This past July, 41 young high-school age dancers came from Japan, Israel, England, Canada, and 14 states in the U.S. to take part in the 2001 Summer Dance Intensive. After three weeks of concentrated study, they returned home with an expanded dance experience that will serve them in their classes during the school year and will be of great use if they choose to apply to Juilliard for college.

Summer students rehearsing their presentation from faculty member David Wallace’s music class. (Photo by Sarah Adriance)

The Intensive, which has run for the past six summers, is designed to give young dance students who may potentially be headed for the Juilliard College Division a taste of the Juilliard experience. The program has also come to function as an extended audition: a dancer who impresses the faculty in the placement class will be watched to see how they improve and take corrections over the course of the three weeks. A dancer who might not be likely to garner much notice from the faculty in the college audition has a chance here to be seen in a different light. (The three-week period allows potential to unfold that might be missed in the course of a four- or five-hour audition.) As the number of dance applicants to the college division rises, it is harder for the faculty to give enough attention to assessing each applicant. “Once we’ve worked with the dancers for a bit, we’re in a better position to judge whether they’re suited to the program,” points out Andra Corvino, director of the Summer Intensive and and a College Division faculty member. “And once they’ve worked with us for a bit, they’re more informed about what Juilliard has to offer.”

Competition for entry into the Summer Intensive is much less intense than that for a place in the College Division. This summer, the 41 dancers admitted were drawn from 170 applicants (as compared to 20-24 who are selected each year out of approximately 360 applicants to the college program).

Differing in many ways from other summer dance programs, the Juilliard Intensive offers smaller classes and a more varied curriculum. The dancers’ day begins with a ballet technique class, followed by a pointe, men’s, or classical partnering class. After a lunch break, dancers take a modern dance class, followed by classes in contemporary partnering, understanding technique, ballroom dance, or music. In addition to daily technique classes, every dancer works with one of three choreographers (who this year were Juilliard faculty member and alumnus Stephen Pier, alumnus Eugene W. Rhodes III, and current senior Peter Chu). In evening rehearsals, the choreographers create new works to challenge and explore their young dancers’ talents. The program culminates in a final performance, which includes the newly created works along with presentations from the ballroom and music classes.

Some of the dancers had their first experience with modern dance during the Intensive. For many of the young men and some of the women, the classes at Juilliard were their first encounter with partnering. “I would hope the students leave us with a good feeling about themselves and what they’re capable of achieving in such an intensely focused curriculum,” notes Corvino.

Partnering class provided many of the young dancers with their first exposure to this essential skill of classical ballet. (Photo by Sarah Adriance)

Current Juilliard students helped the summer guests acclimate to Juilliard and New York during the program, assisting them in partnering classes, demonstrating movements in technique classes, running the end-of-session showing, and accompanying the students on outings in the city. Kathryn Sydell, a two-year Summer Dance Intensive veteran herself and currently a second-year Juilliard student who served as an assistant to the summer students, says that, while she already knew she wanted to come to Juilliard for college, her summer experiences at Juilliard cemented her decision. She enjoyed the attention the faculty were able to give her in the small classes, as well as the rigorous and diverse schedule. And because she had the chance to get to know the faculty during the Summer Intensive, she was more relaxed in the audition. “It was calming to see familiar faces. I already knew some of the teachers and what they expected of me,” she notes. Assisting the students this summer made her reflect on how much she learned during her summers at Juilliard. “I remember watching the Juilliard assistants in class and hoping to be like them. I know how these people feel watching me.”

Many former summer students are currently enrolled in the College Division, due in no small part to their experience in the Summer Intensive: current freshmen Ariel Freedman and Emily Walsh; second-year students Kathryn Sydell, Sebastian Gehrke, Jessalyn Wanlim, and Jennifer Weaver; third-year students Jolene Baldini, Caroline Finn, Grasan Kingsberry, and Jane Sato; and seniors Tony Bougiouris, Amanda Brazee, Maribeth Maxa, and Banning Roberts.

Students wishing to apply for the 2002 Summer Dance Intensive can contact Juilliard’s Office of Admissions. Applications will be mailed in January and have a March 15, 2002 deadline.

Sarah Adriance graduated from the Dance Division in 1995 and is currently the School’s admissions coordinator for dance.