I have never seen so many students so stressed out about summer program auditions. It seems that the pressure to make it into a big ten summer program is higher than ever. It seems that 2016 is the year of the Summer Program, and a lot of students aren’t just set on School of American Ballet. It seems that the pressure is high for SAB, SFB, PNB, BB, and HBA. With these summer program auditions jammed packed, we realize how big of a “money maker” just the auditions are. SAB in the younger category had over 130 girls in OC, and even more in the older group. Rounding the number at 300, and each girl paying an average of $34 between pre-registration and pay at the door, SAB made roughly $10,200 at just the OC audition. Multiply that by 19 audition cities you are looking at $193,800. Now you have to take out travel expenses, studio rentals, and pay checks for the faculty conducting the auditions, but that is till quite a lot. Then once you get in, it costs roughly $5,825 to go to SAB. Of that, roughly $3,000 goes to the School of American Ballet itself. So, $559,000 goes to SAB based off 200 students. Now give and take scholarships, SAB is still making quite a bit of money. Now, SAB during the summer course doesn’t have studio rental fees, and just has faculty fees, and misc expenses. It is no secret that a lot f ballet companies and schools are helped by the stat. Most of them receiving their “rent” or “home location” as a donation or a part of a grant to help further the arts and education within the arts. So, you can roughly assume that even if half of the money made goes to faculty and staff (which is being really generous), SAB is still making about $400k on Summer Course. This money, I would hope and assume go towards year-round scholarships but who knows? Now, with this being out in the open, this will help you decide where to go for the summer.

When you are ages 12-14, scholarships might be few and far between, with the exception of exceptional talent and potential. Once you are 15+, scholarships are more common, as these are the students who will feed the year round program and eventually the company and school.

Here is what I recommend to my students: GO WHERE THEY REALLY WANT YOU!

If a school really wants you, they give you the most help. You have to really understand the concept of a summer program to understand what the best option is for you. Many of you parents have emailed me asking, “What is the best for your child, or where should my child attend his summer?” For those of you have received your acceptance letters, if you got into SAB, 9/10 chances are you should go to SAB, especially for those of you who are 12-14. If you need to focus on either jumps or turns, and you are 14-16, go to the Rock. If you are 16+ go to a school with a company that is offering you a full ride. If you didn’t get a full ride to a school, know that you are going  to have to work really hard at the summer course to prove that you deserve a spot year round, or can afford it.

Lastly, make sure you know what you are getting yourself into. Besides going away to become the best dancer you can be, once you are fifteen, the primary goal of a summer a program is for you to 1. get a scholarship to go away and 2. to be asked to stay year round so that you might eventually get into the trainee program that feeds the apprentice program that feeds the company. Basically a job.

Now that you have been accepted, you can focus on what to do once you are there.
http://aballeteducation.com/2015/06/22/summer-program-life/

–
*Candace Elliott, edmontonjournal.com (http://www.canada.com/entertainment/Gallery+National+Ballet+School+Audition+Tour/3765842/story.html)