Friday night. You have moved the kitchen table out of the way and set up your phone on a tripod borrowed from a neighbor.

Your daughter is in a black leotard and pink tights, hair in a fresh bun, and her ballet shoes have been re-tied three times because she keeps stepping on the ribbons. The light from the kitchen window is going.

You are about to film the eighteen minutes of barre and center work that will be sent to four major summer intensives. Here is how to do this without making it embarrassing.

What summer intensives are

A summer intensive is a multi-week training program at a professional or pre-professional ballet school. Programs run three to six weeks. They are full-day, multiple-class, immersive training.

Major intensives are at well-known schools. American Ballet Theatre. School of American Ballet. Boston Ballet School. Houston Ballet Academy. San Francisco Ballet School. Pacific Northwest Ballet. Joffrey Ballet School. And many others.

Each school has its own style, its own admissions standards, and its own faculty. A kid accepted to one is not automatically a fit for another. Each requires its own audition.

How auditions work

Two main paths.

Live audition. The school holds in-person auditions in major cities in January and February. The dancer travels to the audition, takes a ballet class with other auditioners, and is evaluated by the school’s faculty.

Video audition. For dancers who cannot travel to a live audition, schools accept a video submission of a set list of exercises. The video is reviewed by the same faculty.

Live audition is usually preferred but video is a real option, especially for dancers in regions without nearby live audition sites.

What the video usually requires

Schools list their video requirements in detail on their website. Most require something like this.

Center introduction. The dancer stands facing the camera, says their name and age, and indicates their height and any other requested info.

Barre exercises. Pliés, tendus, dégagés, ronds de jambe, frappés, fondus, grand battements. All in one continuous shot. The dancer does the right side and the left side, sometimes both.

Center work. Adagio, pirouettes (en dehors and en dedans), petit allegro, grand allegro. Each exercise on both sides.

Pointe work (for female dancers in pointe level). Tendu, échappé, piqué, pirouette on pointe.

Variation (sometimes). A short solo from the classical or contemporary repertoire. Optional at some schools, required at others.

The whole video usually runs 15 to 25 minutes.

How to film it

A few practical pieces.

Use a tripod. Hand-held video moves. The faculty needs to see straight lines and balance. A moving camera makes it hard.

Use a plain background. A studio wall. A clean room with no clutter. The faculty does not need to see your living room.

Use good lighting. Natural light from a window is best. Avoid overhead lighting that creates shadows on the face.

Film in landscape mode. Not portrait. Wide enough to show the full body and the line of the leg.

Position the camera at the dancer’s mid-height. Not too low, not too high.

Use the studio if possible. Most studios will let you book a private hour to film. The floor, mirrors, and barre are right for the work.

If you cannot use the studio, set up a portable barre at home or use a sturdy piece of furniture. The angle matters. The body language matters.

Do not edit between sections. Most schools want to see continuous exercises to evaluate stamina and consistency.

If you make a mistake, do not start over. Most schools value seeing how a dancer recovers from a mistake more than they value a polished take.

Wear the studio’s typical attire. Solid color leotard, pink tights, hair in a neat bun. No fancy hair ornaments. No leg warmers for the video.

Picking schools to audition for

A few factors.

Geography. Some schools are within driving distance for your family. Others are coast-to-coast travel. Travel costs are real. A four-week intensive plus airfare plus hotel can run $7,000.

Style. Different schools train in different traditions. Russian, French, Balanchine, Vaganova, Cecchetti. Your kid’s home studio is in one of these traditions. The summer intensive should expand the kid’s training, not jar it. Talk to the kid’s teacher about which schools complement their training.

Level. Some intensives are aimed at advanced pre-professional dancers. Some are open to a broader range of training levels. A first-time intensive applicant at 13 should probably not be applying to the most selective programs.

Cost and financial aid. Most major intensives offer some financial aid. The percentage of dancers who receive aid varies. Ask.

Reputation. The school’s reputation in the ballet world matters for two reasons. First, the training quality is correlated with reputation. Second, future audition prospects (year-round programs, company auditions) are sometimes shaped by where the dancer trained.

Apply to several. Three to five schools is typical. Expect to be accepted to some and not others.

The deadlines

Major intensives open applications in October or November. Live auditions are January and February. Video deadlines are usually January to early March.

If your kid is going to audition this season, the work starts in October. The video should be filmed in late November or early December at the latest.

Acceptances come in February through April. Some schools roll out acceptances earlier than others.

The cost of the intensive

A typical four-week residential summer intensive runs $4,000 to $8,000 in tuition plus $2,500 to $4,500 for room and board. Plus travel.

Many programs offer scholarships. Talk to the school about financial aid. Most have processes for need-based and merit-based aid.

If the cost is prohibitive, consider day-only intensives or regional intensives at strong but less famous schools. The training can be excellent and the cost can be a quarter of a major intensive.

When acceptances arrive

If your kid is accepted to one or more programs, congratulate them and let them feel it for a day or two.

Then sit down together and make a decision based on training fit, geography, cost, and what the kid wants. Not on prestige alone.

If your kid is not accepted anywhere, the conversation is different. Some kids are crushed. Some are quiet. Either way, the rejection is information, not a verdict. Many serious dancers are not accepted to their top-choice intensive at age 13 and end up at top companies by 22.

Ask the kid’s home teacher to look at the video and the application. Sometimes there is a fixable issue. Sometimes the kid is just not ready this year.

What summer intensive is actually like

If your kid goes, expect this.

Long days. Most intensives run six to nine hours of training per day, six days a week.

Sore body. The training load is higher than the kid is used to. The first week is brutal. By week three the body adapts.

Homesickness. Especially for first-time residential dancers. Most kids work through it. A few do not. If your kid is going residential, make sure there is a way to come home if the homesickness is overwhelming.

Real growth. The dancer who returns from a summer intensive is not the dancer who left. The training accelerates everything.

A new peer group. The dancers your kid trains with at the intensive often become a lifelong network.

A final note

Summer intensives are not the only path. Plenty of serious ballet dancers never attend a major intensive and still have meaningful careers. Plenty of kids attend a major intensive and decide ballet is not for them.

The intensive is one step in a long journey. Take it if it is the right step. Skip it if it is not. The kid is still a ballet kid either way.