Ep 35: The Recipe For Success with Kenny Borchard | Part 1

What Does It Really Take to Build a Successful Dancer?

What separates a dancer who plateaus from one who keeps growing? According to Kenny Borchard, executive director of the Joffrey Workshops and artistic director of the Joffrey Ballet School's Dallas Summer Intensive, it comes down to three ingredients. And if even one is missing, the whole recipe falls flat.

In Part 1 of this conversation, Cara sits down with Kenny to unpack what he's observed traveling to over 50 schools across the U.S., Switzerland, and Australia, and what it's taught him about the state of dance training today.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

The Joffrey Workshop pipeline. Kenny breaks down how his weekend workshops connect directly to audition opportunities for the Joffrey Ballet School's summer intensives, and why that continuity matters for both dancers and studio owners.

The three-part recipe for dancer success. Hours in the studio, quality of instruction, and student willingness. Kenny explains why you can't rely on just one, and what accountability looks like for teachers and students alike.

What auditors are actually watching. Spoiler: it's not just your technique. Kenny shares what stands out (positively and negatively) the moment a dancer walks in the room, and why energy and presence can make or break an audition.

The performance quality gap. Why training at 80% and expecting 110% on stage isn't just ineffective. It's also a recipe for injury.

Key Takeaways

• Studio culture varies wildly by region, but the success formula doesn't
• Teachers have a responsibility to keep training up, not just their students
• Infusing performance quality while learning, not after, closes the gap between rehearsal and stage

Ready to Bring This Into Your Studio?

Share this episode with your dancers and fellow teachers. And if you want to learn more about the Joffrey Workshops, visit their website to explore upcoming workshop dates near you.

Connect with Kenny:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kennyspic3/?hl=en
Website: https://www.joffreyballetschool.com/kenny-borchard/

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Welcome to It's All Relative, the podcast where dance technique meets purpose, progress becomes visible, and passion fuels the path forward. I'm Kara Dixon, co-founder of Relative Motion, and our team is made up of professional dancers, teachers, and choreographers here to make high-level training feel doable, measurable, and exciting again. Whether you're a teacher searching for fresh cues, a dancer craving more clarity, or a studio owner chasing a bigger vision, this space is for you. Each week, we'll break down complex techniques, dive into real studio strategy, and share tools that spark transformation from the inside out. Because in this community, we train with intention, we lead with love, and we know that better dancers start with better teachers. So let's grow, let's move, and let's rise together. Because at the end of the day, it's all relative. Hi, friends, and welcome to another episode of It's All Relative. Today is going to be an incredible episode because we have a special guest, my friend Kenny Borchard from the Joffrey Workshops. Now, this is an incredible workshop. We're going to be talking about it specifically throughout the episode. But Kenny is just a wealth of knowledge. If you're listening and you know anything about him in the past, you're going to have such a treat today. But before we start, if you are brand new to knowing Kenny, I want you to introduce yourself, tell our audience just a little bit about your background and what your current role is with Joffrey.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

So my name is Kenny Borchard. I use he him pronouns, and my dance career started in Los Angeles. I grew up in the Los Angeles area as a competitive dancer, and then went away to boarding school and got my ballet modern jazz concert dance foundation, then went on to the University of Arizona for college, moved back to Los Angeles, got an agent, and did a lot of different things in LA. I was every nutcracker season, I had four different contracts with different ballet companies. I also worked with a contemporary dance company. I was doing commercials here and there, the shorter term projects. And then I also was in Aladdin, a musical spectacular at Disney, a California adventure, which was super fun. And I got to ride the magic carpet on that job. So, I mean, how many people can say that? And then moved to New York and did the same auditioning, teaching, professional dance life as we know it, there in New York for a while, and then have since moved to San Antonio, where my husband and I run the Joffrey Workshop, which is an in-studio dance, concert dance workshop that we've now been to over 50 schools in the past three years. And this workshop used to be like most of the traditional other summer camps where this kids come, the university, the dorms, the whole shebang. But then during COVID, we changed our model and have since been going to students. First, we started here in the States, and then we have since gone and done workshops in Switzerland and Australia.

