3-Year International Dance Program in Berlin | Balance 1 Academy
State-Approved Conservatory for Contemporary Dance & Performing Arts
The new semester begins annually in early October.
- Verified Quality: 100% full-time vocational training focusing on a versatile curriculum (from Classical Ballet to Contemporary Dance).
- Official Qualifications: Fully approved as a recognized supplementary school under § 9a PSchG (now transitioned into § 103 of the Berlin School Act), resulting in a state-approved professional qualification.
- Academic Progression: Recognized by state arts universities as an equivalent to 180 ECTS credits for artistic Master’s applications
Are you interested getting to know the Academy personally before registering for the audition? We invite you to join one of our Open Days held annually in May or November! You have the possibility to join and watch classes and inform yourself about everything you need to know.
Beside the Open Days we offer personal visits to applicants only after having passed an audition with success during their reflection period, so the Academy does not get overcrowded too often!
The Curriculum: Technical Excellence & Artistic Identity
Our professional training concept is built upon two core pillars: uncompromisingly clean instruction in dance techniques and the deliberate cultivation of your deeply personal artistic expression. The daily curriculum includes:
- Contemporary Dance: Intensive training in contemporary release and floor techniques, partnering, and contact improvisation.
- Modern Dance: In-depth study of the major American master techniques, specifically Graham and Horton techniques.
- Classical Ballet: The essential technical foundation for placement, strength, turning technique, and core alignment.
- Jazz Dance & Commercial: Expanding your dynamics, isolation techniques, and versatility for the global dance scene.
- Choreography & Improvisation: Practical composition studies and regular performance projects on professional theater stages.
Integrated Dance Pedagogy Training – Securing Your Career
The international job market demands flexibility. A unique advantage at Balance 1 Academy: a comprehensive foundational training in dance pedagogy is fully integrated into your three-year curriculum at no additional cost.
Here, you will acquire the didactic, methodical, and anatomical tools to teach dance techniques professionally and age-appropriately. Alongside your stage career, this integrated additional qualification opens up a secure, second path to success within the international dance and cultural landscape.
Admission Requirements & International Student Info
Admission to our conservatory requires prior dance experience, physical fitness, and successfully passing our entrance audition. The maximum age at the start of the program is generally 26 years.
- The Next Step: Admission is granted either through an in-person audition at our dance villa or conveniently via a video audition.
- International Applicants: Please note that international students traveling on a standard student visa are generally not eligible for German state funding. Applicants from outside the EU must ensure they can self-finance their tuition and living costs to fulfill German visa requirements. Please read more details in our admission requirements.
Housing in Berlin
If you are coming from another country or outside Berlin please note that the academy does not have any boarding facilities or apartments. You will therefore need to find accommodation in Berlin in good time.
We are planning to offer an affordable shared apartment for dancers, but this is not yet finalized... more information will follow in due course!
Audition information & dates
Dance Performance Opportunities
Performances are an essential part of a dancer's studies. They allow dancers to share their art with the world, connect with audiences and gain valuable stage experience.
At our academy, important performance opportunities are organized for our young dancers from the second year of training onwards.
Putting the knowledge they have learned into practice, going through rehearsal processes and presenting fully rehearsed choreographies in front of an audience help them to adapt to different performance situations, work in a team and deal with the pressure of live performances. The public dance performances convey self-confidence, stage presence and a deeper understanding of the work that goes on behind the scenes.
During third semester, students develop and present their first creative works in the form of a solo as part of composition lessons.
During fourth semester, the dancers make themselves available for the final work of the third year of training and are thus directly involved in the development of their own creations for the graduation choreographies.
During fifth semester, the first full-length dance performance Admission To Dance is developed: In-house and guest choreographers create their own pieces for the dance students. Different choreographic styles and as well as different approaches in the rehearsals and production process provide valuable preparation for the future working world as dancers.
Admission To Dance is performed publicly every year in March in Berlin. This performance focuses in particular on the great diversity and technical level of our aspiring dancers.
Thanks to the cooperation of our Academy with the renowned Ernst Busch Hochschule in Berlin, there is also the exciting opportunity to work with prospective choreographers from the master's degree course in choreography in the fifth semester.
