Summer Work

Making the Most of the Summer After Sophomore Year: Dance, Discovery, and Work Experience

The summer before your Junior year is as important as everyone is telling you. You’re halfway through high school and while college might still feel a ways away, this is a super window to deepen your dance training, explore the broader dance world, and begin building a foundation that college admissions officers and dance faculty adjudicators will notice and appreciate.

Go Away, Grow as a Dancer

This is the perfect summer to go away to a dance intensive. By now, you’ve likely built a strong base at your studio or school. Stepping into a new environment—whether it’s a ballet intensive, a contemporary workshop, or a university-hosted program—can expand your vocabulary, challenge your habits, and introduce you to instructors and choreographers with fresh perspectives. You’ll get to work with new teachers and understand more deeply the different values and perspectives that shape the dance world.

A new setting also introduces you to dancers from all over the country (and world). These peers are often future classmates, colleagues, and collaborators. Learning alongside them sharpens your skills and gives you a glimpse into the diversity of training paths and experiences other dancers bring to the studio.

You don’t have to go far or for long. This is a great time to learn more about your family budget, and what can make sense to you. It’s amazing if you can go away to a summer institute at a college, it’s also awesome if you get a job as a counselor at an arts sleep away camp where you can also take class once a day and work the rest of the day, it’s ALSO great if you can commute an hour a day to a one week workshop in a nearby city. Or maybe you have an aunt who lives somewhere and you could go take class in the mornings and babysit in the evenings. Any of these expand your perspectives.

Watch the Stage with Curiosity—and read the program

When you attend performances this summer—whether at your intensive, a festival, or a professional company—look beyond the choreography. Start asking: Where did these dancers train? You’ll likely notice they come from a wide range of schools, from major conservatories to liberal arts programs and everything in between. It’s a powerful reminder that there’s no one “right” path to a dance career or college experience. Your job now is to stay curious, take notes, and start building your list of potential programs based on your own goals, not just reputation.

Gain Work Experience—Yes, Really

This summer is also a great time to pick up your first job. Colleges love to see work experience—especially for dancers, whose schedules often make traditional jobs hard to manage. Jobs demonstrate maturity, responsibility, and time management. Short-term or part-time gigs count! Keep track of of everything you do.

Look for flexible options that fit your dance commitments:

• Assist at a summer dance camp for younger students. You’ll be in a familiar setting but on the other side—leading, organizing, mentoring. Often these are at a different times than the prepro camps so you can do both! Keep track of the responsibilities you have—leading warm-ups, monitoring pick-ups, planning crafts, be specific in your documenting so later you can go back and pull what is most relevant to your story.

• Babysit regularly—say, every Thursday evening for the same family. Over time, you can take on more responsibility, showing growth and consistency. Keep track of the things you do with the kids! Are you crafty, adventurous, have you been tutoring them?

• Help at a local arts center, community space, or even your studio’s front desk. Administrative skills are great, technology skills are great, and most importantly, communication skills! Sometimes there are also work-study jobs where you clean studios and get free classes.

• Work retail, or a restaurant job, or a family business. Will this be the most fun you’ve ever had? Maybe, also maybe not. but what this shows colleges is that you are a hard worker and you don’t expect things to be handed to you. Plus, the dance faculty who are reading your applications have all been waiters, salespeople, or done work-study jobs cleaning studio bathrooms and they value that labor.

And a “don’t:” Don’t do things just for college applications

Well, maybe except for an SAT/ACT prep class—do that one if you can. But otherwise, there are SO MANY things that align with the person you are and want to become that colleges will love to see. You don't need to do things just because you think they’ll look good for college applications.

A Summer of Exploration

The summer after sophomore year is about exploration—not just of new movement, but of who you are becoming as a student, artist, and young adult. Use it to stretch in every sense: physically, artistically, socially, and professionally. We are here to help you figure out what works for you—and what doesn’t. You don’t have to do everything! And you don’t need to have it all figured out yet—but if you lean into this summer with intention, you’ll head into junior year with more clarity, confidence, and momentum.

Need help planning your summer or mapping out your college dance journey? Schedule a consultation with Dance And.. College Counseling and take your next step with expert support.