Content

In Practice

Future-proof

What is the best way for higher education institutions to attract new talent, and what matters most in their training?

by Rico Stehfest

Scouting at competitions brings new talent to training centers. However, that alone is not enough to remain an attractive institution and ensure future quality in the dance profession. So, what approaches are the major academies, schools, and colleges taking? Certainly, a balancing act between the desire to invest and a lack of capacity is involved—spanning everything from the allure of the "Neumeier aura" to nutrition workshops for parents.

"We realized that we need to place greater emphasis on recruiting young talent in order to continue finding a good number of suitable children. It requires more effort." With these words, Maud Butter retired this summer. For more than 15 years, she traveled to primary schools across Saxony as a talent scout for the Palucca Hochschule für Tanz Dresden. The position is being filled anew for the upcoming school year—efforts to recruit young talent have become crucial. However, one thing should be kept in mind: the university plays a unique role in this regard compared to other major training institutions in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Thanks to its structure, it possesses not only a dedicated (part-time) position for talent scouting but also a dedicated position for press and public relations. What is the connection between the two? Scouting is, after all, a form of marketing.

Looking at other institutions, the conditions are less than ideal.

The issue of recruiting young talent is usually handled more or less as an afterthought, an additional task distributed among several people. Gigi Hyatt, interim director of the Hamburg Ballet School, has her own perspective: "The term 'recruiting young talent' isn't ideal for me. It sounds so much like competition and trophies. I want students to attend the school where their potential for creativity, technique, and artistic expression can be best developed. That's what we strive for. We're fortunate that our profile, with John Neumeier as the founder of our school, is still shaped by his vision." She hopes that potential students will do their own research beforehand to find suitable professional training. However, this raises the question of whether the institutions themselves are doing enough in their public relations efforts to tailor their approach to the target audience effectively. "I hope that our profile speaks for itself and attracts students to us for whom it is the best path for their individual development. There is no need for 'selling' in that case," is Hyatt’s clear statement. It is a strategy with an expiration date, however. Clearly, it has to be the right fit for both sides.

But the Neumeier name will not forever lend its prestige to the institution. Hyatt is well aware of this; she and her team naturally attend the Prix de Lausanne every year—scouting for talent, just like other training institutes. The Hamburg-based educators travel internationally in any case, conducting masterclasses and courses, and inviting dancers for "short-term study" during the summer program—as well as to the annual audition.

Quantity or Quality?
For all training institutions, these in-house auditions are of crucial importance. And they are certainly taking place: there is no shortage of applicants anywhere. Yet, quantity does not automatically equate to quality. It is not simply a matter of cherry-picking the best from the pool of applicants; ultimately, the goal is to recruit students with genuine talent and palpable potential for the institution. The watchword: excellence.

The Ballet Academy of the Munich University of Music and Performing Arts also benefits from this reputation; its long-standing collaboration with the Heinz Bosl Foundation is a particular asset. However, no one is content to rest on their laurels. "We are reaching out to schools, an effort we intend to expand further in the future. We continue to invite school classes to visit us and host at least one open day each year," explains Jan Broeckx, Professor and Artistic Director of the Academy. He notes, however, that the catchment area is very large. A boarding facility would be particularly helpful for early training programs and for young students who are still attending regular school.

At the Munich Academy—founded in the mid-1960s by Konstanze Vernon—there is still much work in progress. When Broeckx arrived at the institution 16 years ago, he encountered an inadequately developed infrastructure. For a long time, funding decisions lacked foresight regarding the actual needs of such a training center. To this day, the academy still lacks boarding facilities. Nevertheless, Michaela Bosshard speaks of the institution’s strong reputation—particularly in classical ballet and thanks to an attractive bachelor’s program. Bosshard joined the Ballet Academy as Managing Director in 2025; previously, she had worked as a project manager for supporting emerging talent at the professional association Danse Suisse and serving as a lecturer at the Zurich University of the Arts—where Jason Beechey now serves as Head of Dance, having arrived from Dresden with nearly 20 years of experience at the helm of the Palucca University.

Bosshard has already set a number of initiatives in motion. "We want to expand existing structures and make them more accessible. For instance, we aim to offer our students more performance opportunities—including at new venues and for new audiences. It is also about discovering new talent and better integrating their dance training with their academic education. That is the only way to foster our young talents in a long-term, sustainable manner." The "Jungstudium"—as it is known in Bavaria—is set to become even more professional.

The academy has a "Scouting" working group and a "Young Academy" working group. However, Bosshard is also aware that "nurturing young talent requires structures and sustained support—spanning everything from early-stage development to the various milestones on the path to professionalization. Practical training and effective coordination with academic schooling are crucial—much like the model used in sports-focused high schools. Dance, too, needs structures similar to those found in elite sports."

However, it remains an open question what effective support for each institution might look like. In the case of the State Ballet and Acrobatics School Berlin, as with Palucca, there was previously a special position dedicated to talent recruitment. "Unfortunately, that didn't work out. It consumed too many resources; we were too deeply involved in the school's day-to-day operations," explains Kathrin Baum-Höfer, Head of Planning and Rehearsal Coordination. She has been with the institution for 19 years and knows exactly how closely talent recruitment is linked to public visibility. That is precisely why she would like to have more capacity to reach out into the greater Berlin area. The school offers recreational dance classes for children (grades 1–4), taught by external instructors. There is simply a lack of capacity— and more—to go into general education schools ourselves. It is not uncommon for privately run dance and ballet schools to be reluctant to simply let go of their truly talented students, even though they are certainly proud of the careers for which they themselves laid the foundation.