SPEAKER_00 3:29

It's amazing, right? It is so amazing. Just the entire journey. And I love how we've been at a lot of events together recently, especially. And how many times have we been talking? We're like, oh my goodness, you did that performance job or you trained there. And like the amount of overlaps without ever meeting each other before was kind of wild. And the people we know each the same groups of people and all the same things. So it's really wild how the dance industry is and also how big it feels with how small it ends up being. It's so crazy. But I want to ask you for people who may not know the full picture, especially teachers, can you walk us through the pipeline from the Joffrey workshops to the Joffrey Ballet School?

SPEAKER_01 4:14

Totally. Yes. So I'm the executive director of the Joffrey Workshop, but I'm also one of the artistic directors of the Joffrey Ballet School's Dallas Summer Intensive. So we just created this partnership with the Joffrey Ballet School that allows students that come to our workshops January through March to audition for any of the Joffrey Ballet School programs. So that includes all 25 different summer intensives that they do, but also we're kind of hoping they come to Dallas.

SPEAKER_00 4:47

See you again, right?

SPEAKER_01 4:50

So yes, in our workshops, students have the opportunity to audition for Joffrey Ballet School's summer intensives. And so that's a new addition that we're super excited about. And it just is providing so much more of an opportunity for both organizations.

SPEAKER_00 5:07

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's becoming what a huge partnership for you guys, but then also for the dancers and the teachers that are bringing you into the studios to say, hey, this is going to be an incredible intensive. However, you also have this secondary opportunity to follow up on that next level after the intensive's over. And then even for studios to repeat, bring you in for, hey, we see what unfolded last year. Maybe their students weren't even prepared yet for that audition. And so now they have this whole year to say, okay, we actually know exactly what we're getting into and what the audition is going to look like and what it's going to feel like. And we can now prep and be super prepared for that audition to get into that Joffrey Ballet school intensive, which is what a great opportunity for repeat and for them building that audition muscle in what you are asking them to do. What does a dancer typically experience when they enter the workshop environment for your Joffrey workshop specifically?

SPEAKER_01 6:09

Great question. I like to think that we're providing like such a different energy shift. And the way that we get an opportunity to get to know the students and get to introduce them to our kind of philosophies on how we run class and how it might be different from the classes they're used to, but hoping for them to get on board and just try out. What I always like to say is just try it, put it in your toolkit if it works. If it doesn't, just put it to the side and move along. So we're just offering a lot of different ideas on how to take class, how to approach class, how we as students and teachers can have a symbiotic relationship working really in tune and focusing to get a lot done. That's what everybody says at the end is like, oh my gosh, look at all that you did. We have a little 15-minute informal showcase. And the students have taken six classes throughout the weekend and get to perform little combinations from the different classes. And everybody says at the end, oh my gosh, look at how much they've done. Just progress. Because so much can be accomplished when you are in a really collaborative relationship with the students.

SPEAKER_00 7:23

Absolutely. And when you have this bigger vision in mind, because you have done so many of these workshops. So you have set up the system for what works and what the whole like how it's going to unfold, how it's going to feel for dancers. I know you're very strategic with the teachers know exactly what to expect, the dancers know exactly what to expect. So they're walking in and they already have a pretty good idea based fully on how organized you guys are and the systems you have in place. So I'm not surprised that when they get into that, it's a two-day typically a workshop. So when they get into it, they have a good understanding of what they're being called to do. And they already can wrap their mind around what you're going to give them, even if they don't know the content or how the class is going to unfold. They kind of know what they're getting into and they can prepare mentally for it. So I know a lot of people are going to think of Joffrey, Joffrey Ballet, all this stuff, right? But you're offering jazz, you're offering musical theater. Talk to us about some other things because I know ballet is so important, but it's also great for dancers to be versatile. And I think that you're offering a lot of that within your workshop. So can you talk a little bit about that element?

