Gavin Larsen
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Articles by Gavin Larsen
When Your Summer Intensive Doubles as an Audition
When Philadelphia Ballet corps member Natalie Patel was in high school, she sent audition materials to The Washington Ballet School in hopes of joining its trainee program for her senior year. But even after reviewing her video submission, the artistic staff wanted to evaluate her during the school’s four-week summer intensive before making a decision. Like Patel, many young dancers may need to attend an organization’s summer program to be considered for trainee or second company positions.
When Auditioning for Choreographers and Répétiteurs, Bravery Beats Perfection
BalletMet dancer Grace-Anne Powers remembers her excitement when she learned that choreographer Jennifer Archibald was coming to set a new work. But during Archibald’s full-company casting call, Powers felt suddenly wracked with nerves. “I completely lost my focus,” she remembers. “I really wanted to work with Jennifer, but I was so self-critical that when I missed one detail of the movement, I went blank.” Archibald didn’t seem to mind, casting her in a central role anyway.
Infinite Steps: Thirty-Three Dancers and Their Lives in Ballet
. Mar. 2026. 240p. ISBN 9780813081502. pbk. $35. DANCE COPY ISBN Dance photographs capture specific moments in a dancer’s life and preserve them for posterity. They can be a snapshot of a dancer in mid-flight onstage or a backstage glimpse of a dancer in repose. Schiavone, staff photographer for American Ballet Theatre from 2000 to 2020, has captured those moments for the dancers of ABT and members of the Boston Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, and other companies.
Balletcore Is Still Booming-What Do Real Dancers Think?
While Gavin Larsen wrote this article for Dance Magazine in 2024 year, balletcore is still going strong. Just take last summer’s balletcore sneaker boom as an example, or the Royal Ballet’s recent collaborative clothing collection with global fashion brand Reiss as examples. This year has already been hailed by mainstream fashion publications as the year of the ballet wrap cardigan. But what do real dancers think about this trend?
Terpsicorps Honors Hurricane Helene Heroes With Appalachian Phoenix - Pointe Magazine
When Hurricane Helene struck western North Carolina in September 2024, it destroyed homes, businesses, and utilities, and plunged the area’s residents into isolation. Locked in place by impassable roads and left without electricity, cell phone service, or internet connection, people could not communicate with anyone beyond shouting distance for weeks. But the desperate situation sparked a bitterly beautiful reaction throughout the region.
Managing Homesickness at Your Summer Program
Not long after Missouri-native Annelise Fagan arrived at Colorado Ballet Academy for her first summer intensive, her excitement about attending the three-week program changed. She was sad, lonely, and desperately missed home. “I didn’t know anyone, not even my roommate,” remembers Fagan, who was 13 at the time.
Remembering Ballet Legend and Leader Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, 1943-2025
With the passing of Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux on April 13, 2025, the ballet world lost a guide, an inspiration, a champion, and a “dance dad” to generations of students. Bonnefoux’s illustrious career began in his youth in his native France. He became an étoile with the Paris Opéra Ballet at age 21, and quickly accumulated a wide repertoire of classic and contemporary roles. But a turn of fate soon changed the course of Bonnefoux’s life: He met George Balanchine.
Auditioning on the Sly: Job-Hunting Around Your Company Schedule
Before she joined Pacific Northwest Ballet, principal Leta Biasucci was dancing for another West Coast company. Although things were going well there (and she had received a contract for the following season), she was curious about exploring her career options. During her company’s layoff week, Biasucci drove to Seattle with a friend and auditioned for PNB.
6 Sure Signs a Dancer Is Wearing the Wrong Pointe Shoe
Despite the seemingly endless pointe shoe brands and styles to choose from, many dancers find themselves plagued by common, and often painful, problems. Stubbornly twisting shanks, baggy heels, incessant corns, or a sickled look can be signs they need a different size, width, or shape. Our friends at Pointe spoke with pointe shoe specialists for their advice on common misfits and ways to solve them.
