BALLET HELP DESK

After-School Training Reviews

Programs Reviewed: 92
Total Reviews: 160

School of Philadelphia Ballet

After-School Reviews

General

Who is Reviewing?

3
1

Program

4

Season Attended

1
3

# Of Levels In School

  • "9"
  • "8"
  • "I believe there are 8 levels in the student program ,a day program and traineeand"
  • "The school goes from pre ballet to trainee."

Dancer Age

2
2

Hours of Dance Each Week

3

Gender

4

Company Affliated?

1

Was Student Scholarshipped?

4

Please Describe Scholarship

  • "none"

Years At School

3
1

Leveling by Age or Skill?

1
1
1

Teacher Background

1
1
1

Parents Required to Volunteer?

3

Parent Volunteer Requirement

  • "backstage help as many as you would like"
  • "You can volunteer for the Nutcracker and the end of year show, there are no required hours."

Curriculum

Days Per Week

1
3

Classes Per Day

2
2

Weekend Classes?

4

Weekend Schedule

1
3

Students Per Class

1
3

Weekly Repertoire or Variations?

4

Pointe Classes Per Week

2
2

Live Music in Technique Class?

1
3

Dedicated Men's Program?

2
2

Men Taught by Male Teacher?

3

Men Taught Batterie?

1
2

Boys In Level

4

Separate Technique Class for Boys

2
2

Techniques Taught

4
2

Technique Teacher Rotation

1
1
2

Did School Director Teach?

2
1
1

Classroom Corrections

1
3

Attention From Teachers

Very Little
2
2
A Lot

Quality of Instruction

Poor
1
2
1
Excellent

Did Technique Improve?

Not at all
2
1
1
Tremendously

Curriculum Comments

  • "variations, technique, pointe, ballet, conditioning"
  • "At my dancers level there was 5 days of ballet that were 2 to 3 hours each, one conditioning class a week, one contemporary class per week, 4 pointe classes a week and one flamenco class."

Partnering

Frequency of Partnering Class

4

Other Classes

Other Dance Styles

1
1
3

Other Class Quality

Poor
1
1
Excellent

Contemporary Offered?

4

Types of Contemporary Classes Taught

1
1
2

Contemporary Quality

Poor
3
1
Excellent

Master Classes?

2
2

Master Classes Description

  • "occasionally a company member would teach a master class. perhaps twice a year as a i recall"
  • "occasional master classes taiught by a company member for an additional fee."

Strength & Conditioning

Physical Training Offered?

1
3

Physical Training Types

3
1

Physical Training Schedule

3

Were Trainers Certified?

2
1

Physical Training Quality

Poor
1
2
Excellent

Strength & Conditioning Comments

  • "I think that they need more based on the amount of hours they dance to prevent injury."
  • "Strength and conditioning taught by a ballet teacher not a certified fitness professional"

Injuries/Health/ Mental Health

Are Doctors Available?

4

How Parents Notified?

2
2

How Treatment Obtained?

  • "on your own"
  • "We sought out our own treatment."

PT Available?

2
1
1

Was There a Recovery Plan?

2
2

Describe Recovery Plan

  • "n/a"
  • "I was not offered one ."

Mental Health Therapists Available?

3
1

Were Students Given Fat Talk?

3
1

Staff Made Comments About Bodies?

2
2

Were Students Weighed?

4

Was "Coded Language" Used?

2
2

Additional Comments

  • "no"
  • "They came across as very uncaring. The director is very cold."
  • "The studio says they have mental health help available, however during my child’s 5 years there 2 crisis came up that students were struggling with and to my knowledge they were not addressed nor was there any talks with the students."

Communication

Formal Orientation?

4

Handboook & Paperwork

4

Quality of Communication?

Poor
1
2
1
Excellent

Who Received Communication?

4

Exams

Formal Exam?

3
1

Written Feedback?

1

Exam Adjudicator

1

Exam Rubrics Clear?

1

Who Attends Exam Meeting?

1

Well Prepared For Exam?

Not at all
1
Completely

How Heavily Did Exams Weigh in Promotions

Not at all
1
Heavily

School Culture

How Supported Did Student Feel By Staff?

Not
1
3
Completely

How Supportive Were Students of One Another?

Not
1
2
1
Completely

Describe School Culture

  • "Uninvested in the students,"
  • "toxic very competitive"
  • "one of fear, gossip, and condescension"
  • "Secretive and cold."

