BALLET HELP DESK

Competition Reviews

Competitions Reviewed: 13
Total Reviews: 83

ADC|IBC

Houston, TX

General

Reviewer

1
1

Dancer Age

1
1

Competition experience

1
1

Event Details

Round

Regional

Season

2

Location

Houston, TX

Traveled to compete

1
1

Master Classes

Master class teachers

  • "Nadia Pavlenko, guest teacher"

Teacher engagement

  • "Class was required for scoring. Lots of teachers observing. Tense atmosphere."
  • "The master class for ADC IBC is part of the competition. The teacher walks the room, demonstrates."

Master Class Feedback

Technique

1
1

Additional master class comments

  • "Atmosphere was tense. Classes are held at a local studio who competes at this regional, their dancers were acknowledged by the teacher in a way that others were not."
  • "I really think this section for ADC IBC should be different bc the class is part of the competition."

Performance Details

Venue name

  • "Cullen Performance Hall"
  • "Wortham Center"

Venue description

  • "This is a horrible venue and ADCIBC makes it worse. There is either no heating or it is incredibly inefficient. The judges and audience are in winter gear and hats indoors. It is inexcusably cold. There are a few heaters provided in a back hall for dancers… my daughter said she couldn’t get near them and ballet costumes tend to be flammable anyway. It is to the point that it is unsafe. If it was one year, fine, but this has happened repeatedly. Also, the backstage is accessed through the audience. ADCIBC does not curtain these off like other comps do, does not give the dancers enough time to pass through the doors between performances, then yells at them over the microphone. Is it poor manners to open the doors during a performance? Yes. Does ADCIBC make this unavoidable? Also yes. Last year, we could not attend but the Houston regional was in the smaller theater at the Wortham center. This year, it’s back at Cullen, still in the winter. We will not be back."
  • "Theater lobby, downtown theatre district Houston"

Stage description

  • "Cullen has their own Marley. It’s mostly find but has a slick spot stage right, close to the front. Stage is not raked."
  • "Marley, not raked, not slippery, stage was fine"

Off-stage warm-up space

  • "Very little space. Most dancers warm up at the nearby Hilton. There is a marble floor space downstairs but it is small and in the way of people trying to go to the bathroom."
  • "Space to warm up in the rehearsal room downstairs"

Dressing rooms

  • "Dressing room space is at a premium here."
  • "unsure. maybe this question should not be shown for the female parents"

Onstage warm-up

  • "Nothing memorable, pretty typical open stage."
  • "Same as other venues, it's really long though. Probably too long"

Staff communication

  • "I don’t know."
  • "great, we just kept an eye on emails and parents who were at the venue let us know timing updates"

Parent seminar offered

1
1

Parent Education

Seminar content

  • "Q&A before awards"

Why (not) helpful

  • "It's always great to hear from the judges that there is so much more that goes into being a professional than performing 1 solo"

Judging

Judging rubric clarity

1
1

Judges' attentiveness

1
1

Feedback turnaround

1
1

Type of Feedback

2
1
1

Feedback helpfulness

Not Helpful At All
1
1
Extremely Helpful

Main takeaway

  • "It was very generic."
  • "It's always great to hear from the judges. It's helpful when she can hear suggestions from other than her coach. They are in-line with her coach's focus and that is great reinforcement."

Scoring felt fair

1
1

Why Scoring Unfair?

  • "N"

Awards & Scholarships

Awards ceremony

  • "It was pretty typical, nothing to note."
  • "It happens right after Q&A in the venue which I think is great. People are already seated and no rush to find seats."

Won an award or training offer

1
1

Invited to finals

1
1

Award or Training Offer Description

  • "Houston Ballet, Summer Full"

Final Comments

Best aspect

  • "Honestly, nothing. We hated this one. The staff wasn’t kind, it comes off very much like a money grab. They seem to do the absolute bare minimum."
  • "The scholarships fro this competition are the most generous we have seen! Also Merz is calming presence."

Worst aspect

  • "One studio is heavily favored. I guess at least nobody tries to hide it."
  • "Always using Vitacca as the classes location! Horrible parking, horrible traffic. Even in their new space, it's tight. I preferred the Houston Contemporary dance center."

Competition culture

  • "Not welcoming at all."
  • "At Finals, you can definitely tell who the favorites are. It's such a small group at Finals, and the favorites are noticable; that's almost worse. The scoring, judging at finals does NOT seem fair."

Attendee culture

  • "Just… there. We connected with people we knew from other studios/comps but there isn’t much clapping for other dancers, etc."
  • "We met some of our best dancer family friends at this competition. The intimate/small finals atmosphere does set a tone for camaraderie."

Suggested changes

  • "New venue or not in the winter if at Cullen. Restrict number of entries so that the comp/classes don’t require school to be missed, move classes to the nearby hotel or other neutral location. If at Cullen Performance Hall, actually consider and plan for logistics to KNOWN PROBLEMS."
  • "Finals is too long; scholarships awarded at finals were not helpful."

Time worth it

Not Worth It
1
1
Worth Every Minute

Overall rating

1
1

Anything else?

  • "No."
  • "The finals gala is not enticing, not enough higher level professionals."

ADC|IBC

Houston, TX

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