Ballet Help Desk

Latest Episodes:

SMU's Carter Alexander on Training Versatile Dancers Jul 29, 2026

Show notes

Listen to Ballet Help Desk Podcast ad-free on Patreon

We sit down with Carter Alexander, Chair of the Division of Dance at Southern Methodist University, to find out what sets the program apart from the more ballet-specific schools. Carter walks us through the conservatory-within-a-liberal-arts structure: required training in ballet, modern, and jazz, a newly added Afro modern component, and how the school's BFA program allows roughly 60% of students double major in fields like mechanical engineering, psychology, and business.

We discuss admissions and auditions, how merit scholarships get awarded, and why the program has struggled to attract male dancers in recent years. Carter also weighs in on the trainee-versus-college debate, and how he sees the trade-offs given today's job market.

Finally, he covers how SMU prepares these young adults for the job market by coaching all students on how to network effectively and explains how much SMU relies on their alumni mentorship network.

Links:

Pick Up a Year-Round Training Corrections Journal
Read Our Ballet School Summer & Year-Round Reviews
Support Ballet Help Desk
Instagram: @BalletHelpDesk
Facebook: BalletHelpDesk
TikTok: @BalletHelpDesk

Music from #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/ian-aisling/new-future License code: MGAW5PAHYEYDQZCI

The Business of Ballet: Shane Jewell, Oregon Ballet Theatre Jul 22, 2026

Show notes

Listen to Ballet Help Desk ad-free on Patreon

Shane Jewell, executive director of Oregon Ballet Theatre, was kind enough to sit down with us to explain how ballet companies actually run as businesses. He takes us through the nonprofit structure, including what makes up the primary revenue streams. We also discussed what goes into building a season budget and how that impacts dancer compensation, benefits and artistic programming. With funding for the arts being cut, Shane also addresses how OBT is handling these challenges through creative solutions like co-productions between companies as well as new ways of driving corporate sponsorships. The conversation closes with his advice for young dancers weighing a contract, including what to look for in a company's finances, culture, and promotion patterns before signing.

Links:

Read Our Ballet School Summer & Year-Round Reviews
Support Ballet Help Desk
Instagram: @BalletHelpDesk
Facebook: BalletHelpDesk
TikTok: @BalletHelpDesk

Music from #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/ian-aisling/new-future License code: MGAW5PAHYEYDQZCI

Peter Stark: When Is It Time to Leave Your Local Studio? Jul 15, 2026

Show notes

Listen to Ballet Help Desk ad-free on Patreon

Peter Stark, president and director of The Rock School for Dance Education, has spent 26 years running ballet schools and knows the recruiting process from both sides of the table.

We talk with him about how he evaluates students for recruitment. We also cover how his approach has changed over the years, including how he now weighs student conduct and how his views on age and late starters have shifted. Stark discusses what full-time training requires of a teenager beyond technical preparation, including conversations about consent, hygiene, and roommate dynamics that families need to have before their dancer moves away from home.

Stark also discusses what "fitting in" means at the corps de ballet level and why understudying matters at every stage of a dancer's career, not just early on.

Links:

Read Our Ballet School Summer & Year-Round Reviews
Shop Summer Intensive Essentials Guide
Buy Summer Corrections Journals
Support Ballet Help Desk
Instagram: @BalletHelpDesk
Facebook: BalletHelpDesk
TikTok: @BalletHelpDesk

Music from #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/ian-aisling/new-future License code: MGAW5PAHYEYDQZCI

What It's Really Like to Send Your Teen to Full-Time Ballet Training: Part 2 Jul 08, 2026

Show notes

Listen to Ballet Help Desk ad-free on Patreon

Our parent panel is back for part two, picking up right where we left off.

In this half of the conversation, Erin, Sarah, and Sue cover the topics that come up most for families navigating full-time residential training: how a highly competitive environment can affect a dancer's confidence, how SAB, Houston Ballet Academy, and Canada's National Ballet School each approach annual cuts, and how the academic models differ across the three programs.

The conversation also gets into the pressure dancers carry during audition season, the friendships that form in competitive training environments, and what it looks like to keep family life running when your dancer is living far from home.

We close with the advice each parent would offer a family just starting this journey, and the one thing they would tell themselves on drop-off day.

Learn more about full-time ballet training on our website.

