Whether she’s in the studio—fearlessly flexible in a grand jété with her arms playfully thrown back—or onstage—fast and precise in her first lead role as The Nutcracker’s Lead Marzipan—Pacific Northwest Ballet corps dancer Destiny Wimpye glows. In Kiyon Ross’ new …throes of increasing wonder last season, she skittered across the floor, devouring the space. But more than dazzling leaps and quadruple pirouettes, it’s in her smaller movements, beautifully turned out, arms poised yet wondrously alive, that Wimpye shines onstage, exuding strength but also vulnerability.

Pacific Northwest Ballet goes through roughly 2,000 pairs of pointe shoes per year. New York City Ballet uses 500 pairs per month during Nutcracker season. Some pros exhaust multiple pairs of shoes in a single performance day. Stats like those raise a big question: After the shanks have collapsed and the boxes have turned to mush, where do all the dead pointe shoes go?

Last summer, you had an amazing training experience at your dream intensive. You can see yourself studying at that school full-time—or even dancing with its affiliated company one day. Does that mean you should return to the same program this summer?

Electric performances, thought-provoking choreography, buzzy bodies of work—the artists on our annual list of dancers, choreographers, directors, and companies poised for a breakout share an uncanny knack for arresting attention. They’ve been turning heads while turning what’s expected—in a performance, from a career trajectory—on its head. We’re betting we’ll be seeing a lot more of them this year, and for many years to come.

This May, he published his memoir, Illusions of Camelot, with Beaufort Books. It contains a series of reflections on his childhood and adolescence in the wealthy town of Bedford, New York, and then, later, in New York City. Financially and socially, his was a comfortable childhood. But that idyll—the Camelot of the title—concealed a deep vein of turmoil. That contrast between appearance and experience is one of the main themes of his book.

“My community reminds me that there is always a story to tell. Being a queer Asian male, I realize my roots; my family history, the city I grew up in and the people that surrounded me have all built me. I hope I keep fine-tuning all of my mediums of expression so that, over time, I can better articulate what my unique perspective is and share my stories—and those of
my people—with a nuanced accuracy.”

Janine N. Beckles, Clifton Brown, Kiyon Ross and Helanius J. Wilkins span generations and geographies. All four have recently transitioned into leadership roles, in dance companies and, for Wilkins, a university theater and dance department.

When deciding where to spend your summer, you may have one goal in mind: Which program is going to get me closest to the career path of my dreams? But the impact that summer study programs can have is wide-ranging—and sometimes surprising.