National Ballet School to hold professional auditions in Yellowknife

This October, dancers from across the NWT will have the chance to audition for one of Canada’s leading ballet schools without having to travel south. 

Canada’s National Ballet School, or NBS, will hold auditions for its 2027-28 Professional Ballet Program at Bella Dance Academy on October 11, marking the first time the Yellowknife studio has hosted an audition of this level. 

The auditions are open to dancers from across the North, with one session for dancers aged 10 to 13 from 8:30am to 10:15am and another for those aged 14 to 22 from 9:45am to 12pm. Two NBS examiners will travel to Yellowknife to evaluate dancers interested in its professional programs. 

For Bella Dance Academy owner and artistic director Phoenix Smith, bringing the auditions to the North is an opportunity to reduce a barrier facing northern dancers. 

“Anyone who’s living in the North and studying dance here has had to travel south to either audition or take part in any of the pre-professional programs,” Smith said. 

Travelling south can add significant costs and requires dancers to be familiar with the audition process before they even enter the room. 

Smith said October’s audition will allow northern dancers to experience that process locally while giving NBS faculty a chance to see the talent being developed in the territory. 

The opportunity is also open to dancers who are not planning to pursue ballet professionally. 

Smith said participating can help dancers build confidence, learn how professional auditions work and challenge themselves in a setting outside their unusual studio environment.

Successful dancers could be invited to continue their training in Toronto through NBS professional programs, including intensive and year-long training. 

Yellowknife is one of 15 stops on the school’s international audition tour. Smith said she hopes the event will encourage other professional dance programs to consider bringing opportunities to the North.