Links:

Shop Summer Intensive Essentials Guide
Buy Summer Corrections Journals
Read Our Ballet School Summer & Year-Round Reviews
Support Ballet Help Desk
Instagram: @BalletHelpDesk
Facebook: BalletHelpDesk
TikTok: @BalletHelpDesk

Music from #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/ian-aisling/new-future License code: MGAW5PAHYEYDQZCI

What It's Really Like to Send Your Teen to Full-Time Ballet Training: Part 1 Jul 01, 2026

Show notes

Listen to Ballet Help Desk ad-free on Patreon

We are so excited to be publishing part 1 of this 2 part interview. It's something we've wanted to do for a long time. Three parents of dancers who attended some of the largest full-time training programs in North America joined us for an in-depth and candid conversation about what it was like, from the family's perspective, to allow their teenagers to head off to full-time training while they were still in their teens.

Erin Miller's son, Wesley, attended Canada's National Ballet School and now dances with Boston Ballet. Sarah Borden's daughter, Charlotte, went clear across the country from their home in Washington to attend the full-time program at the School of American Ballet. And Sue McCarroll's son, Owen, left home to attend Houston Ballet Academy, where he is currently in their professional training program.

We went into so much depth that we're breaking this conversation into two parts. Across both episodes, we dig into how each family made the decision to send their dancer off, what factors ultimately drove that decision, what it was like to drop their child off, and how the adjustment went, not just for the dancer, but for the siblings and parents left at home. The conversation also covers the difference between training at a company-affiliated school versus a conservatory, and pushes back on the assumption that Balanchine-trained dancers are limited to a small handful of companies after graduation.

Learn more about full-time ballet training on our website.

Links:

Shop Summer Intensive Essentials Guide
Buy Summer Corrections Journals
Read Our Ballet School Summer & Year-Round Reviews
Support Ballet Help Desk
Instagram: @BalletHelpDesk
Facebook: BalletHelpDesk
TikTok: @BalletHelpDesk

Music from #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/ian-aisling/new-future License code: MGAW5PAHYEYDQZCI

Riley Weber on Ballet Influencers and Brand Ambassadorships Jun 24, 2026

Show notes

Listen to Ballet Help Desk ad-free on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BalletHelpDesk

Riley Weber is back on the podcast. Since leaving a corporate dance brand job, Riley has been speaking more openly about how the influencer side of the dance industry actually works. In this episode, we talk about how influencer income works, from per view payouts to brand collabs, and what actually happens behind the scenes of a sponsored post.

We also talk about brand ambassadorships for dance students. What it means when a brand sends a 12 year old free leotards in exchange for content, who benefits from that arrangement, and what it can do to a child's sense of self worth when it gets tied to follower counts and engagement.

If you have ever wondered whether your dancer should pursue a brand deal, or whether a large following actually helps with getting hired by a company, this episode covers it.

Find Riley on socials: @rileythomasweber

Links:

Shop Summer Intensive Essentials Guide
Buy Summer Corrections Journals
Read Our Ballet School Summer & Year-Round Reviews
Support Ballet Help Desk
Instagram: @BalletHelpDesk
Facebook: BalletHelpDesk
TikTok: @BalletHelpDesk

Music from #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/ian-aisling/new-future License code: MGAW5PAHYEYDQZCI

Francis Veyette: What The Heck Does Potential, Facility and Body Type REALLY Mean? A Rerelease Jun 17, 2026

Show notes

Listen to Ballet Help Desk ad-free on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BalletHelpDesk

Jenny and I are taking a much needed vacation with our families so we're rereleasing one of our most popular episodes. We sat down with Francis Veyette, former principal dancer with Pennsylvania (now Philadelphia) Ballet, Co-Founder of the Veyette Virtual Ballet School and Rehearsal Director & Outreach Manager for Indianapolis Ballet. In this episode, Fran breaks down loaded terms like potential, facility, and body type, offering a practical understanding of what they mean. He also shares insights into the qualities dancers need to thrive in the ballet world. For anyone who has ever scratched their head when they heard people refer to potential or facility, this interview is a must-listen! You can learn more about Fran on his website.

Links:

Shop Summer Intensive Essentials Guide
Buy Summer Corrections Journals
Read Our Ballet School Summer & Year-Round Reviews
Support Ballet Help Desk
Instagram: @BalletHelpDesk
Facebook: BalletHelpDesk
TikTok: @BalletHelpDesk

Music from #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/ian-aisling/new-future License code: MGAW5PAHYEYDQZCI

From the Royal Ballet to K-Ballet Academy: Kenta Kura on Training Japan's Next Generation Jun 10, 2026

Show notes

Listen to Ballet Help Desk ad-free on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BalletHelpDesk

If you've been paying attention, you've noticed: Japanese dancers are everywhere. Winning competitions, yes, but also filling the upper ranks of major ballet companies around the world. We've been wondering for a while now what is actually going on over there. Turns out, Kenta Kura has some answers.

