At age 3, I attended my first ballet class and at age 18, I took my final bow. When I decided to attend college instead of pursuing a professional dance career, I never thought I would be able to keep ballet and my love for dance in my everyday life. As the Marketing Intern for American Ballet Theatre this summer, I learned that there actually is a way to stay connected to dance as a member of the arts administration field and there is no better place to pursue this passion than at America’s National Ballet Company.
As the Marketing Intern during the first season at the Metropolitan Opera House since 2019, it was a crazy and exciting time to join ABT. Almost immediately, I was thrust into the fast-paced work environment and already seeing my contribution have an impact. This isn’t a job where you just sit around waiting for work as an intern, there is always something important to do – especially during the Met Season. I spent most of my days curating posts for ABT’s Facebook page, editing videos from special events and the season for organic and paid social media, using Rival IQ to analyze social media metrics from the Met Season, and always picking up random tasks like creating email contact lists or reformatting something wonky. My biggest project was the Silent Disco event at Lincoln Center on June 18th and June 25th. I was responsible for curating promotional posts and emails, attending the events to capture content, and creating videos to re-cap the event on Facebook and YouTube. Having the opportunity to spearhead a promotional event on social and get to execute all aspects of the event for marketing was extremely educational and even more importantly, super fun! There is nothing more gratifying than seeing work that you have created all over American Ballet Theatre’s social presence – as a lifelong superfan of ABT it makes me giddy every time.
Besides the overwhelming amount of real-world experience that I gained in digital marketing, it is the relationships I built and the memories I made that will leave the biggest impression. From the first day, the entire marketing team took me under their wing and made me feel like a part of the family. I cannot thank my supervisors, Britt and Steven, enough for their guidance and trust in me these past three months. During my time as an intern, I got to work and attend the ABT Summer Gala, dance under the disco ball at Lincoln Center (twice) and create lasting friendships with the marketing team all at the same time – it never really felt like work.
I hope that I can return to the ABT Family again in the near future and continue working with the most inspiring and determined group of people I have ever met. Thank you ABT for a spectacular summer full of more surprises and beauty than I ever anticipated.
Emma Guido
Marketing Intern
Summer 2022
abtinterns 
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