Join us for an intensive immersion to further a dancer’s training in ballet technique, pointe, male and female variations, pas de deux, modern dance, contemporary dance, body conditioning, choreography, hip-hop, workshops and performance. Meet other artists with your same passion and have fun in a nurturing environment.
In the capital of sunny California led by Sacramento Ballet company’s Artistic Director Anthony Krutzkamp, Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancer James Kirby Rodgers, Joffrey Ballet principal dancer Victoria Jaiani, Cincinnati Ballet principal dancer Melissa Gelfin, former Texas Ballet Theater Trainee Director Rhodes Elliot, and Sacramento Ballet staff and faculty. Aspiring Second Company pre-professional dancers are also encouraged to audition.
SacBallet Intensives 2023 Overview
SacBallet’s Summer Intensive aims to continue in-depth training for serious dancers. Classes focus on classical ballet, pointe, female & male variations, Pas de Deux (Partnering), Contemporary Dance, and Modern Dance. Additional classes include conditioning, yoga, pilates, craft of choreography, performance repertoire, hip-hop, injury prevention, body positive lecture, workshops, and resume writing.
There will be a level placement class on the 1st day of the intensive. Senior Intensive begins on Monday, June 12 and ends with an in-studio performance on Friday, July 14 for family and friends. Plan for Saturday, July 15 will as a travel day. Our Junior Intensive starts on Monday, June 19 and ends with an in-studio performance on Friday, July 7. Saturday, July 8 will be a travel day for Juniors.
Every day starts with classes with certified instructors in either Stretching, Conditioning, Yoga, or Pilates, leading into ballet technique class and followed by pointe, male or female variations class, or pas de deux. The class schedule changes daily to accommodate a variety of classes and rehearsals. Lunch and snacks must be brought by the dancers. Students dance full days Monday through Friday (9:30 am – 5:00 pm), and half day on Saturday (9:30 am – 1 pm).
A group field trip is being planned around Sacramento. There will be a farewell party after the end of the program performance, on the last Friday of the intensives.
Vaccinations are not required. Masks are optional at the moment but can be required if Sacramento County goes to red level. There is not an on-site medical nurse, but there is an Osteopathic Physical Therapist who we work regularly with and will give a lecture/Q & A on injury prevention.
Students will reside in the dorms at Sacramento State (2.9 miles away from the studios). Each suite has two bedrooms/two bathrooms. Two people per bedroom accommodating four people per suite. There is a full kitchen, dining, and living area. WIFI and Laundry are on site at an extra cost. We will have Resident Advisors who are also participating in the Summer Intensive staying in the dorms with the students . Campus dorm staff are also available at the front desk 24/7. The cafeteria is a short walk from the dorms. Food options are separate from the housing cost. Three meal plan options are available for five weeks and include breakfast, lunch and dinner. Participants must commit to the plan of their choice and will receive a full package of information and signups with registration.
We recommend at least four pairs of pointe shoes. One pair for performance and three pairs for the five weeks.
Guest Instructors
Originally from San Francisco, California, he trained at the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he was a YAGP finalist in 2014. He attended summer courses at San Francisco Ballet and Houston Ballet. Mr. Rogers joined Houston Ballet II in 2015 and Kansas City Ballet in 2016. He joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as a soloist in 2021.
While at Houston Ballet II, Mr. Rogers performed leading and featured roles in John Neumeier’s Yondering, Ben Stevenson’s The Sleeping Beauty, and Stanton Welch’s The Long and Winding Road. At Kansas City Ballet, Mr. Rogers danced leading roles in Val Caniparoli’s Lady of the Camellias; Devon Carney’s Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, and The Sleeping Beauty; William Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated; Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort; and Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room. Mr. Rogers is the co-founder of Creative Intersections, a Kansas City-based dance festival.
Born and raised in Tbilisi, Georgia, Victoria Jaiani began her training at the age of ten at V. Chabukiani Ballet School. She continued her studies in New York and in June 2003 was awarded a Bronze Medal at the New York International Ballet Competition.
