Take Your Dancing to New Heights With Colorado Ballet Academy’s Summer Intensive and Pre-Professional Division

Sponsored by Colorado Ballet
January 8, 2019

Are you looking for inspiration to develop and grow as an artist, preparing you for a career as a dancer? The Raydean Acevedo Colorado Ballet Academy’s (CBA) Summer Intensive and Pre-Professional Division receive rave reviews from students, teachers and directors. These programs offer aspiring dancers instruction and career guidance from internationally renowned master teachers and CBA’s accomplished faculty. Training takes place in Colorado Ballet’s eight state-of-the-art studios at The Armstrong Center for Dance.

Under the leadership of Director Erica Fischbach and SI Directors Amanda McKerrow and John Gardner, students receive professional training in an environment that fosters growth, wellness and excellence in all aspects of dance—from classical ballet to the diverse genres of dance in the 21st century.

CBA’s Summer Intensive is an immersive training program for students ages 11-21. With level specific curriculum and personalized attention, students receive the necessary training to refine their skills.

All students who attend Colorado Ballet’s Summer Intensive are assessed for Colorado Ballet’s Studio Company and Pre-Professional Division.

Amanda and John are unique and phenomenal teachers. They truly care about every single person they teach. Every student is inspired to reach beyond what they thought they could accomplish leaving the intensive with new found confidence, joy and improved artistry and technique.” – CBA Director Erica Fischbach

  • Curriculum consists of ballet technique, pointe, men’s conditioning and technique, variations, pas de deux, modern, jazz, character, yoga and Pilates, as well as lectures on injury prevention, nutrition, dance history, music for dance and Anatomy in Clay©.
  • Participants enjoy access to physical therapy with Colorado Ballet’s year-round, in-house providers, as well as accommodation in suite-style housing on the University of Denver’s beautiful campus.

“It is very important to us that the students leave with a sense of accomplishment. We feel this is best achieved by placing a high value on their overall progress by focusing on the fact that any improvement, no matter how incidental it may seem, is understood for its importance to their continuing development. It is our belief that the attention given to the smallest details provides the greatest results over time.”
– Amanda McKerrow & John Gardner, Directors, CBA Summer Intensive
The Pre-Professional Division (PPD) is a daytime training program for career track students ages 14-20. Students work with Colorado Ballet’s artistic leaders and distinguished faculty. The PPD curriculum is designed to prepare students for all aspects of dance: physically, mentally and logistically.

Qualified students participate in company productions and receive first priority to openings in Colorado Ballet’s Studio Company.

  • Training includes ballet technique, specialized men’s classes and conditioning, pointe, variations, pas de deux, Gyrokinesis, Pilates, yoga, character, modern and contemporary.
  • Life skills classes address nutrition, mental and physical wellness, anatomy, resumé writing, audition preparation, music education and an introduction to many career options within the arts.
  • Mimicking the life of a professional, students work on classical repertoire or with choreographers to create new works each month. Students perform each work in Colorado Ballet’s Black Box Theater.
  • The year culminates with an all-school, full-length classical production in Ellie Caulkins Opera House at the Denver Performing Arts Complex.

The audition tour is now underway and goes through March 17 for both the Summer Intensive and Pre-Professional Division. Visit the website to find an audition location near you and to learn more about Colorado Ballet’s Summer Intensive and Pre-Professional Division.