This is a two-week comprehensive study of Colburn’s dance genres with a ballet emphasis for students ages 8–13. Dancers will take ballet technique and pre-pointe/beginner pointe classes daily, plus modern, tap, jazz, and stretch/strength.
Join us for an opportunity to enhance a student’s training experience with Colburn’s resident faculty.
Schedule
July 8–19 Monday-Friday 10:00 am–4:00 pm
Age Range
8–13 years old
Faculty will include (but not limited to):
Kelly Ann Sloan Amy Schadt Flores Tamsin Carlson Denise Scheerer
Student Requirements
Approximately one year of classical ballet training
Tuition and Fees
Tuition: $1,050
Audition Requirements
No audition required; placement class recommended for new students.
Registration Deadline
May 15, 2024
Online Registration
The Teen Tap Intensive is designed for serious tap students aspiring to take their skills to the next level. Focused training in technique, improvisation and repertory is taught by our world class faculty and guest artists.
July 1–12 Monday–Friday 1:00 pm–6:00 pm
13–18 years old
Denise Scheerer Johnnie Hobbs Melinda Sullivan
Approximately 3 years of formal tap training
Tuition: $1,050 Registration Fee: $25
No audition required
Current and new students can join us each Saturday in June and July to keep up their training over the Summer. We welcome you to register for this four-week program and get to know Colburn more closely.
Classes include Creative Dance, Modern, Tap, Pre-Ballet and Ballet.
Classes are held the following Saturdays: June 29, July 6, 13, 20 Creative Dance I from 8:00 am–9:00 am Creative Dance II from 9:00 am–10:00 am Pre Ballet from 9:00 am–9:45 am Ballet Prep I from 9:45 am–10:30 am Ballet Prep II from 10:30 am–11:30 am Beginning Ballet from 11:30 am–1:00 pm Modern I from 10:00 am–11:00 am Modern II from 11:00 am–12:30 pm Tap I from 9:00 am–10:00 am Tap II from 10:00 am–11:00 am Teen Beginning/Intermediate Tap from 11:00 am–12:30 pm
Creative Dance I age 4.5–6 Creative Dance II age 7–8 Pre Ballet age 4 Ballet Prep I age 5 Ballet Prep II age 6 Ballet I ages 7–10 Modern I age 7–8 Modern II age 9–10 Tap I age 7–8 Tap II age 9–10 Teen Beginning/Intermediate Tap age 11–15
Julianna Bulgarelli Sheila Gonzalez Tamsin Carlson Zoe Lesser Denise Scheerer
Students must be the required age for the class by the first day of summer classes.
45-minute class: $95 60-minute class: $105 90-minute class: $126 Registration Fee: $25
No audition needed, based on age.
Register Now:
Creative Dance I from 8:00 am–9:00 am
Creative Dance II from 9:00 am–10:00 am
Pre Ballet from 9:00 am–9:45 am
Ballet Prep I from 9:45 am–10:30 am
Ballet Prep II from 10:30 am–11:30 am
Beginning Ballet from 11:30 am–1:00 pm
Modern I from 10:00 am–11:00 am
Modern II from 11:00 am–12:30 pm
Tap I from 9:00 am–10:00 am
Tap II from 10:00 am–11:00 am
Teen Beginning/Intermediate Tap from 11:00 am–12:30 pm
This is a two-week exploration of Colburn’s various dance genres for young dancers.
Each day will include classes in ballet, tap, modern, and jazz to unlock the joy of dance and explore each dancer’s creative voice. Come dance with us!
June 24–July 5 10:00 am–4:00 pm
7–14 years old
Kelly Ann Sloan Tamsin Carlson Denise Scheerer Amy Schadt Flores
No dance experience required
The Modern Dance Intensive will focus on repertoire with phrases from the various works of Merce Cunningham, Lucinda Childs, and Rudy Perez.
The workshop begins with a 90-minute modern class, with repertory for the remainder of the day. Dancers will be challenged to enhance their technique, strength, artistry, and confidence in their abilities and learn the joy of working in an ensemble.
June 24–28 Monday–Friday 1:00 pm–6:00 pm
12–18 years old
Tamsin Carlson Yuka Fukuda
Approximately two years of modern/contemporary dance or classical ballet training.