How to Approach Summer Intensives If Your Last One Was Disappointing
Golden State Ballet principal Miranda Giles remembers her first summer intensive. “I was so excited to be going away and doing ballet all summer,” she says. “What could go wrong?” But in addition to battling homesickness, she was rattled by the program’s high-pressure atmosphere and competitive vibe.
Working With a Coach for the First Time? Here’s How to Make the Most of It
As a teenager, Kansas City Ballet apprentice Amira Hogan spent many hours working with private coaches, polishing her solos for competitions like Youth America Grand Prix. Although the focused, individualized instruction ultimately helped her perform her best, Hogan remembers going into her first few coaching sessions full of nerves: “There were many times early on when I left the session feeling overwhelmed, thinking: I just got so many corrections, but how can I apply them all?
4 Homegrown Companies Building Healthier Dance Ecosystems
When Gavin Stewart and Vanessa Owen were launching the contemporary company Stewart/Owen Dance in Asheville, North Carolina, they received some surprising advice. “Someone who worked in marketing in this region said that, when describing our company, ‘You probably shouldn’t mention that you’re from here, because that could negatively impact your ticket sales,’ ” Owen recalls. They didn’t follow that suggestion.
Personality Clashes at Your Summer Program? Here's How to Handle Them - Pointe Magazine
Summer programs offer lots of exciting new experiences, including the chance to meet other students as passionate about ballet as you are. However, when so many enthusiastic, ambitious young dancers come together for a weekslong intensive, there can be less-happy feelings, too. Loneliness, competition, insecurity, and even outright conflict between peers can be magnified by the short, highly focused nature of a summer course.
Considering a Gap Year After High School? Here's What You Need to Know.
Grace Li trained hard at her local studio all through high school, and by her senior year she was excited to take the next step towards a ballet career. But she and her parents knew higher education was also in her future. After Li applied to both colleges and trainee programs, she decided to defer her acceptance to Columbia University for a year-long ballet immersion in Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s Graduate Program. For Li, taking a gap year was the perfect choice.
What Real Dancers Think of Balletcore
Whether you like it, loathe it, or roll your eyes at it, you can’t miss it: Ballet-inspired clothing for the nondancing consumer is everywhere. The fashion and ballet worlds have a long and storied relationship, but ballet-aesthetic streetwear’s recent resurgence in popularity has been striking. According to fashion insiders, “balletcore” is already a defining trend of 2024. Balletcore is also a subject of passionate debate among dancers.
What Happens to Audition Materials After You Press "Send"?
Increasingly, ballet companies are moving away from traditional open-call auditions. Instead, many prefer for dancers to submit a video reel, photos, and resumé, either via email or through an online portal, in order to be considered for an in-person audition. But while dancers have embraced the ability to present themselves more widely, quickly, and inexpensively than before, the digital submissions process can still feel pretty mysterious.
Overcoming Feelings of Intimidation at Summer Intensive Auditions
For many dancers, auditions feel inherently nerve-racking. But auditioning for summer intensives, which often requires taking class at unfamiliar studios with dancers who appear stronger, might elicit a heightened sense of intimidation. Fixating on others’ strengths instead of your own diminishes your ability to dance your best. Here, some pros who’ve been through it talk about how to overcome intimidation.
How to Work Through a Plateau
When Carolina Ballet Theatre dancer Marja’ Miller was 13, she hit a plateau. Although she’d always been super-motivated in class, she suddenly didn’t seem to be progressing as fast as she used to. Looking around, she saw her classmates advancing and getting more positive feedback from teachers. Confused and disheartened, Miller wondered what she was doing wrong and whether she’d catch up. “I really wanted to strive and push, but I felt sad and depressed,” she remembers. “It was a really iffy time.
Trendy Variations: Should You Base Your Competition Selections Based on What's Popular?
Like anything in life, ballet is not immune to trends, not even when it comes to variations. And when the competition circuit gives a certain variation high visibility—usually following a winner’s standout performance—suddenly it seems to be everyone’s favorite, appearing over and over in the next season’s competition lineup. But while it’s easy to imagine replicating another dancer’s success by choosing the same solo for yourself, following a trend is not always the best idea.
