The launch of PBT School’s annual Intensive Summer Program quickly brings PBT to life during the company’s quiet summer break.  Students ages 12-22 flow out into the hallways and lounges during their breaks; stretching, talking, and relaxing in their downtime.  They practice six days a week, spending over 180 hours in the studio. But, in talking to 10 of these 225 students you wouldn’t realize the intensity of their schedule unless you asked. Their passion out shined any fatigue they may have felt as they described some of their biggest challenges and lessons from the past five weeks.

Allison Durand
Age: 18
Hometown: Charleston, SC
Level: 7
“Just the incredible amount of progress you can see in yourself and in other people in only five weeks is really neat.  I would say probably one of the biggest challenges is being self critical and learning to work in a positive way… not being afraid of failing and focusing on the possibilities of what you can do, and really allowing yourself to learn what you can from teachers, because you can’t really learn anything if you’re afraid of failing.”

Emma Jennings
Age: 16
Hometown: Takoma Park, MD
Level: 5
“The teachers care for the students’ futures, not just right in the present working on their technique.  When I get corrections from certain teachers or see others corrections given, it’s more ‘when you’re twenty you’re going to have to be able to do this in a company.’  It’s more future-oriented.”

Daniel Cooke
Age: 24
Hometown: Silver Spring, MD
Level: Men 2B
“Coming to ISP made me realize that I’m capable of a lot more than I thought. I used to think, ‘Oh that role isn’t for me’ or, ‘That variation isn’t something that I feel comfortable doing.’ But, with working with, say Christopher (Budzynski) or Li Chou (Cheng), you get crossover with the company, and I figured out that I actually can achieve those variations, those roles, and bring them energy.”

Amanda Lewis
Age: 15
Hometown: Akron, OH
Level: 4
“(The teachers) are all amazingly qualified and they care; you can really see. They give us corrections and they want us to improve.  All of the teachers are very particular about their details, especially in the port de bras which is really nice, because I like Balanchine a lot so sometimes I lose the classical flowiness of my arms.  They really pay attention to that, it’s something I can work on to have my positions where they need to be.”

Maicon Oliveira
Age:19
Hometown: Curitiba, Brazil
Level: 2B
“The most surprising thing for me is how the American dancers helped me every day and how they talked to me. They were really friendly.”

Camila Howard
Age: 14
Hometown: Virginia Beach, VA
Level: 2
“The most changing thing for me was coming into class every day and being around a group of kids where everyone is very serious and dedicated…I would say the biggest challenge is adapting to each teacher and remembering specific things they liked compared to other teachers.”

Ian Rafferty
Age: 23
Hometown: Austin, TX
Level: Men 2B
“Taking care of myself is probably a big one – my body and how I’m feeding myself especially.  It’s been interesting figuring out how to get through an 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. day.”

Maggie Fosselius
Age: 14
Hometown: Denver, CO
Level: 3
“Just the experience. I think all the excursions are so fun. And the classes. I’ve never taken jazz or contemporary before; I just do strictly ballet, but they’re so fun and I think I want to do more of it now.  Introduction to that has been pretty awesome.”

Andrew Fleischner
Age: 13
Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA
Level: Men 1
“Holding your position.  I make sure when the teacher gives me a correction that I try to do that as much as I can and remember to hold my arm in a special way…I had my first official pas de deux class here and it was fun, though kind of hard.”

Santiago Pacheco
Age: 22
Hometown: Puebla, Mexico
Level: Men 2
“I’ve been here since the (school) year for the grad program.  But for the summer I think I’m getting in better shape, having all-day technique classes – every day.”