Ready for dance camp, ballet friend?

The first time I left the country for a ballet intensive I went to Boston Ballet School, and I wasn’t ready. I’d spent the previous year trying to get back into the swing of things after a period of shaky health, then took a month off before camp started. I felt out of shape and off my leg in the placement class, and spent most of the intensive trying to get back to my best.

At the time, I didn’t know how to manage a summer conditioning program. It’s a delicate balance to maintain these skills without turning your much needed down time 🏖️ into perpetual gym class…

I learned a lot from arriving unprepared, and every summer after that, I fine tuned my routine so I could bounce back into classes feeling strong and refreshed.

Dance camps are an awesome learning curve — all day immersion can catapult your strength and artistic skills — if you’ve laid the groundwork.