The Colburn Dance Academy is a rigorous, audition-based pre-professional ballet training program that offers a focus on the Balanchine Style of ballet. Training is highly individualized and provides an education that aims to shape dancers as thinkers, artists, and performers with genuine and moving voices. Our faculty is comprised of the highest caliber teachers who hail from companies and experiences worldwide, including New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, L.A. Dance Project, Los Angeles Ballet, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. Classes outside of daily ballet technique include pointe, variations, partnering, contemporary, modern, rotating specialty classes, artistic inquiry, and wellness seminars. Dancers have opportunities to learn and perform masterworks, participate in a student choreography workshop, and work with their fellow students from the Music Academy in a shared performance of live music and dance on stage together. Colburn’s beautiful campus lies in the cultural heart of downtown where students are just a walk from major theatres and museums that will enhance their artistic education through class cultural excursions. Students use their Dance Academy education to launch the next stage in their journey, joining world-class dance companies and esteemed college programs after Colburn.
Our holistic artistic education and small class size allows for each dancer to develop in their own way, through mentorship and personalized guidance that nurtures their unique gifts and prepares them for their next step. Attending the Colburn Dance Academy requires a high level of commitment and passion. We suggest applicants to have studied ballet for a minimum of four years. We train students ages 14–17 in the summer and year-round program.
The Dance Academy is for dancers who turn 14 before the start of the year-round program, while the summer intensive audition will accept eligible dancers aged 13. Dancers may audition at 12 for the summer intensive but their applications will require a letter of recommendation from a current faculty member and dancers must be prepared to take the full 90-minute audition class on pointe. Dancers who are recovering from injury and would like to audition, should reach out to dance@colburnschool.edu to discuss options.
Colburn Dance Academy Summer Intensive 2026: June 16–June 28
Colburn Dance Academy Year-Round Program 26-27: August 2026–May 2027.
Audition registration is through Danceapply.com from November 1, 2025.
Register to audition
At the in-person audition, Dance Academy artistic staff will give and observe a full ballet technique class. The class is taught in the Balanchine style and may be two hours in length.
All dancers will be assessed on the following:
Dancers who train en pointe and are auditioning for the Dance Academy Year-Round program will be asked to wear pointe shoes for the entire audition class. Dancers who have 1–2 years of pointe experience and are auditioning only for the Colburn Dance Academy Summer Intensive may audition in ballet flats if preferred.
Video auditions will be accepted for the Colburn Dance Academy Summer Intensive through March 1. We recommend sending video auditions ahead of our first in person audition on January 18, if possible. Dance Academy Year-Round video applications will be accepted through August 11, but in person auditions are preferred
Please note that students are encouraged to send in their videos as early as possible to be considered for the limited number of spots in the 2026–27 Colburn Dance Academy.
Videos should be uploaded to a privacy-enabled video sharing service including YouTube, Vimeo, Dropbox or other similar platforms, and emailed to dance@colburnschool.edu with the password. Videos should include the following content with a preferred limit of 15 minutes in length.
All students must include the following:
*Dancers who train en pointe should wear pointe shoes and include a diagonal turning combination
Video Audition Dress Code
Contact the Dance office at dance@colburnschool.edu or 213-621-1085 to inquire about residential availability.