Tuition: $600 Registration Fee: $25
Robyn Gardenhire is a Los Angeles native who began her dance training with former Los Angeles Ballet, with Irina Kovsmoska and Tatiana Lichine. Gardenhire continued her studies throughout her teenage years at the San Francisco Ballet School and in New York at the American Ballet Theatre School and New York City Ballet’s School of American Ballet (SAB). At age 16, Gardenhire became the youngest African-American to be offered a contract with Joffrey II where she performed at City Center and Jacobs Pillow. She later joined Cleveland Ballet under the direction of Dennis Nahat, and had original works created on her and performed principal roles such as “Choleric” in Balanchine’s Four Temperaments, “Arabian Princess” in The Nutcracker and “Russian Girl” in Serenade.
In an effort to expand her artistry, she joined the company of avant-garde choreographer Karole Armitage, touring all over Europe. Upon returning to the United States, Ms. Gardenhire was personally invited to join American Ballet Theatre by Mikhail Baryshnikov and later performed with his White Oak Project working with choreographers Lar Lubovitch and Mark Morris.
During her time at American Ballet Theatre, Ms. Gardenhire was the driving force behind the company’s diversity committee, which introduced minority children to classical dance through their “Build a Ballet” program. Ms. Gardenhire was instrumental in providing many scholarships that were given to minority students to study at the school. Its first student, Misty Copeland, became the first African American women principal dancer at ABT. Ms. Gardenhire is also an alumnus of SAB School of American Ballet (New York City Ballet) and is a founding member of its diversity committee and recipient of the New York City Ballet Fellowship Award.
Ms. Gardenhire has developed and overseen City Ballet of Los Angeles for the last twenty years and has created a dance institution that’s curriculum covers Classical Ballet, Modern, Theater and World Dance and oversees students ages 3yr. and up. Developing and allowing students to develop and grow into ambassadors of art and able to cross through any cultural barriers they may encounter.
Since retiring from New York City Ballet in 2002, Tracey has become an admired and dedicated teacher and arts advocate. She served as the Director of Boston Ballet School (BBS) from 2007–2021 and was profiled in a 2009 issue of Dance Teacher Magazine. During her tenure at BBS, Tracey drew upon her teaching experiences, studies in psychology, and ties to community clinicians to initiate a comprehensive Wellness Program at BBS. She also created the Next Generation, a year-end performance showcasing pre-professional students, which has become an annual highlight that spotlights BBS as a leader in local and regional arts education. Her stature in the dance world brought BBS extraordinary access to the Balanchine and Robbins repertoire, enhancing the training and performance experience for students. In addition, Tracey committed to commissioning underrepresented voices in choreography by amplifying the work of women and BIPOC choreographers such as Jill Johnson, Lia Cirio, and Ja’ Malik, among others. Tracey further distinguished BBS internationally by establishing exchange programs with Canada’s National Ballet School, Paris Opera Ballet School, the Royal Danish Ballet, and Dresden’s Semperoper Ballet. And under her leadership, BBS also became a partner school with the prestigious Prix de Lausanne international ballet competition.
Tracey continues to dedicate her efforts as a dance educator with a strong commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and access to champion change. She has served on panels for MoBBallet’s annual educational symposiums (2019, 2020, and 2022) and has worked with colleagues at Dance USA School Directors Affinity Group to share learning around culturally responsive teaching practices to better support faculty. Tracey’s work as an international arts educator continues as she serves on the organizing committee for World Ballet School Day (2020 and 2021), and the 2023 edition of Assemble Internationale; an Olympic-caliber gathering of pre-professional students and directors from schools around the globe empowering young artists to develop their voices, hosted by Canada’s National Ballet School.
Born in Pueblo, Colorado, Tracey began ballet studies with her mother, Nancy Tracey, at age six. In 1982, she was accepted as a student at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet (NYCB). At SAB, she was the recipient of an Atlantic Richfield Foundation scholarship (1982–85) as well as a Princess Grace Foundation award (1985–86) that cited her “exceptional promise and dedication to excellence.”
In 1986, Tracey joined the NYCB corps de ballet, launching a celebrated 16-year stage career. A principal dancer from 1991 until her retirement in 2002, she excelled in the Balanchine repertoire, appearing frequently in such core works as Apollo, Allegro Brilliante, Ballo della Regina, Concerto Barocco, Serenade, Square Dance, Symphony in C, Vienna Waltzes, Western Symphony, and Who Cares?, among others. She was also featured in a range of Robbins’ ballets, including Andantino, Afternoon of a Faun, The Four Seasons, and The Goldberg Variations, and created a role in the choreographer’s Ives, Songs (1988). She originated roles in works by William Forsythe, Richard Tanner, Ib Andersen, Trey McIntyre, and Peter Martins, including his Les Petit Riens, Fearful Symmetries, Zakouski, and his production of The Sleeping Beauty, in which she appeared both as Princess Aurora and Princess Florine. With NYCB, Tracey toured Europe and Asia, appeared in the PBS “Live from Lincoln Center” series, and danced the Marzipan Shepherdess in the 1993 film of Balanchine’s The Nutcracker.
