Dance Academy

The Dance Academy is a rigorous pre-professional ballet training program that both honors the great traditions of classical ballet and embraces the new and contemporary. 

Students learn masterworks and deepen their understanding of the great tradition of this art form. They also collaborate with the choreographers of today and develop their own creative voices. Our holistic artistic education shapes dancers as thinkers, artists, and performers as they experience life in the cultural heart of a global city. 

I love the familial element at Colburn which is cultivated by a variety of insightful teachers who know how to draw out our individuality and artistic voice. It’s inspiring to watch my fellow classmates encourage each other and offer the support needed in this rigorous art form. Chloë Oronoz, Dance Academy student

The rigorous Dance Academy curriculum is designed to prepare students for careers as dancers, focusing on classical ballet while providing instruction in other styles. By exposing students to choreographic masterworks with coaching by faculty who themselves are leaders in the field, the Dance Academy gives its students the tools they need to find a new richness in their dancing and become successful artists.

Such notable names as Wendy Whelan, Peter Boal, Helgi Tomasson, Mikko Nissinen, and Benjamin Millepied, have led Dance Academy master classes providing unique access and exposure to leaders in the field. As a result, graduates of the Dance Academy currently perform with New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, National Ballet of Canada and numerous other professional companies, trainee programs, and university dance programs.

Audition Information

Register for Auditions

Meet Our Faculty

Headshot of Fabiola Kim holding a violin in front of window
Fabiola Kim
Violin Instructor

Hailed by The New York Times as “a brilliant soloist, … [who] played with extraordinary precision and luminosity,” violinist Fabiola Kim is one of the most dynamic players of her generation.

Jeesung Kang
Piano Faculty

Ms. Kang has won many prizes and has appeared as a soloist with multiple orchestras in the US, as well as in South Korea.

Richard Schwabe
Violin Faculty

Richard Schwabe, violin instructor and longtime chair of the String Department at the Colburn School’s Community School of Performing Arts, holds music degrees from the University of Southern California (BM) and the University of Michigan (MM).

Juliana Bulgarelli smiling in front of a window.
Julianna Bulgarelli
Modern Dance Instructor

Ms. Bulgarelli is a dancer, teacher, and choreographer who is passionate about music and the global impact that the arts can have on people of all backgrounds.