Winter Intensives: Are They Worth It?
It seems as though every school, choreographer, and convention now host winter intensives during holiday/winter break. These usually 3-7 day long intensives can offer serious dancers the opportunity to train with teachers and choreographers they normally would not have access to and can also allow dancers to see if they might be interested in that school's more extensive summer intensive. But participating in these winter intensives can also limit a dancer's down time which they may need to recover. Being able to weigh the pros and cons of attending a winter intensive is necessary when deciding if you should attend or not.
The Pros
Here are some of the benefits to attending a winter intensive.
You will have the opportunity to potentially improve your technique a bit more right before heading into audition/competition season.
If you are getting towards the end of your training, these intensives could offer you a way to be seeing by choreographers you may be interested in working with professionally.
These shorter winter intensives could give an idea of what to expect at that school's longer summer intensive and for you to see if they are a good fit for you and your goals.
If your school has longer breaks these intensives can keep your training consistent so you don't get out of shape right before audition/competition season.
The Cons
Consider the following as well before making a decision.
Depending on your training and rehearsal schedule a one to two week break will be necessary for your body to recover. Recovery is not only necessary when injured, it is also necessary in order to remain uninjured. For dancers training/rehearsing 5 to 6 days week with no injuries, your body needs at least one week off every four months in order to facilitate proper recovery. If you have been training/rehearsing 7 days a week (which I do not condone) for more than a month or if you are injured, you will most likely need at least two weeks of recovery.
If you are dealing with an injury, even a minor injury, attending a winter intensive right before audition/competition season is not smart. This will make the injury worse and have potentially long term consequences. Giving an injury time to heal, especially before audition/competition season, is necessary so you can continue dancing at your best.
Since these intensives are only a few days long the amount of potential improvement to your technique will most likely be negligible. While it is possible to learn new concepts over the course of a few days, being able to apply those concepts to your dancing takes time and consistent practice. If you really want to make large improvements at an intensive attending summer intensives where you are training full time hours for at least 3 weeks is the way to do that.
While winter intensives can have some benefits they can also have a negative impact as well. It is important to stay realistic about what you are expecting to get out of attending a winter intensive and what you can actually get out of attending a winter intensive. Before signing up it is important to talk to your teachers about your goals to see if attending is the right choice. Any teacher worth their salt is going to be able to help walk you through your options and allow you to make the best decision for yourself.
