BALLET HELP DESK

Summer Intensive Reviews

Programs Reviewed: 255
Total Reviews: 2234

Annarella Conservatory - Portugal

Summer Intensive Reviews

General

Dancer age

4
3
3
1
1
1

Gender

13

First time at a summer intensive?

12
1

Year of SI

5
2
6

Weeks available

10
3

Weeks attended

6
7

Reviewer

4
6
3

Curriculum

Techniques taught

7
7

Partnering (based on age)

6
1
1
2
3

Dedicated men's program?

1
2
10

# of boys in level

6
4
3

Other dance genres

1
7
2
12
12
2
1
1
1
6
1

Quality of other classes

Not Helpful
2
6
3
2
Helpful

Injury Prevention

Strength classes?

1
7
1
1
1
11

PT offered?

5
7
1

Extra fee for PT?

11
1

Injury rate

10
3

Teaching

Who taught?

3
4
6

Guest teachers

1
12

Year-round teachers taught

3
6
4

Attention from teachers

Very Little
3
4
3
1
2
A Lot

Technique improved?

No
4
2
2
1
4
Yes - Tremendously

Studios

Dance floors

2
9
1
1

Studio space

Cramped
4
6
2
1
Lots of Space

Studio cleanliness

Dirty
5
4
4
Spotless

Schedule

Classes per day

3
10

Saturday classes

10
3

Saturday class duration

1
2
10

Leveling

Leveling

8
5

Leveling type

3
7
3

Did students move levels?

1
12

Leveling fair?

6
7

Students per class

3
8
2

Performance

Performance?

13

Rehearsals happened

5
4
4

Casting equitability

Uneven
5
2
1
2
3
Even

Rehearsals detracted from class?

Completely
4
1
3
1
4
Not At All

Housing - General

Housing provided

4
7
2

# of roommates

1
3
3

Bathrooms

1
2
4

Coed bathrooms

5
2

Air conditioning

2
5

Housing comment

  • "No RA No adult supervision even though we were told there would be. No night time checks. No laundry facilities Convenient to theater yet far to studio"
  • "Location of the Eurosol was close proximity to a small grocery store, laundry facilities, and theater. We had to uber to the studio."
  • "Dancers part of the American group mostly stayed at the Eurosol. It's a short walk to the theatre, and about a 10 minute Uber to the studio. The facility was perfectly serviceable and a great option for the four weeks."
  • "There were two apartments, my daughter was in one of them, the bigger one."
  • "The housing occurs in self-managed apartments for the older students and a hotel room for younger students or whoever else prefers the hotel option. It requires a high degree of responsibility and maturity if students go alone. But many dancers were there with at least one family member."
  • "Private apartment through the conservatory, 5 min walk from academy"

Where did they stay?

2
1
2
1

Housing - Supervision

Curfew

6
1

Curfew reasonable?

4
3

Room check

7

How strict were dorms?

1
6

Infraction handling

1
6

Housing - Cleanliness

Laundry available

4
3

Laundry free

4
3

Housing cleanliness

Dirty
1
3
3
Spotless

Cleaning required

1
6

Meal Plan

Meal plan

7

Activities

Weeknight activities

3
4

Weekend outings

5
8

Attended weekend outings

1
1
7

Favorite

  • "Only weekend outing offered was the beach or the mall. To the mall the girls went on their own unsupervised via uber."
  • "Weekend outings was the beach, market."
  • "If you are with Louise's group there were occasional group outings to the market or beach but not on an every weekend basis. My daughter enjoyed the beach."
  • "Nazaré"
  • "Building closer relationships with her friends and creating memories :)"
  • "Beach outings."
  • "Leiria Castle"

Least favorite

  • "None"
  • "Nazaré"
  • "The beaches, the girls had really bad sunburns."
  • "If part of Louise Taitz’s group, she organized various outings before or during the intensive. They were mostly beach outings but not only. All of them were great opportunities to have fun and bond."

