Universal Ballet Competition

Chicago, IL

General

Reviewer:

Parent

Dancer Age:

Competition experience:

2-5

Event Details

Round:

Regional

Season:

2025-26

Location:

Chicago, IL

Traveled to compete:

Yes

Regional was the closest:

Why this location:

Directors choice

Regionals attended:

Who encouraged multiple regionals:

Entry affiliation:

School

Rules Easy to Access?

Yes

Did Dancer Miss School?

Attended master classes:

Yes

Master Classes

Master Class Types:

Contemporary, Technique

Master class teachers:

Variety of teachers from the judging panel

Distance from venue:

Less than five miles away

Received corrections:

Yes

How corrections were given:

This depended on the teacher, but mostly to the whole group.

What corrections were about:

Some were about technique and some were more about self worth

Anatomical language:

Correction tone:

Neutral, Positive

Teacher engagement:

They seemed fine and walked around the front.

Crowding:


Really Crowded	Plenty of Room to Move

Master Class Feedback

Technique:

Contemporary:

Additional master class comments:

Some favoritism, but not too bad

Performance Details

Venue name:

Harris theatre

Venue description:

The seating was good, the lobby wasn’t great. The event was in the basement so it was dark and small.

Stage description:

There was Marley and it was well done.

Off-stage warm-up space:

Not a ton of space and the open stage time was not well timed.

Dressing rooms:

Small room

Parents in dressing rooms:

Male dressing room:

Unsure

Parents backstage:

Onstage warm-up:

Crowded stage with awkward timing compared to performance time.

Schedule adherence:

Tended to mostly run on time

Staff communication:

Good

Parent seminar offered:

Judging

Judging rubric clarity:

Unsure

Judges' attentiveness:

Some of the judges watched and some seemed distracted

Feedback turnaround:

A few days after the competition

Type of Feedback:

Audio file that contains feedback

Feedback helpfulness:


Not Helpful At All	Extremely Helpful

Main takeaway:

Largely complimented the costume more than provided useful feedback.

Scoring felt fair:

Unsure

Why Scoring Unfair?

I felt like they were handing out finals qualifiers to everyone to fill the finals event.

Awards & Scholarships

Awards ceremony:

Long

Won an award or training offer:

Yes

Festival offer:

Gala offer:

Invited to finals:

Yes

Award or Training Offer Description:

Admission

Final Comments

Best aspect:

The event schedule of classes and performance was good

Worst aspect:

The announcement of adjudication score on stage

Competition culture:

A little too “comp” school

Attendee culture:

Same as above

Suggested changes:

Dial in more on true ballet, less comp studio feel and get rid of announcement of adjudication score

Cost vs. expectation:


Significantly More	Significantly Less

Time worth it:


Not Worth It	Worth Every Minute

Overall rating:

Anything else?

Our dancers did walk away with awards and opportunities but wasn’t the best example of ballet.