EVERYBODY STOP. FREEZE. AND HOLD ON A SECOND.
Summer intensive audition season is slowly coming to an end, which means many summer courses by now are halfway filled. It is always tricky trying to find the right summer intensive, especially if last year you weren’t happy with yours, or you got screwed over and didn’t get asked to stay for the year.
Right now, you are probably thinking, David, why haven’t you published your summer intensive list for 2025, yet? The answer is simple: ballet is going through a change, a big change.
For years, professional ballet has financially relied on the support of their schools, their summer intensives, government funding, private donors and ticket sales. And in the struggle to survive, ballet has created “new” business models to help maintain their traditions. Sadly, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and poor business choices across the board… Ballet is at a stand still.
Between government cutbacks, programs and committees being disbanded, and the economy tightening even more, former “free money” seems to be drying up for the arts. This economic forecast is now making companies resort to their schools, as they think parents are willing to pay for prestige. Even Europe is after the parental money.
Young dancers around the world are getting frustrated with the company audition process and parents are starting to realize that ballet is a pyramid scheme. At the end of the day, the ballet world itself, full of wonder, art, and imagination, is still an entertainment business. However, because of ballet competitions and social media, dance tv shows, and the popularity of ballet core aesthetic, dance has become, now more than ever, congested.
For example, when American Ballet Theatre first created its second company in 1973, it went through a slew of changes, including Ballet Repertory and ABT II. The purpose of this company was modeled after the great theaters of Europe, where companies could divide, tour, and still have a home season. As more companies started sprouting up throughout the US, and touring became more difficult, ABT II was disbanded in 1985. In 1995, under Kevin McKenzie, he brought it back under the name ABT Studio Company, a small, elite program designed for young dancers to emerge, perform, and transition into the main company. (Source: https://www.abt.org/abt-studio-company-to-be-renamed-abt-ii/#:~:text=In addition to training dancers, City Department of Cultural Affairs.)
However, this idea was and now has been extrapolated into very many other misnomered and cleverly marketed iterations, and it is where we can place blame for the current congestion of ballet.
Soon after ABT Studio Company’s introduction in 1995, copycat second companies started popping up all over the US, and for many companies, these second companies were marketed as transitional or “bridge” programs, basically undermining the purpose of an apprenticeship with the actual company. And, in short, amounting to free labor. But, in ballet training consumers’ never ending appetite for ballet success, the ballet world went along with it.
That was until, the “Program Trainee” was introduced; yet another “bridge program” for dancers to enter that was marketed as a transitional education period for mature dancers to hone their technique and artistry. Most of these trainee programs were tuition based, and again, in reality this was just more free labor bolstered with tuition infusion. These programs were brought forward to pay for expanding schools, housing options, or refinancing current buildings.
Once the world of ballet competitions entered the game, and the rise of the small pre-professional school came into vogue, professional schools and schools attached to a professional companies, realized they were missing out on a very large portion of tuition based income, so they introduced impressively named programs like: “pre-professional division,” “day program,” and “homeschool program.” This expansion created an even longer chain of steps that one had to maneuver in order to get a professional ballet job.
This, in turn, then further populated the world of ballet competitions, because all of these “pre-pro” programs needed additional competitive venues beyond the OG Youth America Grand Prix to charge money to prepare and compete their students. While some competitions like Varna have disbanded, this season alone, three new ballet competitions were introduced. These competitions are marketed as performance and scholarship opportunities, a chance to get a job, etc. On the company level, organizations like Grand Audition have emerged, offering a chance to bypass the many steps we have created, and a chance to “win” a contract or scholarship position.
If you have unlimited resources to throw at ballet, there is always a new company program or competitive opportunity for a dancer to have a crack at a professional career. However, things are changing fast right now, and the general public that is involved with ballet is growing tired.
This business model would have worked, but companies no longer are “firing” dancers, or aging them out. Instead dancers are now dancing into their thirties, collecting larger paychecks, and using social media movements to back them. More and more companies are going union, as a way to protect their jobs and interests, which slows down the flow of hiring.
