It’s summer, which means sun, sand and surf… unless you are a young, ambitious dancer. In which case, it means packing your bags and heading to a big city to attend a summer intensive. Like any Olympic athlete, dancers have to train year-round if they want to be the very best, and summer intensives are a critical component to their training. Doing well at summer intensives can also lead to opportunities to attend prestigious year round programs or jobs. Regardless of the outcome of your summer training, you will learn a lot and have the most fun by simply working hard and making friends.

First of all, the most important thing in getting the most out of your summer intensive experience is to work hard. Even though you should always be doing this, it is especially important at summer intensives because it is how you will improve the most. And who doesn’t want to go back to their home studio a new and improved dancer? Also, working hard will also get you noticed by the teachers very quickly, which could lead to the opportunity to train there year-round. Even if a year round program is not what you want at the time, if you audition for that summer intensive again later, the teachers will remember you and might be willing to give you a scholarship for the next summer.

Another equally important way you can make the most out of this summer is to make lots of new friends. The connections you make at summer intensives will follow you the rest of your life and not just your dance life. For example, one time the mother of one of my teachers at a summer intensive spoke to my high school religion class about Judaism. Trust me, you will, one way or another, run into these people again. Although it can sometimes be hard to make friends when everyone is competing for the same, being a nice, decent person goes a long way. So, don’t be a diva or cliquey because no one wants that kind of person in their company or in their show. Also, when you’re old and looking back on your memories of summer intensives, you’ll want to remember all of the great people you met and the fun things you did together, in addition to the all of the lessons you learned in the studio. And, I promise you, if you don’t at least have a little bit of fun while you’re dancing, you will burn out quickly.

Finally, enjoy the time you have. Most of my happiest memories from the last 16 years I have been dancing happened at a summer intensive, and I’m really sad that I am now too old to go to many of them. It is truly a special experience to go to a summer intensive, and one I definitely wouldn’t trade for the world.