Northern Plains Dance student, Zoey Jayne, spent the summer in her living room with Colorado Ballet. Here is her story.
This summer I had the amazing opportunity to participate in Colorado Ballet’s Virtual Summer Intensive. Originally I would have gone to Colorado for 5 weeks, however because of COVID they decided it would be best to have it virtually to keep the teachers and dancers safe. Of course at first I was bummed out. I was really looking forward to getting to stay in the dorm rooms for the first time and getting to be in their beautiful ballet studios. After the first week of the intensive I absolutely loved it. I was so happy I would get to spend another 5 weeks with them!
What the Schedule was like
Monday-Friday I would have 3 classes a day from 11:00-3:00. I also signed up for the additional Saturday classes from 11:00-2:30. I would have a technique class everyday for an hour and 45 minutes other than on Friday and Saturday, Class would be 2 hours and 15 minutes. Those long classes were really tiring but they went by so fast and I learned a lot in them. After ballet our classes included Pointe, Variations, Ladies Repertoire, Character, Jazz, Modern, Choreography, or an Artist Talk. In Repertoire class we got to learn some of the corps de ballet’s part in La Bayadere which was a lot of fun! In Variations class we got to learn Finger Fairy from Sleeping Beauty, a Balanchine Variation, Fairy Doll, and one from Raymonda. The first 3 weeks I got to learn with level one which was so helpful with improving my technique and working through the transitions of movement. For the last 3 weeks I learned with the level 2 dancers which was a lot of improving pointe work and the little details that makes dancing look so lovely!
Artist Talks
The Artist Talks were classes where a special guest dancer or summer intensive instructor would share their dance story. They would answer things like how they got into dance, finding/auditioning for companies, what their jobs look like now, plus extra questions at the end. It was fascinating getting to hear so many different stories and what dancing meant to them. Some of the guest artists were Sarah Lane, Sandra Brown, Gill Boggs, Amanda McKerrow, John Gardner, Erica Fischbach and many more!
Dancing at Home
We moved around some chairs and plants in one of the rooms in our home to make a little dance studio. We bought a marley floor to put over our hardwood floor so I wouldn’t slip and moved my ballet barre. It was definitely a challenge dancing in a small space and being careful not to break any windows with my pointe shoes! Fortunately the teachers were very understanding of the spots we were dancing in and gave us combos we could do in our smaller spaces. It was also interesting getting used to dancing on hardwood and not a sprung floor. Another dancer had the very creative idea to make her own sprung floor by putting pool noodles under some wood and marley floor!
For the artist talks, I would have a nice ice bath for my feet after a hard pointe class!
Zoom Classes
I used a computer during my classes so that I could have a bigger screen to see my teachers when they were giving the combinations. We were very lucky to not have very many internet problems so that classes could flow smoothly! It was also nice that we only saw the teachers for a majority of the zoom class, whereas in person intensives it can be hard to not get intimidated by watching the other dancers. We would however get to do a few combos in 2 groups so that the teachers could give more individual corrections. We also then could see what we like about what another dancer is doing and apply that to our technique. It was fun getting to have family come in and out to watch some of my classes!
Teachers
The teachers I met were so amazing!!! Amanda McKerrow and John Gardner who were the intensive directors taught an outstanding ballet and pointe class! I learned so much from them and had a great time in their classes. Something I found really special from this intensive was that the teachers were able to bring such a positive energy to every class even on zoom. It always brings a smile to my face when I remember warming up to the Beatles music in John’s classes and Saturday morning Plies to “Let It Be”.
What I loved most about the intensive were the teachers. It was such a positive and loving environment! The last week it was very hard holding back the tears! Even though it was virtual and not in person they made it just as equal in value. It’s so amazing how a virtual Colorado family was formed in the 6 weeks we all had together! A few days after the intensive was over, I was offered private lessons with John and Amanda along with 2 other dancers out of 170 dancers from the intensive. This makes me so proud of everything I’ve accomplished and I’m so excited for what comes next in the future for my training!