SPEAKER_01 8:32

Totally. Yeah. So just for a little context, my husband danced with a draft free ballet for 13 years. So he has that built-in bun on the back of his head. And then myself has had a very different career in like concert jazz, a little bit of modern ballet, and musical theater, right? And so we both had much very different experiences on the stage. And all of those fall under concert dance, right? And if we can be offering that array of options, contemporary jazz, musical theater, ballet, contemporary ballet, and then one class that we really love is our Pino Repertoire. So it's one of five teachers in the world who can teach excerpts of Mr. Joffrey and Mr. Arpino's ballets. So they get to have a kind of dance history lesson, get to understand the different stages ballet has gone through and how Mr. Joffrey and Mr. Arpino affected that, and we're still living through that. And so it's really cool to be able to offer that class to Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:45

What a resource, right? That's just pure gold. And I've seen both of your classes because we've been in convention settings together before, and they're really dynamic and they offer so much. They're so different. The way you guys teach is so different. What you're offering is so different. But I think the beauty in it is how well what you offer and what he offers just really meshes together to be the bigger picture of concert dance. And I think a lot of times dancers are like, oh, I'm I'm gonna do ballet, that's my thing, or I'm gonna do contemporary, that's my thing, without seeing the whole umbrella of, okay, make sure you have these other tools in your toolbox. Make sure that you're well-rounded. And I love that your husband brings in this view of it from Joffrey himself, from the founders of this original material. That there's so few people like Mara that have the opportunity to bring this to people. And what a wealth and resource that is, alongside your incredible background. Just the marriage of the two in a workshop is really dynamic and really incredible. So that's awesome. When you watch dancers specifically come through auditions, what immediately stands out for you? Because this season specifically, you've been doing the workshops, but also this is the first season that you've been auditioning them for the Joffrey Ballet School Intensive. Right. And so what are you noticing, positive and negative, when dancers are coming through that audition process? And what quick tools can you give them to fuel them up for next time and be more prepared if it is a negative for next time?

SPEAKER_01 11:23

It's been very interesting, and it's interesting to go to all the different pockets of the United States just because their culture, each studio culture is so different, and they think that everybody acts like they do, right? But then we go to another place that just has a completely different culture that they think is also that everybody is doing. So what I think that it all boils down to energy. And that can go in a positive or a negative direction. We're in a class together. I'm seeing not just how you stand or how you execute the two eight counts that I gave you, but I'm also seeing you stand on the side with your hands on your hips and your expressions say a lot, whether you love it or not.

SPEAKER_00 12:09

Your posture, your energy, facial expressions.

SPEAKER_01 12:14

All of it is being considered, right? And so that can be really a benefit to you. Or if you're so intense and can't relax through, and I share that a lot through the audition, right? Like I know you're focused, I know you're wanting to do your best, and we need to see that you love to dance, right?

SPEAKER_00 12:37

And so we need to know you love it.

SPEAKER_01 12:38

Oh, and the thing is, you're here on a Sunday night. I already know you love to dance, you already know you love to dance, so let's marry the two. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 12:47

If I was an audience member that didn't know you and hadn't seen you in class and watching you on stage for the first time, would I think that you love to dance?

SPEAKER_02 12:56

Right.

SPEAKER_00 12:57

You know, and you're sitting there in your workshops, and obviously it's a more intimate setting than say a convention class, but we even see this in conventions where the energy of one dancer can pull you as the teacher completely, like to the point where before you've even interacted or seen them in a real audition, you kind of have some ideas about how they would be if they were working for you. If you were casting them, okay, this is the type of energy they give off. Whether that's authentically how they feel or not, this is how other cast members would feel around them. This is how people at a longer intensive would feel. So it's great that you kind of locking in, okay, energetically, we're asking you to come to a week-long intensive. You know, the Joffrey Ballet School, if you're exhausted after two days to the point where your energy is here, we can assume that one week would be a lot. Maybe even too much.