Logistics

Quality of handbook

Spotty
7
1
1
3
Comprehensive

Program communication

Limited
6
3
2
2
Comprehensive

Transportation

1
1
1
4
1
1
1
3

Neighborhood safety

Not Safe
2
2
9
Very Safe

General Comments

Overall recommendation

Definitely Not
3
1
1
4
4
Absolutely

Best aspect

  • "The international aspects. My daughter met dancers from around the world."
  • "Meeting other dancers from around the world. Being in a foreign country."
  • "Traveling abroad and meeting dancers from other countries."
  • "Getting to know other dancers from around the world."
  • "Full days, lots of classes. Huge stamina builder and body conditioning. While I wouldn't say the hands-on corrections were consistent, my dancer did experience some incredible growth. Class sizes were pretty great, depending on the level. It was amazing to meet other dancers from around the world. There are some phenomenal next generation ballerinas who are currently training at Annarella, and my dancer was inspired by this and expects that one day soon she will be able to look at Prix de Lausanne cohorts and say that she danced with some of them in Portugal!"
  • "Intense, inspiring, serious training with renowned teachers and students from all over the world"
  • "Actually intense in the amount of classes and intense teachers."
  • "Life skills gained because high level of independence and traveling abroad. Partnering for all levels, including younger dancers. Great and safe country. Exposure to great talent from the dancers in the full time pre-pro program. Being part of Louise’s group of US dancers."
  • "Quality of teaching"
  • "Very kind teachers, helpful year round students, clean studios"

Least liked about program

  • "Absolutely NO communication with parents. There was no handbook, no schedule, ending time changed regularly. Very overt body shaming/ fat shaming Americans received very little attention unless negative All instructions were given in another language and there was NO translation of corrections If a dancer or parent complained, they were gas lit The teachers yelled at the students There were “shows” at the castle which were a cool experience but there was very little communication about it. The dancers performed pieces they already knew versus they learned at the program but there was no credit given. The costumes that the dancers rented were dirty The days were really long… 8:45 am - 7:30 pm, sometimes later. The only break was for lunch at 1:30. The studios were very hot There was significant inconsistency in American dancers who attended- some were very serious ballet students with professional aspirations. Some barely had any ballet exposure. This may have contributed to the negative sentiments about the American dancers. I am so glad that we went with our child. There was little to no supervision. The unaccompanied dancers were not checked on, were out all night, drinking, with local boys/ men. Louise was not available to help with things, she was on vacation. The “tours” that she arranged were very expensive. We understood that partnering would be a big part of the program but my dancer had it once over 2 weeks. She has had partnering experience before so she was prepared to do it. The Americans were told that “they were too heavy for their (the year round) boys and they were getting hurt…” and therefore they would not have additional pas class."
  • "Parents did not have the opportunity to visit the studios much less meet the teachers. No handbook and One email a week. Inconsistent class schedules, sometimes they end at 5 sometimes at 9. Limited communication if any at all. Placement was based on age not ability from day one. One PAS class a week. No corrections given. Focused on the gala rather than technique. No growth. The Americans did not get any attention in class and they featured their own dancers in the gala. It was obvious who the favorites were and there was no rotation of the dancers. The teachers humiliated the Americans, smoked, and constantly yelled. My daughter along with many students hated it yet they were able to bond over the negative experience. The director was awful. They charge a lot of money to rent dirty costumes which is mandatory and a lot of money for videos and photos of the gala. There is a language barrier."
  • "Limited attention to the American students. Focused on the gala rather than providing technique or Pas. Lots of yelling and body shaming. We were told we “are fat and lazy”. We didn’t get the schedule until the day off."
  • "The overt abusive nature of the program."
  • "As an American part of the USA group, this was a wild ride. Notably because of parents who came with a set of expectations that were incompatible with a global program in this specific country culture. There are some very legit points of feedback, but overall there were some pockets of negative mindset that I think would have been happier staying state-side as they were unable to adapt. Specific things that we liked the least: 1) USA Group - The coordinator of this group was not organized. It made the experience more difficult, creating work effort to try to figure out what was happening. - