Becoming a Standout Dancer

Here at Ballet 5:8, we spend a lot of time and energy focusing on creating and producing performances. But, did you know we also spend a lot of time and energy on dance training?

If you’re in the midst of intermediate and advanced-level ballet training, you already know this: even the most accomplished professional dancing artists take ballet technique class, daily. As both athletes and artists, professional ballet dancers never stop learning, never stop growing, and never stop striving to improve. If they stop this ongoing process of cultivation, they might be able to retain a certain level of proficiency, but more than likely, they’ll actually begin to slide backward in regards to their accomplishments. Crazy, right?

If you were to stop by Ballet 5:8 studios, you’d find not only rehearsals and other preparation for professional performances, but dancers of all ages working hard to maintain and improve their dancing in ballet technique classes. Even the adult, professional dancers take technique class daily, as well as accomplished dancers in our Second Company and Studio Company. In Ballet 5:8’s School of the Arts Pre-Professional and Children’s & Youth Division programs, dancers ages 2-18 attend designed a the length and frequency that is appropriate given their level of ability.

Ballet 5:8 Artistic Director Julianna Rubio Slager has been teaching ballet for over ten years and is skilled at helping dancers of all ages and levels of ability, including professional, pursue excellence, achieve greater levels of technical and artistic ability, and become the best dancer they can be. In addition to seeing several Ballet 5:8 School of the Arts alumni gain positions with the Ballet 5:8 professional company, she has had the joy of watching her students be accepted into many prestigious summer intensive, trainee and year-round programs, including the Kirov Academy, Pittsburg Ballet Theater, Houston Ballet, Washington Ballet, Joffrey Ballet Trainee Program, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Oklahoma City Ballet, Gelsey Kirkland Academy of Classical Ballet, American Ballet Theater, Ellison Ballet, School of American Ballet, and others.

Julianna Rubio Slager teaching at Ballet 5:8’s Summer Intensive

What are the secrets?

Slager has found, from her experience as a professional dancer, teacher, and now Artistic Director and Resident Choreographer of Ballet 5:8, that there are ten key things that help dancers stand out from the crowd.

Becoming a professional-level dancer is not an easy feat. As a highly athletic art form, ballet requires years and years and years of training and repetition. Some crucial elements help, like training with a thoughtful ballet syllabus that dictates the order the classical ballet vocabulary is learned, and the pace. Studying under accomplished current and former professional dancers can also make a big difference. As they’re studying, if dancers pay attention to and master these ten skills, they’re more likely to be able to keep moving forward in their training and career path, get noticed at auditions, and ultimately, achieve their goals and dreams for professional dance.

Want to learn more? We created a video series called the 10 Secrets of a Standout Dancer, and you can get it free when you sign up with your email.