The Pleasure and Pitfalls of Creating Ballets Based on Contemporary Literature
In the closing scene of The Handmaid’s Tale, choreographed by Lila York for Royal Winnipeg Ballet and based on Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel, peace washes over the stage. Arvo Pärt’s celestial music accompanies the lead dancer in a seamless, spiraling solo evocative of a cloud-borne dream. In the book, the central character’s fate is left ambiguous, but York chose to leave the audience with a sense of hope and possibility.
Minor Ache or Injury? Why You Shouldn't Keep Summer Intensive Pain to Yourself
Sarah Whitehead, now a dancer with Ballet Tucson, remembers the sinking feeling of getting an injury during a summer intensive. As a teenager hoping to land a spot in Pacific Northwest Ballet’s year-round Professional Division program, she felt pressure to dance to her max in every class of the school’s summer course. An annoying pain in her hip intensified the harder she worked.
How to Find Motivation When You Realize You Need More Advanced Training
In her early teens, Claire Solis was a top student in her small school in upstate New York, and she had big ambitions. “There was never a doubt in my mind that I was going to be a principal dancer,” she remembers. Confident in how her future would play out, she convinced her parents to let her move away from home at 16 to train full-time at The Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia. But reality hit when she was placed with students three years younger than her.
Audition Advice: How to Deal When a Company Isn't Getting Back to You - Pointe Magazine
The stressors of job hunting—filming a reel, writing cover letters, fine-tuning your resumé—are hard enough, but they are more magnified when there’s a long lag time between auditioning for a company (or submitting your materials digitally) and getting a response. Waiting for a “yes,” “no” or “maybe” is agonizing, yet many dancers are hesitant to follow up, fearing they’ll come off as pushy or annoying.
Xuan Cheng, Splitting Her Season Between OBT and Hong Kong Ballet, on the Joys and Challenges of Multi-Tasking
Xuan Cheng’s resumé is an impressive list of competitions, companies and roles. But beyond her laudable accomplishments is a tenacious dancer whose curiosity to see the world shaped a 22-year performance career that is, apparently, far from over. Cheng, born in Chenzhou, China, was only 10 when she moved away from home to enter the Guangzhou Ballet School. Upon graduation, she joined Guangzhou Ballet of China, becoming a principal dancer within just a few years.
How to Deal With Crowded, Stressful Class Scenarios
For most dancers, technique class is a familiar daily routine. But dancing in an unfamiliar setting can really throw you for a loop. Whether you’re taking a crowded open class, a mixed-level class at your studio, or auditioning via company class, you need to be able to adjust. While these situations can be frustrating or intimidating, going in with some practical strategies and the right mindset will help you make the most out of less-than-ideal circumstances.
How to Deal With Placement Class Jitters at a New Studio
As summer intensives wind down, excitement about the new school year starts building. But that anticipation can come with worry, particularly if you’re entering a new studio and need to take a placement class. Many may wonder, “What level will I be put in?” A placement class can be anxiety-inducing. Even if you put in weeks of hard work at a summer program, you likely took some downtime afterwards—which was necessary for your body and mind to rest and recharge.
Kay Mazzo, Dance Teacher’s 2022 Awardee of Distinction, on Preserving Balanchine’s Legacy
Kay Mazzo, Dance Teacher’s 2022 Awardee of Distinction, on Preserving Balanchine’s Legacy Kay Mazzo has been a symbol of strength and grace in the ballet world since she made her debut with Jerome Robbins’ Ballets USA, while a teenager, in Robbins’ Afternoon of a Faun. George Balanchine hired Mazzo into New York City Ballet shortly thereafter.
The Ups and Downs of Life as a Commuter Student
Today, Ben Lepson is a corps member with Miami City Ballet. But as a teenager at the School of American Ballet, he struggled—and not just with demanding classes. Almost all his classmates lived in SAB’s residences, but Lepson, a native New Yorker, commuted every day from his family’s home in the Bronx. While his peers bonded through communal living and social time in the dorms, Lepson often felt left out. “I envied their closeness,” he recalls.