SPEAKER_01 13:53

Like, and that's the prime benefit of the workshops leading into the Joffrey Ballet School intensives is classes aren't going to be that different, right? Like I operate a class is not gonna just magically change when we go and do it for three weeks together in Dallas, right? So getting so much of an inside view of okay, this is how I feel after the first day. Okay, I'm really sore, but I'm also excited and eager to go back, right? And acknowledging how we're feeling right, that's gonna dictate how we want to move forward. And so just having the chance to digest through that through the workshop.

SPEAKER_00 14:32

Yeah. I agree. That's such a powerful thing to tell dancers because I think they're we're so focused on technique, as if that's gonna guide us through all of our success. But a lot of it is going to be energetically. Do people want to be around you? What are you giving off? Are you giving energy to other people? Are you sucking that energy out of the room? It's really a big question when you're around someone. Piggybacking on that, you've seen dancers from studios all over the US and internationally. What trends are you noticing in training right now?

SPEAKER_01 15:04

So we're going into very rural towns, and then we're also going to bigger metroplexes and getting to see students that train for three hours a week and then getting to work with dancers who train 25 hours a week, right? And then what styles are they training in? How many hours are they training in each style? There's so many variables that go into a dancer's training, but I will say the the consistency I see is three things is how much time is being spent in the studio, what's the quality of that instruction, how are the instructors on what they're teaching and the energy level, not just the material, but how it's being presented and the student, right? So there's the teacher's idea and then the student's willingness. That is actually as important to the outcome. So it's hours spent, quality of instruction, and willingness and drive to improve and keep growing.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

Yeah, it's like the recipe. We need all three of these to be in place for us to get to that next level. And it is hard because you look at dancers who are in the studio maybe three hours a week. And I mean, look, we can learn a lot in three hours, but if you're learning five genres in three hours, we don't have a lot of time. So if you're super focused for three hours, but then we have to think, what are we doing with all the other time? And I think about this in the classroom a lot too. You probably do as well. But dancers who constantly have, this is just an example, constantly have a sway back. All right, every time they're in ballet, the teacher's cueing them to engage their abdominals, draw their hip flexors up, neutralize their pelvis, right? They get into contemporary, they're talking about the same thing, they get into the next. But if they leave the studio after four hours a night and they stand around school with that pelvis tilted, they've untrained that work, say 12 hours out of the day, and they're training it four hours out of the day. So really they're untraining it more than they're training it. So you look at dancers who are in the studio, even if they're in the studio a lot, but especially if they only have a handful of hours a week in the studio, do they have the tools and resources? And this comes from that teacher knowledge and the dancer willingness. Do they have the tools and resources to take what the teachers, their knowledgeable, super inspiring teachers are giving them and the willingness to keep that effort going even when they're not in the classroom, if they only have access three to five hours a week? Or I'm sure you've seen this too, when you're in the classroom 20 plus hours a week, but the teacher might not actually really understand the mechanics of the body, or they might come in and they're very distracted. Those dancers are not really in the classroom at the same level as the dancers that we saw five hours a week. Because if that teacher understands what the concepts are and the other teachers, like, I don't really understand the mechanics of the body, we're just gonna do this and this. It's gonna be all choreography, like where I wanted you to make the shapes. Now, those dancers actually have a massive disadvantage, even if they're in the studio four times as much as the other dancers. Or if they're in the studio that much and they're like just kind of like, I'm not really putting my effort in while I'm here. You can be there a hundred hours a week.

SPEAKER_01 18:16

Right. And that's why I made it all three and not just one, because there has to be accountability for the studio owner and the instructors, right? Giving quality instruction and training up. If we don't know, then we learn, right? Just as we're teaching our students. And then the students, same thing. We can't pour our energy into you and then receive nothing back and then wonder why the you're not improving. Like you are part of the equation. And one of the main parts, one of the biggest parts, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:48

