BBT summer intenstive alumna Faith Jordan Candino thrives in professional dance
Dan Guin and Jane Tyree with Fatih Jordan Candino after Chicago performance in June 2025.
In 2015, Faith Jordan Candino entered “The Directors’ Summer” workshop at Boca Ballet Theatre as many dancers do: with the dream of one day finding herself beneath the stage lights as a professional dancer. For five weeks, she trained under the tutelage of some of the country’s top artistic directors—including Ballet West’s Adam Sklute—who shared their technical expertise, artistry, and insights about navigating the professional dance world. At the culmination of the workshop, Faith even starred in the lead role of an original piece created by BBT’s Co-Artistic Director Dan Guin, who shared with her a love and respect for the craft and legacy of jazz dance. Onstage, she demonstrated not only her talent but her tenacity in pursuit of a career in dance. Fast forward ten years, and Faith has achieved just that, accruing professional dance credits in ballets, cruise ship tours, film, TV, regional theater, and national touring companies!
Faith began her dance training at Lawrenceville School of Ballet in Georgia, where she honed technique in classical ballet, jazz, modern, tap, and hip hop. After attending “The Directors’ Summer” at Boca Ballet Theatre as a high schooler, she joined The Richmond Ballet for two years as a trainee before transitioning into concert dance and musical theater. Since making this transition, Faith has performed in an array of regional theater productions like A Chorus Line and West Side Story as well as the U.S. Broadway National Tour of Chicago.
When the Chicago touring company arrived at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami on June 22, 2025, BBT’s Co-Artistic Directors Dan Guin and Jane Tyree made the trip south to support Faith, who played Mona in the show’s female ensemble! The reunion served as a celebration of all that Faith has accomplished in the past decade, a journey that began in earnest here in Boca Raton.
Faith credits “The Directors’ Summer” at Boca Ballet Theatre for the success she’s found in professional dance. “It changed the trajectory of my training, and my overall approach to auditioning as an aspiring professional,” Faith shared. “The emphasis on different styles of classical dance allowed me to open up and realize the potential I had in other fields of performance alongside my classical background. The enrichment lessons that instructors gave were an absolute miracle—I never would have known how to go about the audition process if it weren't for those conversations. I brought in my 5 Subject spiral notebook and left with it filled to the brim with corrections, quotes, advice, journal entries, and contact information, all things that helped me start to understand what it means to be a professional artist.”
Since its creation, Boca Ballet Theatre’s summer program has earned a reputation for being one of the most thorough and rewarding dance experiences a dance student can have during the summer. In addition to honing their technique in a variety of dance classes, dancers gain valuable industry knowledge from dance enrichment sessions and Q&A’s with the visiting Artistic Directors. Like Faith, many students use BBT’s program as a launching pad for a career in dance by auditioning for the visiting directors in class.
Faith’s story is a testament to the value of “The Directors’ Summer” at Boca Ballet Theatre and its ability to facilitate each student’s professional dance aspirations. Boca Ballet Theatre continues to serve as a beacon for rising talent, preparing dancers for the next stage of their journey toward a career in professional dance!