Due to our amazingly generous donors from the Jeanne-Marie Endowed Scholarship & Sophie & Marc Boroditsky Endowed Scholarship for Summer@Cornish Dance, we are exited to be able to offer this 4-week Dance Intensive for an affordable cost for everyone! Reduced from $4620, students are able to participate for the entire Intensive and afternoon Electives for $100 a week! 

Dance Intensive + Audition Prep & Performance & Electives! 

Dance education has been at the heart of Cornish College of the Arts since its founding. The Summer Dance Intensive reflects the college’s commitment to rigorous, cutting-edge dance practices, and was developed in collaboration with Seattle/LA-based dancer, educator, and producer Emma Lawes.

Over the course of four weeks, students will explore a wide range of movement techniques and creative process work. The morning intensive runs Monday through Thursday and offers physical training in ballet, contemporary, jazz, and African-based forms, alongside somatic practices like conditioning and yoga. Students also engage in choreographic experimentation, improvisation, and performance-based work.

The faculty includes professional dancers and choreographers from Seattle’s vibrant dance community, giving participants a direct connection to the city’s creative ecosystem. This program is designed to provide strong foundational training while fostering the development of thoughtful, versatile, and expressive young dancers.

Fridays are focused on understanding the professional landscape of dance, with sessions on audition preparation, solo creation, and dance résumé writing. Students will also explore potential career paths in dance—whether immediately or following college-level training.

The program concludes with a culminating performance on the final Friday, held in Cornish’s professional theater spaces and shared with participants from other Summer@Cornish disciplines.

Throughout the program, dancers will train in and explore:

• Audition Prep & Performance
• Contemporary Dance
• Jazz
• Ballet
• Street Dance Forms
• Amapiano
• Choreography & Performance
• Compositional Practices & Choreography
• Improvisational Practices
• Screendance
• Conditioning
• Yoga/Stretch

How to Apply or Audition for the Summer Dance Intensive

Students should have at least 3–6 years of technical dance training, including experience in contemporary, ballet, street forms, and/or social dance styles. 

Students may be accepted into the Summer Dance Intensive in one of two ways: 

1. Video audition
2. Submit a letter of recommendation from a current dance instructor or studio.

Audition Option:

To audition, students must submit a 2–3 minute solo in a contemporary dance form of their choice that best showcases their technical ability, artistry, and movement quality. Please email video submissions to plus@cornish.edu.

Studio or Instructor Recommendation Option:

Instead of a video audition, students may also request a brief recommendation from a current dance instructor or studio director. This helps us ensure dancers are placed in a learning environment appropriate for their experience and training. Recommendations can be submitted by email to plus@cornish.edu.