Placement Notification Timing

  • "At the end of the year"
  • "the last day of classes"
  • "At the close of the year."
  • "end of the school year"

How Dancer Was Notified

3

Dancer Had Mentor?

3

Mentoring Details

  • "none"
  • "There is no mentoring that I have seen in the school. Some favoritism, but not mentoring."
  • "my dancer did not recieve mentoring"

Overall School Culture

Lord of the Flies
1
3
Warm & Inclusive

Building & Surrounding Area

Security Around Building

3
1

Safety of Area Around School?

Not Safe
1
2
1
Extremely Safe

Studio Space

Cramped
1
2
1
Lots of space

Studio Cleanliness

Dirty
1
2
1
Spotless

Performance Opportunities

Company Affiliated?

3

Programs Performed

3

Shows per Program

1
2

Casting

2
1

Peformance Calendar

  • "gala, outdoor farm show and nutcracker."
  • "The Nutcracker is roughly 28 to 35 shows. Some children perform more than others. Some are in every performance, and some are in 5.The Nutcracker was more professional when the company was running it, the school seems to treat it as a recital. For the spring show it is 2 to 3 performances depending on your level."
  • "Your dancer can participate in the nutcracker with the company through an audition. The nutcracker has around 30 performances with most students being in half or more shows. Occasionally there are other company productions that they use students for that the school or company choose and there is a spring show (school) with 2 or 3 performances."

Competition

Competitions required?

3

Did Dancer Compete?

3

Non-Competing Dancers Left Out?

3

Why?

  • "because they have favorites"
  • "My child felt very minimized. I questioned the process and was told they already knew who was going to the company and the audition was a formality."
  • "We were told by the director that the auditions are a formality and that they already knew who they were taking to the competition during a meeting I requested."

Private Lessons

Private Lessons Available?

3

Summer Intensives

School Holds an SI?

3

School's SI Required?

2
1

Outside SI OK?

2
1

How Did School Help?

  • "none"
  • "I don’t recall them giving any guidance. There were snide remarks made to my child by a teacher on her intensive choice."
  • "The answer to the above question is that while they are permitted to do intensives elsewhere there is no guidance offered by the staff and it seems frowned upon by the director."

Program Grades

Overall Dance Instruction

1
1
1

Continuing Ballet Placement

1
2

Emotional Support

3

Performance Opportunities

2
1

Program Comments

Program's Best Aspect

  • "the nutcracker and being associated with the company"
  • "Some of the teachers are excellent and the chance to be around a company is a great learning experience for your potential future."
  • "For my student it was one particular teacher that took an interest in her and helped guide her but unfortunately she left and performing in the Nutcracker."

Program's Worst Aspect

  • "favoritism, nepotism, the children that attend are very mean and the school does not want to get involved."
  • "I felt my daughter was just a number when the current director took over. We lost two principals and at least five teachers since his arrival. He appears to not care about the younger students or even know who they are and he can be cruel.The teaching by the people who came in with him is not very good and a large amount of students left, including mine due to the quality going down.He was very difficult to deal with in my interactions with him and refused to hear anything I had to say."
  • "I didn’t like the direction that the school was going in and I felt that the quality in teaching was going downhill. My dancer seemed to be regressing rather than improving and we felt the need to seek out private instruction in addition to the regular classes. The school was also left without a principal for this current year and the director is impossible to talk to, doesn’t seem to know who any of the students are other than the day program or the trainees, and frankly can be condescending.He seems more concerned with competitions and with getting his name out there than with being present or nurturing his students. Due to this we made the decision to leave the school."

What Changes Would Be Helpful?

  • "director."
  • "I kept hoping it would get better and unfortunately it got worse. My daughter was sad to go but ultimately it was the best thing that happened to her and she has grown so much."
  • "While we no longer attend this program I would like to see better leadership and teaching for those still attending."

Anything Else We Should Know?

  • "I would consider other schools where they nurture and help students along the way."
  • "I think you have to be careful about the training with certain teachers and be prepared to deal with a male chauvinist and his ego."
  • "I can only speak of our experience the last couple of years, but I would advise a different school in the Philadelphia area to be perfectly blunt. However if you’re going to consider SPB and your dancer is already training and has their eyes on the school I would recommend a few trial classes if they offer them, really doing your research on the teaching and asking a lot of informed questions.If your student wants to go in a professional direction this doesn’t seem the place to get there. To my knowledge the only professional dancers to come out of that school were not trained by the current staff.It took my dancer almost 4 months to get back on track after parting ways with them. and she is flourishing, happy, and working hard towards her goals in a positive environment."
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