As a Balanchine Repetiteur, Tracey has staged several of his works including, Concerto Barocco, Theme and Variations, Scotch Symphony, Raymonda Variations, and Divertimento #15, among others in both professional companies and schools. And in 2011 she was recognized with a Jerome Robbins Foundation award for her distinguished interpretation as a Robbins’ dancer.
Margaret joined the Colburn School in fall 2023 to assume the role of Dean of the Trudl Zipper Dance Institute overseeing the Dance Academy and the Youth and Adult Dance programs.
Originally from Washington D.C., Leo Manzari has headlined in the touring and Off-Broadway productions of Maurice Hines is Tappin’ Thru Life, featured Guest Star on So You Think You Can Dance, The Mo’nique Show, PBS News Hour, Jerry Lewis Telethon, ABC’s The View, PBS’ Kennedy Center’s 50th anniversary. He’s performed alongside Grammy Award® winning band “The Free Nationals” in various virtual events. He’s featured with multiple POPS orchestras across the world including The Philly POPS, The San Diego Symphony, The Florida Orchestra to name a few.
Leo is also featured in two documentaries available for streaming: Maurice Hines’ Bring Them Back, and Leonard Soloway’s “Broadway.” He’s appeared in the Late Late Show with James Corden and Ariana Grande. Manzari sold out his debut headline performance at The Cutting Room (450 cap) and he has performed his original music at prominent venues in Los Angeles: El Cid, The Sun Rose, The Study, and The Hollywood Majestic. Spotify has also supported Leo’s music with placements on their highly streamed editorial playlists. For more information, follow Leo’s socials @leomanzari and subscribe to his email list via his website www.leomanzari.com
Be considered for one or both programs at the same audition! Auditions are for both the 2024 Dance Academy Summer Intensive Program and the 2024–25 Colburn Dance Academy.
Los Angeles The Colburn School 200 S Grand Avenue
Sunday, January 28, 11:30 am to 2 pm Registration begins at 11:30 am
New York The Ailey School 405 W 55th Street Sunday, March 10, 1 to 3:30 pm Registration begins at 1 pm
Video applications will be accepted for the 2024 Dance Academy Summer Intensive Program and the 2024–25 Colburn Dance Academy. A $35 registration fee is required for both in-person and video auditions. Please send audition videos to dance@colburnschool.edu.
Audition Information
Register for Auditions
Enhance your ballet training and experience life on the beautiful Colburn campus during this one-week intensive. Students will grow through close work with Colburn’s distinguished faculty and special guest teachers.
Classes will include but are not limited to ballet technique, contemporary, partnering, conditioning, and exploring approaches to artistic perspectives through conversations and various repertoire.
The Colburn School’s downtown Los Angeles location offers access to some of the best venues, art installations, and dining experiences in the country. During the intensive, you can explore all that LA’s cultural center has to offer, and even stay on campus in Colburn’s dorms.
Tuition: $1,100 Room and board: $805
Jill Nunes Jensen is a member of the Colburn faculty where she teaches courses in artistic inquiry and leads conversations with invited guest artists. Dr. Nunes Jensen is also a member of the Dance faculty at Loyola Marymount University. She has a Ph.D. in Dance History and Theory from the University of California, Riverside and a masters in Dance from UCLA.
She has instructed courses in dance history, ballet technique, dance as social action, choreography, and serves as a senior thesis mentor. For years, her research has been the primary scholarship on Alonzo King LINES Ballet and she has presented on the company internationally. Her work has been published in the journals Dance Chronicle and Theatre Survey, in addition to the books When Men Dance, Perspectives on American Dance: The Twentieth Century, and Re-thinking Dance History (2nd ed.). Dr. Nunes Jensen has organized conferences in Los Angeles and New York City, and has served on the executive board of what is now the Dance Studies Association.
In 2016, she co-curated the first conference dedicated to contemporary ballet at the Center for Ballet and the Arts (NYU) and Barnard College (Columbia). She has been an invited speaker at the San Francisco Ballet’s Boundless Symposium (2018), Duke University (2019), and the University of Maryland (2021). As co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet (2021), the first treatment of contemporary ballet as a discipline, Dr. Nunes Jensen’s work and pedagogical approach to dance history seeks to shift the discourse of ballet studies by centering the work of artists of color. At present, she is working on a monograph about Alonzo King LINES Ballet, a San Francisco-based company founded by King in 1982.