It is countdown time… Most ballet students will be heading around the world in less than 30 days… While other kids are looking forward to summer vacations in Mexico, or going to the lakehouse, ballet students are gearing up for intense training… Parents are pinching pennies, and probably have been stocking up on pointe shoes. It is definitely crunch time… It is time for SUMMER PROGRAMS. Yes, you auditioned hard in January… Your parents shelled out big bucks… and now it is time to go study under brilliant ballet masters and mistresses, it is time to prove yourself among peers from around the world, it is time to prove that you belong in a professional school and land a year-round spot, or traineeship… Yup… It is definitely crunch time… While your friends are at grad night, you are doubling up on classes to build your stamina- you are cross training hard to be more flexible… You are doing pilates out the wazoo so you can turn faster and stronger than at your audition class back in January… Yup… and if you aren’t doing those things… maybe you should be? LOL…

So, what is more stressful than being at a summer program? Packing for a summer program… I am sure, you already have your lists going… but here are some helpful things to remember to bring to a summer program:

• Sewing Kit
• Extra ballet shoes, because you will either lose, rip or forget a pair… Make sure you bring black, white and nude because you never know what will be needed for end of course performances…
• Tigerbalm or biofreeze… or whatever else you use…
• Ibuprofen
• Extra money for random things… I’m not talking about your basic spending money… but for laundry detergent, quarters for laundry machines, etc… Trust me.. there are a lot of things you take for granted…
• Extra tights because pairs will rip… and discount dance gets behind on summer shipping…
• Cell phone charger, not that you are ever without it…
• small foam roller, theraband, foot stretcher, foot roller, and anything you might need during the course… Remember you are going to be dancing hard this summer, so your body is going to go through a lot of stress…
• a good book…
• running shoes
• a notebook… so you can take notes

Those are just some of the things to pack… not to mention the standard: random character shoes and skirt, appropriate uniform, warm ups, regular clothes, and more…

for professional dancers… it is time to go on vacation!!! After all of those summers you sacrificed you finally get to have summers off!!

Old posts about summer programs: what to do once you are in…

or just click the tag Summer Programs