Summer Intensives at San Francisco Conservatory of Dance

2009 Summer Intensive Programfor Advanced Students ages 14-23

Session 1: June 1 - July 11 (6 weeks)
Session 2: June 15 - July 11 (4 weeks)
Session 3: July 13 - August 8 (4 weeks)

All three sessions will keep students fully challenged and productively occupied six very full days, 45-plus hours per week. The high faculty-student ratio insures that students will receive ample individualized attention.

Session 1 (Enrollment limited to 26 advanced dancers ages 18-23)

Internationally-acclaimed dancer/choreographer, musician and multimedia artist Alessio Silvestrin (formerly associated with Béjart Ballet, Ballet de l’Opéra National de Lyon, and Frankfurt Ballet), and close collaborator with William Forsythe, will conduct a 3-week immersion in the study of improvisation technique drawing from Forsythe’s Improvisation Technologies and his own extensive background while also choreographing an original work to première at session’s end. Summer Lee Rhatigan, Alex Ketley and Chiharu Shibata will teach highly challenging technique classes. During weeks 4-6 students will also collaborate with Ketley and a guest choreographer (to be announced) in the creation of original works.

Showcase One: July 10 at 7:30pm
Showcase Two: July 11 at 2pm

Tuition: $3,000 for six weeks

Session 2 (Open to advanced dancers ages 14-23)

Summer Lee Rhatigan, Alex Ketley, Christian Burns and Chiharu Shibata will teach highly challenging ballet technique classes, providing the daily laboratory in which experimentation, focus and physical commitment lay the groundwork for uninhibited collaboration in the choreographic process with Ketley, Burns, Rhatigan, and guest choreographers to be announced. The program will culminate with two showcases presenting the works developed, joined by the Session 1 dancers.

Showcase One: July 10 at 7:30pm
Showcase Two: July 11 at 2pm

Tuition: $2,000 for four weeks

Session 3 (Open to advanced dancers ages 14-23)

Summer Lee Rhatigan, Alex Ketley, Christian Burns and Chiharu Shibata will teach highly challenging ballet technique classes, and Ohad Naharin’s emissary, Batsheva dancer Bobbi Smith will teach Naharin’s unique movement language “gaga” to all students and will set excerpts of Naharin’s work on a portion of the student body. All students will be involved in developing original works with Ketley, Burns, Rhatigan, and guest choreographers to be announced

Showcase One: August 7 at 7:30pm
Showcase Two: August 8 at 2pm

Tuition: $2,000 for four weeks

2009 Choreographic Apprentice Residency

Aspiring choreographers generally face a formidable challenge finding ways to pursue their dream. The Conservatory’s Choreographic Apprentice Residency, designed to nurture aspiring choreographers ages 18-23, is open to a maximum of twelve students in the three sessions of the Summer Intensive Program.

Those selected (on the basis of their audition, an essay and interview) will be given nine hours of studio time per week, assigned at least two dancers upon whom to choreograph, and receive four weeks of guidance by a professional choreographer. At the conclusion of each of the three sessions, the residents will have an opportunity to present their work to the student body, faculty and guests.

This residency takes place in addition to, and after, the already very long hours of the Summer Intensive Program. It is not for the faint-hearted, as it requires an extraordinary amount of mental and physical stamina.

Applicants are asked to state their interest in the Residency clearly on their application form and to submit no later than February 16, 2009 an essay describing their interest in choreography and what they hope to accomplish through the Residency.

For specific information and the residency application, contact Summer Lee Rhatigan.

“A Summer of Forsythe, Kylián and Naharin”
—From Dance Magazine, January 2009
“On a July afternoon, 22-year-old Victoria Canelos rested…”
Read the full article of January 2009

Faculty of the 2009 Summer Intensive Program

A physical support team made up of leaders in the field of dance medicine will be available to attend to the health needs of dancers.

Read what the press says about our choreographers and our summer program.

Housing

Room & Board is available through the University of San Francisco. For housing costs and information please contact Julia Hollas.

Audition Information
Download Registration Forms

… to receive our 2009 Summer Intensive Program brochure by snail mail and/or periodic newsletters via email. (Our deepest apologies to those who tried to join our mailing list between May and mid-August 2008. Due to a technical snafu, attempted signups during that period were lost in cyberspace and never reached us. Please try again.)