Ballet Help Desk

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Does your dancer need elite training to have a shot at a top college? But what does elite actually mean? Is it competition wins? A company-affiliated school? The right summer intensives? And does the answer look the same whether your dancer is pursuing a BFA or a non-dance degree?
College and career specialists Francisco Gella and Julie Friedrich of Francisco Gella Dance Works have guided hundreds of dancers down both routes.
This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation.
In Part 1, we dig into the real differences between the BFA route and the academic route. We talk about why your school's college counselor may not understand this world and what "Olympic level" actually means when elite universities evaluate a dancer's background. We also look at why competition results carry less weight in academic admissions than many families expect, and a distinction that confuses a lot of families: the difference between a dance portfolio and a dance supplement, and what each one is actually for.
The 2026 workshop schedule will be announced on or before August 1, 2026. If you are interested in receiving an announcement when registration for the Fall Virtual Workshops opens, please email [email protected].
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Summer Intensive Essentials Guide
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In this host-only episode, we draw on our combined years of navigating ballet summer intensives to break down how to make the most of every program -- for your dancer and for you. We talk through what to do before your dancer leaves, how to handle drop-off day, and what to expect once they're there. We also get into the stuff nobody warns you about: what a scholarship really signals, how to handle the tap-on-the-shoulder conversation about year-round enrollment, navigating roommate issues, and what to do if your kid gets in trouble -- and yes, we are speaking from experience on that last one.
Links:
Shop Summer Intensive Essentials Guide
Buy Summer Corrections Journals
Read Our Ballet School Summer & Year-Round Reviews
Support Ballet Help Desk
Instagram: @BalletHelpDesk
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Music from #Uppbeat:
https://uppbeat.io/t/ian-aisling/new-future
License code: MGAW5PAHYEYDQZCI

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American Reportory Ballet Artistic Director Samantha Dunster and Executive Director Julie Diana Hench join us for a conversation that gets refreshingly honest about the post-graduate pipeline, the job market, and what it means to truly prepare dancers for professional life. 
We dig into the structure of Princeton Ballet School from youngest students through the trainee program, how the school and company function as a single organization, and what actionable feedback actually looks like in practice. We also get into ARB2, the tricky math of a large trainee cohort and a tight job market, and a genuinely moving conversation about hunger, artistry, and what it means to inspire an audience.
Links:
Summer Intensive Essentials Guide
Buy Summer Corrections Journals
Read Our Ballet School Summer & Year-Round Reviews
Support Ballet Help Desk
Instagram: @BalletHelpDesk
Facebook: BalletHelpDesk
TikTok: @BalletHelpDesk
Music from #Uppbeat:
https://uppbeat.io/t/ian-aisling/new-future
License code: MGAW5PAHYEYDQZCI

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The corrections never stop. The casting is always uncertain. And somewhere along the way, many dancers learn to keep all of it behind a smile, because showing weakness feels like handing someone a reason to replace you.
Josh Spell, Kari Brunson Wright, and Rachel Coates have all been in that studio. As former professional dancers (Josh and Kari at Pacific Northwest Ballet, Rachel at Kansas City Ballet), they understand this from the inside. Now, as licensed therapists and coaches, they've built the ILUMN Collective, an app and platform designed to give dancers the kind of mental and emotional tools to help navigate the often stressful times that inevatably arise during ballet training.
In this conversation, the three founders get specific about what's actually happening in the minds of pre-professional dancers: the perfectionism that hardens into an inner critic, the body image challenges that develop quietly, the disembodiment that can take years (sometimes decades) to recognize and reverse. They talk about why gratitude culture in ballet can become a mechanism of control, what it looks like when a wellness program is real versus when it's just a sign on a door, and why giving dancers mental health tools without also educating teachers and directors is a little like handing someone a TheraBand and calling it physical therapy.
For parents, there's a lot here too. How do you talk to a kid who's been trained not to show struggle? What's your role when the school has the authority and you're just the ride home? And what does it actually mean to be part of the care team, not just a spectator?
Intrested in trying the ILUMN Collective's app? Check out our Summer Intensive Essentials Guide for an exclusive discoount.
Links:
Summer Intensive Essentials Guide
Buy Summer Corrections Journals
Read Our Ballet School Summer & Year-Round Reviews
Support Ballet Help Desk
Instagram: @BalletHelpDesk
Facebook: BalletHelpDesk
TikTok: @BalletHelpDesk
Music from #Uppbeat:
https://uppbeat.io/t/ian-aisling/new-future
License code: MGAW5PAHYEYDQZCI

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Every ballet company's tax return is public record. Most dancers have never seen one.
Liza Yntema, founder of the Dance Data Project, and Griff Braun, National Organizing Director at the American Guild of Musical Artists, walk us through what the numbers reveal. We start with the 990, how to read it, and what a company's revenue structure tells you about its priorities. From there we get into the funding landscape, leadership compensation, and why the gap between what artistic directors make and what dancers make is worth paying attention to.
On the contract side, Griff breaks down what's in a collective bargaining agreement, what dancers should look for when they sign, and what generations of dancers have fought to put in those documents. We also get into the one-year contract cycle, the psychological weight it puts on dancers, and how the U.S. compares to countries that fund their arts institutions in a meaningful way.
We also address the pay-to-play question directly: the trainee model, sponsored dancers, and the financial barriers that quietly shape who gets to have a professional ballet career.
Plus: board governance, leadership training, and what would need to change for ballet companies to function differently.
Links:
Summer Intensive Essentials Guide
Buy Summer Corrections Journals
Read Our Ballet School Summer & Year-Round Reviews
Support Ballet Help Desk
Instagram: @BalletHelpDesk
Facebook: BalletHelpDesk
TikTok: @BalletHelpDesk
Music from #Uppbeat:
https://uppbeat.io/t/ian-aisling/new-future
License code: MGAW5PAHYEYDQZCI