The little girl in a pink tutu smiling at her mom as she leaped into the air would have never imagined one day; she would be interning at American Ballet Theatre. At age 7, returning to Korea from San Diego, I never danced ballet again and thought I would never do anything relevant to the beautiful art form. Now at age 24, pursuing a Master’s in Performing Arts Administration, I have just finished my first internship at American Ballet Theatre as a Marketing Intern. The past four months have been an unforgettable journey; it was more than everything I could ask for.
I had always been passionate about marketing, frankly without knowing what marketing meant and the role it played in the performing arts industry. Taking classes only gave me a general idea, and I craved hands-on marketing experience. Initially, I believed marketing was all about numbers and promotion, helping the organization increase sales by creating content. Through my time at ABT, I understood better the role of marketing and how to develop myself to become an efficient marketer.
Two things that stuck with me and I will keep in mind in my future career developments are storytelling and the amount of collaboration that happens. While talking to my mentor, Steven, he mentioned the importance of understanding the consumer’s buying journey and how marketing promotes shows through storytelling. I enjoyed analyzing post-show surveys and connecting them to the audience’s demographic data. Another lesson I learned during my internship was the importance of collaboration between different departments. Attending marketing meetings, I could see the interactions between the marketing, press, and development teams. It was fascinating to see the different teams collaborate to achieve a common goal, and I enjoyed watching the various content created for the patrons.
My internship at ABT was indeed an unforgettable experience. Everyone was genuinely interested in helping me, and there were many moments when I felt my voice was being heard. Thank you to everyone at ABT for giving me this incredible working experience!
Kate Lee
Marketing Intern
Fall 2022
abtinterns 
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