Summer Intensive 2023 – American Midwest Ballet

American Midwest Ballet
SUMMER INTENSIVE
June 12-30, 2023

Registration will open soon for American Midwest Ballet’s 2023 Summer Intensive! To receive a notification when registration is open, please add your name and email to this list:

Essential Info

Dates: June 12 – 30
Location: Hoff Family Arts & Culture Center, Council Bluffs, Iowa
Ages: 11-22
Boarding option available for ages 13 and up
Classes: Ballet, pointe, variations, jazz, modern, contemporary, and improv
Performance opportunity: Final-day concert for parents

Guest Faculty

Damien Johnson: Former principal dancer of London’s Ballet Black, danced many with companies including Dance Theatre of Harlem and Los Angeles Ballet, current faculty at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet.
Ray Mercer: Member of the Broadway cast of The Lion King; resident choreographer for the Ailey/Fordham BFA program; guest choreographer of acclaimed American Midwest Ballet works Ghost Light and Speed Date.
Nikki Sell: Boston-based dancer, choreographer, and teacher; formerly of Prometheus Dance; popular instructor at 2022 Summer Intensive.

All program information is subject to change.

Photos from the 2022 Summer Intensive

Students pose for a group photo with their Week I guest instructor, New York City Ballet principal dancer Jovani Furlan (seated at center.)

Week II guest instructor Nikki Sell (front row, near center) poses with some of her students.

Week III guest instructor Mark Gieringer (front row center) poses with students.

Jovani Furlan’s classes combined technical insights and practical experience and advice.

Boston-based teacher and choreographer Nikki Sell taught jazz and contemporary dance as the Week II guest instructor.

Mark Gieringer’s classes emphasized finding joy and freedom within classical ballet technique.

American Midwest Ballet company artists teach and interact with students. Above: Kelanie Murphy demonstrates an arm position used in ‘Swan Lake’ as students watch. Below, Nora Carr helps a student with her placement.

New technical insights and a sense of pride and accomplishment are some of the things students take home from the summer intensive.

Dance styles demonstrated in the session-ending concert included ballet, contemporary, jazz, and structured improv, a technique that helps dancers develop their personal movement styles.

Just before curtain time, 2022 program director Erin Alarcón (top center) called the dancers into a huddle onstage for some last-minute motivation. “This may be the last time you dance on a stage with some of your new friends,” Erin told them, “so take a moment to thank the universe!”

About the Hoff Center

First opened to the public in February 2020, the Hoff Family Arts & Culture is a hub for creative activity that includes education offerings, classrooms, artist studios, galleries, culinary arts and teaching kitchens, and a state-of-the-art 280-seat theater. Combining a fully-renovated 1894 building with a newly-constructed wing housing the theater and the studios of American Midwest Ballet, the 95,000-square-foot facility is one of the largest architectural projects of its kind in the country. The Hoff Center is the home of Pottawattamie Arts, Culture, and Entertainment (the nonprofit that manages the facility), American Midwest Ballet, Chanticleer Community Theater, the Kanesville Symphony Orchestra, and the Kitchen Council, a startup incubator for food entrepreneurs.

Take a virtual tour of the Hoff Center with AMB professional dancer Katerina Schweitze

For More Information

If you have questions about the Summer Intensive, please email student@amballet.org

Programming is subject to change.
American Midwest Ballet complies with all recognized public health guidance with respect to COVID-19.