Today, I will be sharing my experience about attending a ballet intensive. For those of you wondering, what is a ballet intensive? Basically, it's just another name for a program or dance camp. They usually take place over the summer for as short as 3 days to as long as 6 weeks.
I participated in a ballet intensive in the summer of 2017. I was 15 years old. It was held at my dance studio that I was currently attending. The intensive is held yearly and lasts for 4 weeks. I auditioned in February with over 70 dancers. Most of the dancers attended the studio but there were also a few that went to different studios. Many of my friends and I made it into the intensive. We were all pretty excited since some of us had never done it before.
The intensive started at the end of June and ended in July. The schedule for each day was really long. At 10:30 am we had regular technique class until 12:00 pm. Then, depending on the day, we would do a different style of dance. The styles included musical theatre, tap, hip-hop, and character dance. We would then have lunch at 1:00 pm. From 2:00 to 4:00 we had rehearsals for our performance at the end of the intensive. At 4:45 we had another technique class till 6:00. Then somedays we would either have pointe, jazz, or modern depending on the day. I would usually come home at about 7:30 or 8:30 pm.
So I was really exhausted the whole 4 weeks of the intensives. I was dancing for about 8 to 10 hours a day so it really took a lot of energy out of me. There are so many things that happened during this intensive that I would love to talk about. But there is one particular experience that stands out to me.
STARTING OUT
The intensive had really pushed my body to the limits. It was great to see what I was capable of and the potential I had to get better. But it was very exhausting and my body was really sore. I mean, I went from dancing like 4 hours a day to now 8 to 10 hours a day so it was a lot more than I was used to.
For the first two weeks, I was really tired. It was fun to be dancing so much but it took a lot of energy out of me. I was excited to go to class every day and prepare for the performance for the end of the intensive. I felt like I had learned so much and was improving every day.
THE THIRD WEEK
By the third week, I was ready to be done. I wanted to be over with the intensive because it was taking so much time out of my day and I was tired. The classes felt like they became more stressful and rehearsals were difficult to do. I knew I wanted to keep going but I had lost a lot of motivation.
By about Wednesday of the third week, I started to feel a bit of pain in my left foot. I thought that it's probably from dancing so much but I would, eventually, get stronger if I kept going. The next day, it was still very painful and felt like it was getting worse. I asked one of my instructors about it and she examined my foot. She told me to go see a doctor because the problem could become worse if I didn't get it checked out.
My mom took me to the doctor and they X-rayed my foot. They found that I had plantar fasciitis which inflamed tissue near the heel bone. The injury is not too serious and is actually very common. For the Friday and Saturday classes, I didn't dance on pointe to give my foot a break. I had to wear a foot brace at night in order to recover from my injury. I was able to finish the last week of the intensive and perform in the final show which was good.
WHAT I LEARNED
From this experience, I learned that it's important to take time for yourself. Yes, you should push yourself to your best limits, but don't go too far over. Otherwise, you can hurt yourself. I learned that I should listen to what my body tells me and take breaks when I need to. Overworking yourself can be exhausting and could lead to a permanent injury. I was lucky that I caught my injury early enough for it not to worsen and I didn't have lasting side effects.
But through it all, I know that my dancing had significantly improved over the course of those 4 weeks. I applied the techniques I learned to my everyday dancing and became a better dancer with it. It was all worth it.
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