A Partnership Concept
That this competition for "the best" doesn't have to exist if you approach it as a partnership-based, win-win concept is demonstrated by the "Network of Partner Schools for Dance Talents" at the Palucca Hochschule für Tanz in Dresden. The idea originated during the Corona lockdown. At that time, the question arose: How do students from outside Saxony actually find their way to the audition at the university? "It was lecturers and teachers from private dance schools who knew our university. So we decided to develop an exchange program. As a lecturer at these schools, you're often very much on your own and have hardly any opportunities for further development. "That’s when the idea arose to offer something here based on pedagogical exchange," explains Juliana Sabino Wilhelm. She serves as the university’s Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs and is a professor of classical dance. The network currently spans seven schools across Germany, ranging from Coburg and Osnabrück to Rosenheim. Potential partners can apply and undergo an individual assessment of their teaching quality based on the university’s standards and values. If a partnership is established, instructors, students, and parents can observe classes at the university to get a feel for the atmosphere and pedagogical approaches. The umbrella organization Tanz Deutschland is actively promoting this initiative.

To strike the right tone when reaching out to prospective students, the school also employs peer-to-peer marketing strategies. Its "Online Info Days" always feature current students who help out during the Q&A sessions. "I could answer all of that myself," says Sabino Wilhelm. "But when the answers come from our students, it makes much more sense. It is their perspective that matters here."

Talent Among Peers
Jason Beechey describes a similar network for his Zurich Dance Academy. Conditions there are significantly better than in Munich, as Bosshard recalls. However, the Zurich network also contends with the issue of dance schools being reluctant to let their talented students leave. Beechey emphasizes the value of moving to a professional training program, as it allows talented dancers to learn and train alongside peers of a similar caliber. And Zurich invests in this: a health team, a fitness room, mental resilience training, yoga, and Feldenkrais.

This opens up another area regarding the recruitment of young talent: What does it take to work successfully with students from an educational perspective and retain them at the institution? Especially with younger students, parents play a significantly larger role today than one might sometimes prefer. Institutions across the board report that parents want to know every detail. "We now offer workshops for parents as well, starting with topics like nutrition and managing physical strain. Among other things, we demonstrate the importance of breaks and recovery periods," says Beechey. He adds that this initiative has been very well received, as many parents want to learn more about dance and support their children. "This ongoing dialogue requires more effort, but it also fosters much greater understanding. It shows that we are a team. That is a positive development." This approach includes a parents' council, a student council, and semester feedback sessions— time-consuming, certainly, but ensuring complete transparency.

Nevertheless, it sometimes proves challenging to "help parents understand that ballet training is highly complex—which is why we need to build trust between parents and instructors," as confirmed by Caterina Mantovani, a classical ballet instructor for junior and senior levels at the Vienna State Opera Ballet Academy. This ties directly into the additional communication effort mentioned by Beechey. Hyatt, based in Hamburg, also notes: "We share more information these days. I think that’s a good thing, as the nature of our training has changed overall. At the same time, however, we are also expected to share information openly and clearly." Only when everyone is on board can everyone be satisfied. And word of this is spreading among the next generations. However, the necessary staffing capacity is also required. Hyatt sees no prospect of improvements at its property beyond mere discussions, as the challenges remain complex.

A Look into the Future
Parents consider the long years of such training and ask what the future holds afterward. Qualifications such as a bachelor’s degree or a concurrently offered vocational baccalaureate are important options in this regard. At the same time, some parents criticize the fact that this is not a "real" academic high school diploma ("Abitur"). As members of "Generation TikTok," the students themselves bring their own distinctive traits that need to be addressed. "The world is spinning too fast right now, and everyone wants to keep pace," says Patrick Armand, Director of the Vienna State Opera Ballet Academy. "But the path to becoming a ballet dancer is not a quick one. You have to go through the various stages. If that foundation isn't solid, everything else crumbles. And because students today want to master things very quickly, the process requires more than just physical work. It is also a matter of cultivating the right mindset. That takes time."

Bosshard, based in Munich, is familiar with this as well. In her view, young people learn extremely quickly and are just as quick to put what they have learned into practice. "We address potential tensions through a modern pedagogical approach, in both classical and contemporary dance. We place great importance on a holistic view of the young dancers; this includes fostering student autonomy and participation, as well as establishing clear guidelines regarding physical and mental health. Our shared goal is excellence and top-level performance."

This requires a clear approach regarding future options. There seems to be a misconception that all students must go on to become professional dancers. Instead, there are many different paths one can take along the way. Even if interest in dance wanes, the training itself remains valuable. "It instills self-discipline and provides so many tools for all sorts of things. Many of my students have achieved success in ballet. But many have also found great success in life—outside of ballet. Ballet training lays the foundation for shaping one's future," says Armand. From all quarters, one hears stories of life paths that unfolded quite differently than expected. A student in Munich went on to study psychology after completing her bachelor’s degree and later developed a special psychological support program for students at the Munich academy. It is crucial to show appreciation to students at every point of contact in order to provide them with the best possible experience. This is a hallmark of the institution—in every situation. When this succeeds, you might spontaneously receive an email from someone who took part in an audition and simply wanted to say thank you for the wonderful experience—as Sabino Wilhelm in Dresden recounts. And this happens even though the applicant was not ultimately accepted.

www.hamburgballett.de;

www.palucca.eu;

www.sbuas.berlin;

www.hmtm.de;

www.zhdk.ch;

www.wiener-staatsoper.at