How to Cope When You’re Rejected From a Summer Intensive You’ve Been Accepted to Before
After years of being waitlisted, Kayla Schmitt finally got into Pacific Northwest Ballet School’s summer program at 16. “PNB was my dream company, especially as a taller dancer, so finally getting in was very exciting for me,” says Schmitt, now a member of Ballet Chicago’s studio company. Although she wasn’t able to go to PNB that summer (she’d already committed to Boston Ballet’s program), Schmitt confidently reauditioned the following year. But this time, she didn’t even make the waitlist.
How to Confidently Audition for a Summer Intensive You've Been Turned Down From Before
Auditions can be nerve-racking no matter what, but trying out for a summer program that once turned you down can feel especially daunting. It’s hard to present yourself confidently when a past “no” echoes in your head. But the reality of the summer-study audition process might be a lot less personal than you think. Besides, being a repeat applicant offers a great opportunity to show your progress. So how can you prepare yourself mentally for this year’s audition without fixating on the past?
What Can Mental Health Support in Ballet Look Like?
Asked to recall a time when her emotional state affected her ability to do her job, Lauren Fadeley Veyette laughs. “Which one do you want? There were so many!” While the connection between a dancer’s mental health and their performance is obvious, the topic has recently taken on greater urgency. High-profile athletes like Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka have recently prioritized mental health over competition, heightening public awareness of the extreme pressures elite performers face.
A Tale of Two Apprentices: What These Dancers Learned From Their (Very Different) Paths to Professional Life
A Tale of Two Apprentices: What These Dancers Learned From Their (Very Different) Paths to Professional Life by Gavin Larsen | Sep 10, 2021
A Tale of Two Apprentices: What These Dancers Learned From Their (Very Different) Paths to Professional Life
The route to a company’s roster often means working your way through several preliminary stages—professional training program, traineeship, apprenticeship or second company—in order to be considered for a full company contract. But while some dancers move fairly quickly into the corps, others spend more time on the lower rungs of a company before finding their spot. Though a straight shot to professionalism might seem optimal, both pathways have merit.
How Can Dancers Training at Home This Summer Best Audition for Traineeships and Second Companies?
To add your listing, contact Amy Jones at ajones@dancemedia.com.
How Can Dancers Training at Home This Summer Best Audition for Traineeships and Second Companies?
Summer intensives have long served as extended audition periods for trainee and second company positions, allowing pre-professional dancers a chance to prove themselves and to get to know artistic staff. But compared to pre-COVID years, limited enrollment at summer programs for 2021 has left many graduating students struggling to find a place to go and anxious about their future.
How Can Dancers Training at Home This Summer Best Audition for Traineeships and Second Companies?
Summer intensives have long served as extended audition periods for trainee and second company positions, allowing pre-professional dancers a chance to prove themselves and to get to know artistic staff. But compared to pre-COVID years, limited enrollment at summer programs for 2021 has left many graduating students struggling to find a place to go and anxious about their future.
COVID-19 Has Made It Easier to Train Outside Your Studio-but Should You?
Of all the unprecedented effects the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the dance world, perhaps the most unthinkable a year ago was the forced pivot to online training. With many studios mandated to close, we've outfitted our homes with barres and marley and harnessed technology to create more learning opportunities than ever before.
COVID-19 Has Made It Easier to Train Outside Your Studio-but Should You?
Of all the unprecedented effects the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the dance world, perhaps the most unthinkable a year ago was the forced pivot to online training. With many studios mandated to close, we've outfitted our homes with barres and marley and harnessed technology to create more learning opportunities than ever before.
COVID-19 Has Made It Easier to Train Outside Your Studio-but Should You?
With summer approaching, where you'll train is probably at the forefront of your mind. Major schools are making huge shifts to create COVID-safe dance spaces, including limiting their summer intensive enrollment, and traveling logistics are more complex due to limited housing options. While many ballet schools partner with local colleges to provide dorms for summer students, this year, that isn't a possibility for most.
How to Compassionately Tell Your Student That She’s Not Ready for Pointe
The day that your class of young dancers learns they're going on pointe can be just as exciting for you as it is for them. It's gratifying to be able to announce that their—and your—hard work has led them to this milestone moment. But what if there's one student who's not as ready as her peers? The one who's not yet strong enough physically or technically, or whose foot structure may make pointework extra-challenging or dangerous?
