6 Ways to Make the Most of Your Summer Intensive Program

Lisa - Ballet on the Beach

At this time of year, most are in full swing of their Summer Intensive Programs (SIPs) or about to start them.  Many may think that going through audition season and receiving acceptance or invites to their respective SIPs, that the 'audition' part is over.  While you can proceed in this manner and still receive many benefits and experience great strides in your technical and artistic development, I always recommend that young, aspiring dancers take their SIP 'to the next level' using these six action items: 

1. Resume Development

Even if you are a younger dancer with years still ahead in your training before applying for professional dance positions and contracts, it's never too early to start putting together your dance resume, which I have provided a 4-part series to follow (see links below).  It's important to have some, if not all of these elements in place prior to starting off in an SIP. Why? Because it's important to view your SIP as one long audition/ interview marathon.  For some, this is the opportunity to gain visibility and exposure to professional ballet companies that you might not otherwise have in your normal settings. For others, even smaller SIPs, there is almost always at least one major Master Teacher/ Instructor who is well connected to many dance communities and would be an invaluable relationship, should you be able to garner favor with them.  So as with any interview process, it's important to get your resume in shape.

2. Marketing Collateral 

It may be an odd concept to accept, but think of yourself as a product.  You're the DANCER product and with any product, you have to market yourself.  Making sure you have the right marketing collateral prepared before you venture off to an SIP can make a huge difference in future job search efforts.  If you have all the elements of a resume together, I encourage dancers to go ahead and make up some business cards to take with them to an SIP.  These can be made for free with some companies, such as Vista Print, or you can invest a little money to make up more specific patterns and designs, but essentially it's important to provide your contact info as well as any social networking addresses that carry your dance activities and portfolio, like YouTube or Instagram.  This becomes an easy way to provide a Master Teacher or an Artistic Director you may meet or come across to let them know how to view your best dancing and how to get in touch with you.  It also opens a door to appropriately ask if they, too, have a business card that you can take with you, which will help to start building your network (discussed further below).  

Even if they respond that they don't have cards, or are out, that never stopped any salesperson.  Whip out another one of your cards and have them provide you at least an email address, and possibly their social networks that you have in common and can connect with or become a follower.  But business cards, although traditionally reserved for the adult corporate world, are just as effective in the dance world.

It's also a good idea to burn a few DVD's (or low-gig flash drives, depending on how much you want to invest) of your digital portfolio or compilations of your performances.  You can also add your resume info and DVDs and/ or flash drives are little more easily accepted than an unsolicited paper resume.  Again this is a quick and easy way to 'extend' the exposure you have with these professionals and the hope is they "keep you on file."

3. Consulting

I always called this consulting when I did it as a student, but I notice more and more SIP instructors are catching on, and here's what I mean by that: As a student attending SIPs, I would always bring my music of whatever variation or piece I was working on for the following season.  At the end of a class, usually proceeding a lunch break or transition into a rehearsal, I would very politely and humbly ask the teacher I was 'targeting' if I could please quickly run my piece.  This was usually allowed and I would also extend an invite for them to observe.  This inevitably led to some coaching from this Master Teacher, some only 15 minutes, others as much as 45 minutes to a full hour.  Most teachers can't help but want to coach anyone that is dancing in front of them.  

However, I have noticed over the years, more and more SIPs are specifying that an attendee must pay for a private lesson when seeking one-on-one time with one of the instructors.  So this tip may have to be played by ear, but again, most teachers will at least let you run a dance and maybe impart of few good tips without the expense of a private. This being said though, it can also be very much worth the expense to have that private time with a teacher.  Again, this is an investment into your future and a private is a way to gain a closer acquaintance with a Master/ Director among hundreds of other attendees.  If you can afford the expense, it is worth the exposure.

4. Letters of Recommendation

It's also a good idea to ask for a letter of recommendation from the Masters you encounter. This may be a tall order if your SIP was relatively short, but if it is 3-6 weeks or longer, it's definitely worth asking, especially if you feel like the Master(s) took a shine to you.  When requesting a letter of recommendation, it's always good to offer to write a form letter first for them to adjust as needed (and sometimes it's good to prepare these beforehand).  This is a win-win for everyone, you can write really wonderful things about yourself (which hopefully they agree with) and it becomes very little work for them.  The recommendations can later be used as part of your resume submissions for future SIPs or jobs.

5. Networking 

Networking is another area that can get missed while attending a SIP.  We already know it's good to make connections with Masters, Directors, Choreographers, etc.  But it's also important to connect and network with others, both inside the SIP and outside.  Within the SIP, if it's being held at a studio with a professional company, you may run into some of their apprentice dancers, or even their principals.  It's always a good idea to connect with these people, especially if this is a company you aspire to work for someday.  These dancers act as another foot in the door as well as can help guide you in your pursuits, or if you do get contracted, you have some acquaintances already and they can 'show you the ropes' and help acclimate you.  

It's good to do this with your fellow students/ attendees as well, especially if you are at that age when you will soon be seeking a contract with a professional company.  It can easily turn out that keeping in touch with people from SIPs (who have already secured a job or may secure one before you) may lead to 'insider' knowledge of job openings before they are posted as well as that foot in the door connection to a company seeking to hire.  It may also work out that if you have a pas de duex partner that you are perfectly matched to partner with, and if he has a contract (as they are in higher demand, it is sometimes an easier go of it), he may just be the person to drop your name to his Director as someone to consider because you do dance well together.  

You just never know what networks and connections can bring by way of opportunities.  And while I mention this from the 'business of ballet' perspective, let's be realistic.  One can never have too many friends in this world.

6.Follow Up

The first five tips are all about increasing your connections, but as with all things without the follow up and the follow through, those connections will be useless.  It's important to keep in touch, create followers out of your networking and keep posting relative content to your sites to ensure you are always on the radar for these connections and they are always in the loop as to what you are doing and achieving.  If this doesn't come natural for you, establish a schedule with calendar reminders to follow up with people at least every 4-6 months, perhaps more frequently depending on how close you are to start pursuing a professional contract/ apprenticeship.

Resume Links:
Ballet Resume Construction, Part 1: Paper Resume Content
Ballet Resume Construction, Part 2: Photography
Ballet Resume Construction, Part 3: Digital Portfolio
Ballet Resume Construction, Part 4: Social Media