaleigh McLeod shares her experience on the video audition process and the pros and cons that come along with it: “My main reason for doing them is that you can record them as many times as you want.”
McLeod adds that recording your own audition usually forces a dancer’s perfectionist mindset to kick in: “Something that comes with video auditions is wanting to record over and over until it’s perfect, but with ballet perfection doesn’t exist and you will never get that perfect shot.”
After finishing her video audition, McLeod is able to reflect on her submission with pleasure before waiting for what the audition panel will have to say.
Although, every dancer at BSA has their own artistic and academic goals for how they plan to utilize their summer, whether it’s working, interning, or taking a well deserved break.
Senior dancer Savannah Dugan is heading down a strong path to set her up for success before starting her college journey. “This summer I plan on working in order to better financially prepare for college as well as getting an internship at a pediatric speech pathology facility,” she says.
Dugan is excited to get ahead for her future endeavors and maximize the flexibility that a summer break provides, as she explores a new outlet of interest outside of dance at BSA.
Dance is an art that requires an immense amount of athleticism and commitment. Those intense components either leave dancers feeling excited or overwhelmed by how many weeks they commit to dancing over the summer, since these programs do range from two to three weeks to more than a month’s worth of training.
Yet, freshman dancer Belen Rodriguez is feeling motivated to use every day of her summer to advance her training. “I love the summer so much because I feel like that’s the time where I can truly better myself as a dancer,” she says.
The summer gives dancers a sense of artistic freedom in deciding how they want to plan it all out, which is why summer intensive auditions are a crucial part of the second semester of school.
However, the hardest part of these auditions is the waiting and the fast pace these programs move at. Most dancers get notified around two weeks after the initial audition with only an additional two weeks to decide. It often puts dancers in a difficult situation, especially when they have auditioned for multiple programs and have some significant decisions to make.
McLeod finishes off with some advice to the many other dancers about handling the long-awaited results: “Although the outcome may not be the word every dancer is looking for, which is ‘accepted,’ every rejection or waitlist is a reflection of your passion and courage to audition in the first place which is a huge accomplishment on its own.”
To contact this writer, email Muse Newspaper at musebsa@bsfa.org.
Featured photos by Chiara Monterroso for The Muse.
