Joffrey NYC Retrospective and Review
This summer, I spent seven weeks at the Joffrey Ballet School's flagship summer intensive in New York. I am not very experienced when it comes to Summer Intensives. I spent time with the summer dance program at Pacific Northwest Ballet back in the day, one summer with International Ballet Academy, and three weeks at Ballet Hawaii, but nothing further. I vaguely remember an audition for what I think was the Nutmeg Conservatory but it is seared into my mind as a traumatic ordeal, and anyway, I was not accepted.
Classes:
My classes were incredible, amazing, every single day. Even when there was a teacher who insisted we all do Cecchetti with the right timing and epaulement instantly (we're a predominately Vaganova crowd), there was at least one class that was fun. I adored character classes even though we only had it twice, and I managed to learn to love contemporary despite my choppy movements and poor capacity to learn choreography quickly. I've been told by teachers how much I improved from the first week, and though it feels like nothing's changed, when I bother to really think about my technique from that first week, I have definitely done some improving.
Dorm:
The dorm is quite nice--it's the first time that I've had a really nice dynamic with a roommate, and I'm literally always with her, since we've been in the same classes for all seven weeks, and I'm absolutely no stranger to roommate situations.
Food:
I signed up for the meal plan in the dorm--food delivered every morning and evening via Relish Catering, and I'll level with you; the quality varied wildly. Sometimes there would be good steak and couscous salad with a fruit cup and a brownie, and sometimes there would be undercooked chicken with watermelon and watery cottage cheese salad. Lunch was not included and I ended up eating a lot of tuna because it was so easy to transport. Other kids invested fully with homemade sandwiches and avocados. Some went out to cafes during the break every day. A few subsisted almost entirely off of protein bars and peanut butter on fruit. There's a fresh fruit market about three blocks from the dorm and plenty of food options, though (and I started indulging in GrubHub in the last week because I realized I would be eating Russian boarding school food for the next four weeks).
What I learned:
I learned so much. I can't imagine how brutal and miserable the Bolshoi Experience would have been if I had not spent the time in NYC. I learned how to navigate the city and I learned more about the Russian technique, and I cannot wait to continue to use that knowledge further.
Classes:
My classes were incredible, amazing, every single day. Even when there was a teacher who insisted we all do Cecchetti with the right timing and epaulement instantly (we're a predominately Vaganova crowd), there was at least one class that was fun. I adored character classes even though we only had it twice, and I managed to learn to love contemporary despite my choppy movements and poor capacity to learn choreography quickly. I've been told by teachers how much I improved from the first week, and though it feels like nothing's changed, when I bother to really think about my technique from that first week, I have definitely done some improving.
Dorm:
The dorm is quite nice--it's the first time that I've had a really nice dynamic with a roommate, and I'm literally always with her, since we've been in the same classes for all seven weeks, and I'm absolutely no stranger to roommate situations.
Food:
I signed up for the meal plan in the dorm--food delivered every morning and evening via Relish Catering, and I'll level with you; the quality varied wildly. Sometimes there would be good steak and couscous salad with a fruit cup and a brownie, and sometimes there would be undercooked chicken with watermelon and watery cottage cheese salad. Lunch was not included and I ended up eating a lot of tuna because it was so easy to transport. Other kids invested fully with homemade sandwiches and avocados. Some went out to cafes during the break every day. A few subsisted almost entirely off of protein bars and peanut butter on fruit. There's a fresh fruit market about three blocks from the dorm and plenty of food options, though (and I started indulging in GrubHub in the last week because I realized I would be eating Russian boarding school food for the next four weeks).
What I learned:
I learned so much. I can't imagine how brutal and miserable the Bolshoi Experience would have been if I had not spent the time in NYC. I learned how to navigate the city and I learned more about the Russian technique, and I cannot wait to continue to use that knowledge further.
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