FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

The festival is unique from other dance intensive programs. We offer a deep-diving focus on teaching emerging professional artists the details and skills needed to be a great performer and/or a great choreographer. You’ll get a combination of hands-on experiential workshops and classes, performance opportunities and receive high-level mentoring not offered at most other programs.

If you are an emerging professional , college or high school student choreographer you are eligible to apply through March 1, 2024. If your work is selected, you’ll be an invited finalist to perform your work at the festival and be eligible to win a substantial cash award. Follow this link to learn more on how to submit your work.

Between 3 and 7 are selected to perform their work in each of the three  categories; emerging professional, undergraduate college students, and high school students. So we expect a maximum total of 15-20 choreographers will receive an invitation. 

The program is not for beginners, but IS for any student ages 15-24 who has been training seriously for several years and would self-report themselves as intermediate or advanced based on being placed in these classifications by their teacher. Student participants come from all different types of training environments – collegiate BFA and MFA dance programs, ballet or contemporary conservatories, arts high schools, schools run by professional dance companies, competitive-based studios, and everything in between. We encourage dancers with specialties and interests in diverse dance styles, and who meet the above requirements, to enroll.

All of the festival activities will take place at the NDI New Mexico studios in Santa Fe, NM. The festival hotel is not within walking distance so you will need a car, plan to UBER, carpool, or use the city bus to get to the studios.

We will begin with check-in and opening/orientation on Monday morning, July 29. For the remainder of the week, mornings will be classes; afternoons will be hands-on performance and choreography workshops and mentoring sessions; and some evenings will include other special activities. Beginning later in the week, several evenings will be filled with concerts with the work of guest choreographers, work you’ve learned at the festival, and performances by Zeitgeist Dance Theatre. 

Yes! Students will learn original choreography during the week and share this special moment in a special works-in-progress informal showcase with all of their new friends they made during the event. 

Students should plan on bringing a healthy lunch and snacks with them during the day, or have food delivered by parents or accompanying teachers. Breakfast is provided at the festival hotel. There is also a grocery store within a minute walk of the festival hotel where you can stock up on food to take with you to the studios during the day. 

Bring the clothes and shoes you are accustomed to wearing for dance classes in college or at your home studio or school, including for ballet, modern and contemporary. For students on pointe, bring your shoes. Bring socks and ballet slippers too. There is no requirement for the color of leos, tights, and shirts. In short, bring anything you think you might need for a variety of classes and keep everything in a bag each day that you carry with you to the festival. And don’t forget that water bottle.

No, the NCDP intensive is an educational opportunity, dancers simply need to register to participate.