You guys! David King of A Ballet Education may be doing a summer program open to dancers ages 11-adult!

I’ve found his writings on technique to be helpful, and I think this could be a great opportunity. Click on over for more information.

Sadly, I probably won’t be going this year because I’ll be at Pilobolus’ summer program. …Unless, of course, one of you could lend me a Time-Turner and a private jet? 😉

Anyway, Monsieur King has me thinking about summer programs, so here are some options for adult dancers looking for intensives for this year. Because, at heart, ballet is my jam, I tend to focus on ballet programs and programs with strong ballet components, but the final version of this list will probably include some strictly modern options as well.

I’m not going to itemize all the individual Sun King options. There are a lot of them, they span the summer, and they have their own website for that! Besides, everyone knows about Sun King. That said, everyone always seems to have a blast at their intensives, so consider them duly linked 😉

For your planning pleasure, I’m organizing these by date. Here we go!

As always, if you know of a great summer program for adult dancers—anywhere in the world—and you’d like me to list it here, please drop the info in the comments!

Summer Intensives for Grown-Ass Adults, 2017

April

The Ballet Retreat, London

• Dates: 29th – 30th April
• Ages: 18+
• Location: London, England, UK
• Idiom: Ballet
• Notes: This one has a LIVE PIANIST, you guys! Also, they feed you. The instruction sounds quite good, too. David Paul Kearce is from Australia, where apparently ballet is huge and adult ballet students are taken pretty seriously.
  • Honestly, the order of these attributes says a lot about how I’m feeling today: LIVE ACCOMPANIMENT OMG !!!!!111oneone, FOOOOOOD!!!, oh and they teach you ballet as well…

June

Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet

• Dates: 1-4 June; 8-11 June
• Ages: 18+, I think? 
• Location: San Francisco, CA, USA
• Idiom: Ballet, Modern
• Notes: LINES’ Intensive is very on my radar for next year. If I had the funds and didn’t have a performance immediately after, I’d drop everything and go. BW takes class at LINES he visits his family in CA, and he speaks very highly of their classes … And he’s BW, so that’s saying that. And, I mean, it’s freaking LINES, is much dance-for-dancers. Please, somebody —go! And blog about so I can live vicariously through your words. 

Mam-Luft & Co Summer Modern Dance Workshop/Intensive for Adults (note: registration isn’t open yet)

• Dates: June 5 – 9
• Ages: 18+
• Location: Cincinnati, OH
• Idiom: Modern & Ballet
• Notes: The full-day program is incredibly intense and incredibly worth it. Last year, it also functioned as a company audition (by choice; they weren’t like AUDITION OR GO HOME). I’m not 100% sure, but I think that’s their usual approach to auditions.

University of Utah SaltDanceFest

• Dates: June 5 – 16
• Ages: 18+
• Idiom: Modern & Ballet
• Location: Salt Lake City, UT
• Notes: This program has a ballet and yoga foundation and actually sounds pretty awesome. I will have to choose between this and Mam-Luft. Based on some of the class descriptions, here, that’s going to be a difficult decision.

Mark Morris Dance Group Summer Intensive (OMG, you guys, I might have to audition for this, you guys. If not, it’s on the radar for next year. Because MARK MORRIS OMG OMG OMG)

• Dates: June 12-23 (dancers may attend first week only or both weeks)
• Ages: 16+
• Location: Brooklyn, NY
• Idiom: Modern & Ballet
• Notes: Admission to MMDG Summer Intensive is by audition.

DanceTeq Summer Intensives

• Dates: June 19-23 (Beginner/Elementary); June 26-30 (Intermediate)
• Ages: 18+? (specifically billed as an adult intensive)
• Location: Toronto, ON!!! W00t!
• Idiom: Ballet
• Notes: Oh, Canada! DanceTeq specialies in teaching older teens and adults. Their regular program includes advanced class five days per week, developmental pointe classes, and a rep class for beginners. Their Intermediate intensive sounds very tempting… ^-^

Repertory Dance Theater SummerDance 2017

• Dates: June26-30
• Ages: 18+?
• Location: Salt Lake City, UT
• Idiom: Limon Technique
• Notes: One of three … THREE!!! … workshops in SLC this summer, which are working together to bring the dance. Good on ya, SLC.

July

Lexington Ballet Adult Summer Intensive (note: at the time of this writing, the 2016 info is still up, but the Adult Intensive is on the calendar sidebar)

• Dates: July, TBA
• Ages: 18+; IIRC students 16 – 17 can participate with permission of parent or guardian
• Location: Lexington, KY
• Idiom: JUST THE BALLETS
• Notes: I loved this intensive last year. It sounds like it’s aimed specifically at beginners, but don’t let that fool you. They’ll meet you where you are as a dancer.

Pilobolus Summer Workshop Series

• Dates: July 17 – August 4
• Ages: 18+
• Location: Bethlehem, CT
• Idiom: Pilobolus!
• Notes: Pilobolus is about as far from ballet as it gets—but the two workshops I’ve taken with Pilobolus haven’t just made me a better dancer, they’ve made me a better ballet dancer. If you feel like you have room for growth in body-awareness and partnering (hint: you do; everyone does), Pilobolus’ technique can help you grow.

Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company Professional Workshop

• Dates: July 25 – August 4
• Ages: 18+?
• Location: Salt Lake City, UT
• Idiom: Modern & Ballet
• Notes: This isn’t specifically a ballet intensive, but it’s built around a daily 1.5-hour ballet class.

August

The Ballet Retreat, Leeds

• 26 – 28 August
• Ages: 18+
• Location: London, England, UK
• Idiom: Ballet
• Notes: As with the Ballet Retreat, London, this one has a LIVE PIANIST and they feed you. Likewise, David Paul Kearce is in the house. If I wasn’t broke, I’d go.

At the moment, it looks like my summer intensive schedule will probably look like this:

• June 5-9: Mam-Luft & Co
• July ????: Lexington Ballet Adult Intensive
• July 22: Pilobolus Pedagogy Workshop
• July 24-28: Pilobolus Summer Workshop

I’m applying for a scholarship for Pilobolus. If I make the cut, I might be able to do more than one week.

Depending on the cost of attendance and a couple other factors, I’d love to hit DanceTeq’s Intermediate intensive.

I’d still love to do SunKing, because from what I’ve heard they usually have enough men to make men’s class and pas de deux really awesome, but it’s the most expensive of the summer program options out there for adult dancers, and probably still not really on the radar for this year.