Kura spent nearly three decades inside the Royal Ballet, first as a soloist with the Royal Ballet, then as the first Japanese permanent teacher at the Royal Ballet School. In 2023, he came home to Japan with a clear mission: bring that world-class methodology to K-Ballet Academy, and change the equation for Japanese dancers who have long had to leave the country to access professional-level training.

In this conversation, we dig into how ballet training is structured in Japan from the ground up, what the Kumakawa Method is and why it matters, and how K-Ballet Academy's Pre-Professional Course functions as a direct pipeline into K-Ballet Tokyo. We also explore what it takes for Japanese dancers to build careers abroad, the mental and emotional preparation that journey requires, and what it was like for Kura to be the only boy in his ballet school in a small Hokkaido village, until he stepped onto that international stage and felt, for the first time, like he truly belonged.

His advice for young dancers is as simple as it is hard: allow yourself to make mistakes. Stay hungry. Stay curious. And believe in your own potential more than anyone else does.

Links:

Shop Summer Intensive Essentials Guide
Buy Summer Corrections Journals
Read Our Ballet School Summer & Year-Round Reviews
Support Ballet Help Desk
Instagram: @BalletHelpDesk
Facebook: BalletHelpDesk
TikTok: @BalletHelpDesk

Music from #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/ian-aisling/new-future License code: MGAW5PAHYEYDQZCI

Your Ballet Dancer Wants to Go to College. Now What? Jun 03, 2026

Show notes

Listen to Ballet Help Desk ad-free on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BalletHelpDesk

Your dancer has decided to pursue the college path. But which program is the right fit? What's the real difference between a BFA and a BA? What does a video pre-screen actually need to accomplish? And when tuition can tip into six figures, how do families make smart financial decisions?

Francisco Gella and Julie Friedrich of Francisco Gella Dance Works are back for Part 2, and they get specific.

We cover BFA vs. BA, which programs they think are doing strong work right now, how to approach video pre-screens, the three types of financial aid available to dancers, and what happens if your dancer gets a company offer after already committing to a school.

The 2026 workshop schedule can be found here. Discounts are available to listeners of the Ballet Help Desk Podcast. Use code CollegePrep for a 20% discount on one or more of the workshops.

Links:

Shop Summer Intensive Essentials Guide
Buy Summer Corrections Journals
Read Our Ballet School Summer & Year-Round Reviews
Support Ballet Help Desk
Instagram: @BalletHelpDesk
Facebook: BalletHelpDesk
TikTok: @BalletHelpDesk

Music from #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/ian-aisling/new-future License code: MGAW5PAHYEYDQZCI

What Does "Elite Ballet Training" Actually Mean for College Admissions? May 27, 2026

Show notes

Listen to Ballet Help Desk ad-free on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BalletHelpDesk

Does your dancer need elite training to have a shot at a top college? But what does elite actually mean? Is it competition wins? A company-affiliated school? The right summer intensives? And does the answer look the same whether your dancer is pursuing a BFA or a non-dance degree?

College and career specialists Francisco Gella and Julie Friedrich of Francisco Gella Dance Works have guided hundreds of dancers down both routes.

This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation.

In Part 1, we dig into the real differences between the BFA route and the academic route. We talk about why your school's college counselor may not understand this world and what "Olympic level" actually means when elite universities evaluate a dancer's background. We also look at why competition results carry less weight in academic admissions than many families expect, and a distinction that confuses a lot of families: the difference between a dance portfolio and a dance supplement, and what each one is actually for.

The 2026 workshop schedule can be found here. Discounts are available to listeners of the Ballet Help Desk Podcast. Use code CollegePrep for a 20% discount on one or more of the workshops.

Links:

Summer Intensive Essentials Guide
Buy Summer Corrections Journals
Read Our Ballet School Summer & Year-Round Reviews
Support Ballet Help Desk
Instagram: @BalletHelpDesk
Facebook: BalletHelpDesk
TikTok: @BalletHelpDesk

Music from #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/ian-aisling/new-future License code: MGAW5PAHYEYDQZCI

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected