Summer Dance Platform

Summer Dance Platform includes daily training in ballet, contemporary, improvisation, floor work, partnering, stretch and core, and conditioning. Dancers work on developing original choreography, learning NW Dance Project repertoire, and participating in site specific creation. The program also includes injury prevention, professional development, networking, repertoire and composition work, choreographic development sessions, career planning discussions, life as a professional dancer discussions, and a wellness and injury prevention clinic.

• Ages: 15–18 years old
• Schedule: Runs July 13 to 31, 2026, with activities Monday through Saturday and up to 8 hours of dancing per day
• Price: 2026 Tuition: $2375 USD; 2026 Housing Only: $1950 (Double Occupancy); 2026 Meal Plan: $775 (meal plan includes daily breakfast and dinner, Monday–Sunday; meal plans are required for all dancers under the age of 18 and optional for dancers 18+)

Aspiring professional dancers in Summer Dance Platform work closely with NW Dance Project’s company members and special guest artists. Participating dancers are split into groups by age, merit, and experience. The program culminates in two public showings featuring NW Dance Project repertoire and original creation as a public ticketed event. Dancers are accepted into Summer Dance Platform by audition only, with options to attend a live audition or submit a video application, and applicants who attend a live audition are prioritized on a rolling basis. Limited scholarships are available, and awards are based on financial need and artistic potential. Students are not required to live in the dormitories and may choose to commute from home or other accommodations, and apartments for housing are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, with comprehensive housing information provided before arrival. Summer Dance Platform requires dancers to have stamina to dance six days per week and be fully active for up to 8 hours per day.

NW Dance Project’s founding artistic director is Sarah Slipper, and NW Dance Project was founded in Portland in 2004. NW Dance Project opened an 8,500 square foot Creative Center in Portland’s Inner Eastside in March 2014 and has fostered the creation and Portland premiere of nearly 300 original contemporary dance works. NW Dance Project states that it celebrates, supports, and represents excellence in dance and is dedicated to creating and performing inspired, original contemporary dance works from choreographers around the world while providing dance training, performing, educating, creating, cultivating, and championing diversity, and engaging and deepening public appreciation and support of dance. NW Dance Project is described as an award-winning, bold, and innovative contemporary dance company, and Dance International Magazine stated that NW Dance Project is “changing the way dance is created” and “a laboratory, factory and repository for risk-taking new works from the next generation of choreographers from Europe and North America.” NW Dance Project offers the experience of dance and ongoing, interactive dance education programs for young, challenged members of the community through its cost-free Dance Moves program and holds free public performances as often as possible. NW Dance Project also offers accessible drop-in dance classes for adults and teens in styles including ballet, jazz, hip hop, contemporary, conditioning, and fitness.

Past participants have said, “This intensive has fully turned my world upside down, there aren’t words to describe how special this experience was for me,” and “SDP has changed my perspective on dance, re-inspired me, and made me stronger as a dancer and artist.”

Last updated March 30, 2026.