Since joining the Joffrey, she has danced leading roles in many ballets, including Christopher Wheeldon’s Swan Lake (Odette-Odile), Stanton Welch’s La Bayadère (Nikia, Gamzati), Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella (Cinderella), Giselle (Giselle), John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet (Juliet), Yuri Possokhov’s Don Quixote (Kitri), Ronald Hynd’s The Merry Widow (Henna Glawari), Lar Lubovitch’s Othello (Desdemona), and the Sugar Plum Fairy in Robert Joffrey’s The Nutcracker.
Jaiani originated the lead pas de deux in Edwaard Liang’s Age of Innocence and Woven Dreams; Possokhov’s Bells; Welch’s Son of Chamber Symphony; and James Kudelka’s Pretty BALLET. Other significant performances include George Balanchine’s Apollo (Terpsichore), Stravinsky Violin Concerto Aria II; Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain, Carousel (A Dance) (Julie); Wayne McGregor’s INFRA; Jiří Kylián’s Forgotten Land (Black pas) and Return to a Strange Land; William Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated; Possokhov’s RAkU; Jerome Robbins’s In the Night (3rd pas) and Ballerina in The Concert (or, The Perils of Everybody); Justin Peck’s In Creases; Welch’s Maninyas; Antony Tudor’s Lilac Garden, Dark Elegies, and Operetta Star in Offenbach in the Underworld; Lar Lubovitch’s …smile with my heart; Frederick Ashton’s Monotones II; Gerald Arpino’s Sea Shadow, Round of Angels, Reflections, Kettentanz, Birthday Variations, and Viva Vivaldi; Nicolas Blanc’s Evenfall; and Alexander Ekman’s Tulle.
In 2010, Jaiani was featured on the cover of Dance Magazine and was named “Chicagoan of the Year” by the Chicago Tribune Arts Critic. In 2012, Today’s Chicago Woman named her one of Chicago’s top women in the arts. In 2013, Chicago Magazine named her “best dancer.” Jaiani is married to Joffrey dancer Temur Suluashvili.
Melissa Gelfin De-Poli began her ballet training with Lisa Collins Vidnovic at Metropolitan Ballet Academy and continued with Barbara Sandonato and Andrea Long-Naidu at Barbara Sandonato School of Ballet. She joined the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre in 2009, under the direction of Franco De Vita and Raymond Lukens, and was awarded a National Training Scholarship with ABT. Prior to dancing with Cincinnati Ballet, Gelfin De-Poli danced for Orlando Ballet II and Orlando Ballet Company from 2011-2014 and was a finalist in the 2014 Jackson International Ballet Competition. Gelfin De-Poli joined Cincinnati Ballet as a new dancer for the 2014-2015 season and was promoted to Corps De Ballet in February 2015. She was promoted to Senior Soloist in 2017 and Principal Dancer in 2018. As a dancer with Cincinnati Ballet, Gelfin De-Poli’s repertoire includes classical and contemporary works by Septime Webre, Yuri Possikov, Victoria Morgan, Val Caniparoli, Jerome Robbins, George Balanchine, Nicolo Fonte, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Adam Hougland, and Ma Cong. She has danced Principal roles in Septime Webre’s ALICE (in Wonderland) and The Wizard of Oz, Victoria Morgan’s The Nutcracker, King Arthur’s Camelot and Romeo and Juliet, Kirk Peterson’s Coppélia and Swan Lake, George Balanchine’s Rubies and Serenade, Devon Carney’s The Sleeping Beauty and originated roles in Penny Saunders Nannerl, Myles Thatcher’s Anamoly, Andrea Schermoly’s Swivet and several works by Jennifer Archibald. Gelfin De-Poli most recently debuted her world premiere Clockwise in Cincinnati Ballet’s 2019 The Kaplan New Works Series and choreographed and performed a solo work in the inaugural 2018 Female Choreographic Initiative Festival hosted by Houston Ballet. During the summer months, Gelfin De-Poli performs and tours with Moving Arts Company.