How to Compassionately Tell Your Student That She’s Not Ready for Pointe
How to Compassionately Tell Your Student That She’s Not Ready for Pointe The day that your class of young dancers learns they’re going on pointe can be just as exciting for you as it is for them. It’s gratifying to be able to announce that their—and your—hard work has led them to this milestone moment. But what if there’s one student who’s not as ready as her peers?
Pushed to the Limit: How Cardio Training and Healthy Eating Can Help Dancers Improve Their Stamina
From left: Anthony Crickmay, Courtesy Dance Theatre of Harlem Archives; Courtesy Ballethnic It is the urgency of going in a week or two before opening night that Lydia Abarca Mitchell loves most about coaching. But in her role as Ballethnic Dance Company's rehearsal director, she's not just getting the troupe ready for the stage.
UNCSA Students Create a Collaborative "Nutcracker" Movie for the Pandemic Era
Earlier this year, anticipating the ongoing repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, University of North Carolina School of the Arts' interim dean of dance, Jared Redick, started looking ahead to their annual Nutcracker performances. In May, he and the deans of UNCSA's Film, Music, and Design and Production schools started brainstorming on how to maintain some semblance of the holiday tradition safely, while also being instructive for their students and beneficial to the community.
Are You Competing for the Right Reasons?
As a 17-year-old student at The School of American Ballet, I had little awareness of ballet competitions—and to be fair, at that time (the early 1990s), there weren't very many. Youth America Grand Prix and its many spawns did not yet exist, and the famous international events like the Prix de Lausanne seemed highly elite and out of reach.
Are You Competing for the Right Reasons?
One of Gabe Stone Shayer's favorite collaborations happened thanks to his agent, Henri Lemic. In August 2019, Shayer—frustrated after being passed over yet again for a promotion at American Ballet Theatre—started to think about the company's fall gala. He wanted to make a defiant sartorial splash on the red carpet. Lemic worked some magic, persuading Harlem couturier Dapper Dan to meet with his young client.
Norwegian National Ballet Soloist Whitney Jensen on Mastering Jiří Kylián's "Petite Mort"
As told to Gavin Larsen by Whitney Jensen My first time dancing Petite Mort—or any ballet by Jiří Kylián—I was 17 and in the corps of Boston Ballet. I didn't know it then, but the stager, Roslyn Anderson, was nervous about me doing it because I was so young. I was super-naïve and had never seen the ballet before, but I just tried to listen to Roz and emulate what she was describing. She said that she knew I could do it when I applied every single one of her corrections after our first rehearsal.
Keep Drama to a Minimum With These Level Placement Strategies
Of all the decisions teachers make, assigning students' class levels is one of the trickiest. Even when you feel sure about where a student should be, they (or their parents) may not agree. Determining when to advance your dancers—and knowing how to talk to them about it with transparency and accountability—is important for students' progress, but disappointments and bruised egos are hard to avoid. Here's how some experienced teachers navigate the key elements of level placement.
Keep Drama to a Minimum With These Level Placement Strategies
Of all the decisions teachers make, assigning students' class levels is one of the trickiest. Even when you feel sure about where a student should be, they (or their parents) may not agree. Determining when to advance your dancers—and knowing how to talk to them about it with transparency and accountability—is important for students' progress, but disappointments and bruised egos are hard to avoid. Here's how some experienced teachers navigate the key elements of level placement.
Keep Drama to a Minimum With These Level Placement Strategies
Cynthia Oliver in her office. Photo by Natalie Fiol When it comes to Cynthia Oliver's classes, you always bring your A game.
Keep Drama to a Minimum With These Level Placement Strategies
Keep Drama to a Minimum With These Level Placement Strategies Of all the decisions teachers make, assigning students’ class levels is one of the trickiest. Even when you feel sure about where a student should be, they (or their parents) may not agree. Determining when to advance your dancers—and knowing how to talk to them about it with transparency and accountability—is important for students’ progress, but disappointments and bruised egos are hard to avoid.
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