The sixth semester is dedicated to the development of the choreographic final projects.
Graduation Choreography and Dance project
After passing the final examinations, the most exciting and challenging part of the training program follows at the end:
during sixth semester, each graduate develops and creates an own choreography as the official final project, which is rehearsed with dancers from 2nd and 3rd year of training.
The graduates also dance in other choreographies of the graduating class for the Graduation Choreographies.
The Graduation Choreographies are a brilliant climax and a worthy end to professional dance training.
All choreographic graduation pieces are duly presented and performed in public every year as full-length premieres, in keeping with the festive occasion.
Certificate, ECTS Equivalence, and Academic Progression
The Difference Between a Vocational Conservatory and a University
- Admission to Master's Programs (M.A.): Many state and international universities of the arts accept our state-approved certificate in professional practice as an equivalent to 180 ECTS credits. This regularly enables our graduates to apply for artistic-practical Master's programs (e.g., Master of Arts in Choreography or Contemporary Dance) in Germany and abroad.
- Formal Boundaries in Higher Education: Because this is a vocational rather than a university degree, there are formal, bureaucratic boundaries in Germany and abroad. Purely scientific-theoretical programs (such as a Master of Science in Dance Science) are excluded. Furthermore, a few state arts universities—such as the Folkwang University of the Arts—strictly require an academic undergraduate degree (university degree) for admission to their Master's programs.
- International Bureaucratic Restrictions (Examples: Spain and France): Please note that national ministries of education abroad apply different regulations. Our certificate is not automatically recognized by state authorities in Spain, as the Spanish education system has no direct equivalent for the highly specialized German vocational school system in dance. In France, the certificate is not automatically recognized for teaching positions at state music schools and conservatories, as France strictly requires the specific Diplôme d’État de professeur de danse. However, ex-post recognition or exemption (dispense) is often possible based on proof of several years of professional stage experience in European dance companies.
For a purely artistic career on stage in the international dance scene, these bureaucratic national regulations have no impact whatsoever.
Your Advantages at the Balance 1 Academy at a Glance:
- Full Transparency: We do not market our program with misleading academic titles. We offer genuine, verified recognition within the real dance world.
- State Funding (BAföG): As a state-approved vocational program, our students with german nationality are fully eligible to apply for German student funding (Schüler-BAföG).
- Direct Bridge to the Stage: Our focus is 100% on qualifying you as a professional stage dancer, choreographer, or dance pedagogue—powerfully backed by our extensive alumni success stories.
Requirements for Exam Participation and Program Structure
- Duration: 3 years (Full-time professional program)
- Structure: 6 consecutive semesters
- Program Start: Annually at the beginning of October (for Semesters 1, 3, and 5)
- Semester Shift: Semesters 2, 4, and 6 begin in April of each year
- Graduation: End of September after the 3rd academic year
- Weekly Schedule: Classes run from Monday to Friday, both mornings and afternoons.
- Rehearsals & Self-Study: In addition to regular classes, time must be allocated for independent practice. During intensive rehearsal phases for public performances, rehearsals may exceptionally be scheduled on weekends.
- Planning Reliability: Class schedules are announced well in advance so that you can reliably organize part-time jobs and your free time.
- Holidays (Non-training periods): 6 weeks in summer, 2 weeks in autumn, 3 weeks for Christmas, and 2 to 3 weeks for Easter.
Regular attendance is the core foundation for a successful education at our Dance Academy. Therefore, a strict attendance policy applies:
- Annual Intermediate Exams: Exams in both practical and theoretical subjects take place after the 2nd and 4th semesters. To be admitted to these exams, your absences must not exceed 20% at the time of testing.
- The Final Graduation Exam: Takes place during the 6th semester. Prerequisites for admission are successfully passed intermediate exams and total absences not exceeding 20% across all three years of training.
To ensure you always know exactly where you stand, we conduct personal teacher-student feedback sessions four times a year (just before the holidays) regarding your individual development. You will never have to walk into an exam filled with self-doubt!
Entry & Admission Requirements Information