Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School (PBT School) invites advanced ballet students from the Salt Lake City area to audition on Sunday, Jan. 26, for the National Audition Tour. Dancers can audition for the exclusive 2-week “Company Experience” workshop, the immersive 5-week Intensive Summer Program, and the year-round Pre-professional Program.
Registration opens at 3 p.m. and the audition starts promptly at 3:30 p.m. at Ballet West, Jesse Eccles Quinney Ballet Centre, 52 West 200 South, Salt Lake City. Dancers can find audition guidelines at https://www.pbt.org/national-audition-tour/. PBT School Co-Director Dennis Marshall will conduct the audition.
At the end of the National Audition Tour on Feb. 9, the school’s artistic team will have auditioned students in 40 cities and 20 states and audition more than 800 prospective students. The school will also be holding international auditions in Osaka, Japan in August 2020.
New to the Intensive Summer Program (ISP) this year is guest faculty instructor Sarah Lamb, principal dancer of The Royal Ballet. In addition, many guest and resident instructors with extensive professional dance experience will lead classes offered in the wide-ranging curriculum of ballet technique, character, pas de deux, repertoire, jazz and modern. ISP will take place from June 22 to July 25. The program welcomes students age 12 and older.
Under the direction of PBT School Co-directors Marjorie Grundvig and Dennis Marshall, ISP students attend classes six days a week, logging over 180 studio hours, and take workshops on nutrition, injury prevention and the psychology of dance. PBT School offers housing at its student residence, Byham House, in Lawrenceville as well as residence halls at Chatham University.
From June 8-19, the “Company Experience” Workshop offers a select group of Pre-professional dancers, ages 16 and up, the chance to preview the daily life of a professional company. Students will train 5 days a week learning classical, new and contemporary works choreographed by Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre dancers, artistic staff and choreographers.
PBT School’s Pre-Professional program, which runs September through May, is recognized as one of the nation’s finest for students pursuing careers in dance. Admission is by audition only, and the curriculum includes 25-30 hours of ballet training per week. Students come from around the country and internationally to attend the program each year, and more than 70 percent of PBT’s professional company dancers are alumni.