Unfortunately, there are many dancers that are holding up the hiring process. Dancers are not retiring at the same rate as before, and not because of talent, but because of union labor laws, and directors unable to “fire” or “not renew” their contracts. While this is great for senior dancers, the reality is they are getting lost in the new generation of dancers coming up, a generation fueled by social media, competition, technical proficiency, and quite simply, youth.
The moral of the story is the space for average dancers in the professional ballet world is extremely limited. Right now there is a very strong, young group of dancers ages 15-19 on the rise. These dancers are very versatile, very capable, and very well known on social media. They come with a built in audience, and are becoming the new driving force of ballet. While many older dancers, and senior corps dancers are criticizing this new wave of talent coming in, and criticizing the artistic staff of using “free labor” and “inexperience”, the reality is many of these young dancers coming up are able to outdance them.
Extraordinary talent is getting hired. Social media recognition is getting hired. The average talent, solid corps dancer is not.
It is quite sad to see an art form get convoluted because of the need to survive.
While ballet has always been a pyramid scheme, the flow has usually been consistent, but now, we are very congested…
You can see this trend happening across Europe as well now, with second companies, pre-professional trainee programs, spring, summer and winter intensives. Everyone is trying to grab dollars right now. For some companies and schools that ride on prestige, this methodology will work and will continue to work. Others are falling behind and not able to keep up with the marketing and PR demands of social media. Some companies are now relying on their dancers to do the work, and they aren’t getting compensated, while other companies are trying to quality control their dancers' social media, and representation of the company’s works.
Roles are blurred. Responsibilities are blurred. It is all becoming a little more difficult each day.
Understanding the current pyramid is tricky, because the pathways in which the congested business model work are money-centric— however you need to know extraordinary talent can trump it all. These schools have opened multi-year training and have now encouraged and normalized dancers to keep training (and paying) for ballet into their 20’s.
Second Company (encourages 1-2 years), stipend based
Trainee (now encourages 1-2 years), tuition based
Pre-Professoinal Division (usually 2-3 levels), tuition based
Recreational (usually 1-6 or 1-8 levels), tuition based
Winter Intensive
Spring Intensive
Summer Intensive
Extraordinary talent trumps all
All of these things are extra programs have been marketed towards a goal, the chance to become a professional, but not all programs are the same, and not all programs view you as equals. Are you just a bottom line, are you just funding another scholarship kid, are you just experiencing a school and experiencing a program. That is the problem with ballet, it is a very expensive experience.
It is currently audition season, and companies are advertising auditions, and I can genuinely tell you, they don’t have jobs! Shame on companies advertising auditions, just in case someone doesn’t return, or they find someone better for the company. The greed for talent, and muses is… overwhelming. Directors are using these auditions for vacations, to see friends, to stay relevant, and the hope they find the next big extraordinary talent to sink their claws into…its a ballet centric phishing expedition. This is also undervaluing their companies members, and not investing in the talent they already have employed.
Right now, it is unfortunate to say, but everyone who is in the 19-22 age range is in a VERY sticky situation. For most, college is probably going to be the best investment, a way to possibly buy four years of training and enter the job market 3-4 years from now, but they will also be entering the job market with everyone who is 14+ right now, and the talent bubble there is quite strong. (If you need help with collegiate pathways, feel free to sign up for ballet insiders as we are about to release an entire course on it.)
If you are in the 16-18 age range right now, and you are at a good school, with individualized training, I would definitely stay put. If you aren’t at a school like that, I would look at changing over to a school like that and training, while still preparing to turn collegiate.
If you are in the 12-15 range right now, STAY PUT. Don’t move, keep your eye on the prize, and just train and enjoy the process. Don’t be in a rush, and just enjoy your time in the studio and on stage as we embark on the waiting game to see how the next few years pan out.
All ballet schools, no matter the level or prestige, are opting for two choices: raise the price and focus on social media.
If you are confused, if you are having doubts and want to schedule a consultation, please feel free to reach out, or stay tuned in as ballet maneuvers this unknown time.