And you're right, those are all three ingredients to make the recipe work. You can't bake a cake and take one of the main ingredients out and still get a delicious cake. The cake probably won't rise, or whatever it happens to be, it's not gonna be worth it. Baking is very critical, right? And so if we're baking this studio culture and we want these technically trained dancers, but one major element's missing from the group that we're talking about, we're gonna struggle. There's gonna be a huge struggle. And you're right, if you're giving as a teacher more than the dancers are giving when they're the ones training and learning. And I also love what you said about as teachers, we always need to train up. Like I know I'm obsessed with learning. I'm always reading a book or I'm always taking a class or I'm always trying to dive deeper. And I'm sure, Kenny, that you're the same way because we have that in common. We're just obsessed with doing it differently, doing it better, figuring it out. But if as a teacher you feel like I don't know what is being talked about, I don't have the resources to give that to my dancers. Maybe you're from a smaller town, you don't feel like you have all those options coming to you. There's so many teacher training. I mean, we do teacher trainings virtually, digitally, in person. Come to the studio, you guys come to the studio. There's so many options. So never let yourself rest with, well, I just don't know how to get started because there's so many resources. Start with free resources from companies that you think could be a good fit for you. Dive in and then realize if their resources are free and they're good, the ones that you're gonna pay for are probably like a million times better. And so dive into it, trust the company, and then build in. And like you said, train up with that stuff. Is there anything else you can think about when it comes to what you're seeing?

SPEAKER_01 20:27

I see this across the board. That was all the different regions having their own little thing. But across the board, I would love to see, and this is what I tell the answers is the performance quality as you're learning it. Because why not, right? If we can infuse the intention or the character in from the very beginning as they're learning the steps, right? If we take on the character, have that character learn our steps, and that goes for contemporary ballet, it goes for just intention as well, right? Like we know how we're moving forward, then you're practicing it the whole time as you learn. So your body isn't having to do this battle of, oh, I'm really on or I'm learning, right? Why is there such a difference? And I wish that people could see this because there's so much that goes on.

SPEAKER_02 21:17

There's so much movement here.

SPEAKER_01 21:19

But right, why are we practicing and learning without the full embodiment of our bodies? And then wondering why it's different and we get nervous when we come out to the center and it's go time, right? Right.

SPEAKER_00 21:36

And you know, I want to piggyback on this with injuries as well, because I think what happens in the classroom is dancers feel like they're going full out, but they're not adding the performance quality, they're not adding that energy. Then they get on stage, they add the performance quality, they add the energy. So already that's gonna make your body move differently. Then you're nervous, so you're adding the adrenaline. And so now it's like your performance quality is a different level, your energy is a different level, the adrenaline's Different level, all the technique you learned before and have applied and practiced and done the movement, the muscle memory of the movement, now your weight is different. The way you're using momentum is different. And so you're working on a system that you haven't practiced before. So even if you go on stage and you're crushing it and people are like, wow, that's the best I've ever seen, you're also really unstable and more likely to injure yourself because you haven't practiced this. And also in the studio, if you're going 80% all the time, we cannot expect you to go 110% later because you've never practiced that. So the chances are you're not gonna get to your full capacity. But if you do, it's super unsafe.

SPEAKER_01 22:42

Right. Yeah, exactly. That gap that I was talking about. It's like that gap, it can be applied in whatever timeline. It's the timeline throughout the class as you're learning the combination. And then that way, by the time you're on the floor with three or four other people, you're standing in your presence because you've practiced standing in your presence and knowing how to execute the movement as full out as you can the whole time.

SPEAKER_00 23:09

Friend, thank you so much for joining us today in my conversation with Kenny Borchard. He has such a wealth of knowledge and he has so many fantastic resources to share. And I hope you can meet us here next week as we finish up our conversation. That's a wrap on today's episode of It's All Relative. Thank you for spending your time with us. We believe what you bring to the dance world matters, and we're honored to support the way you teach, lead, and inspire. If this episode moved you, made you think, or gave you something new to try, hit that subscribe button so you don't miss what's next. You can connect with us anytime at Relative Motion Dance on Instagram or visit relativemotiondance.com for more tools and training. Until next time, keep growing, keep leading, and keep dancing with purpose. Because remember, it's all relative.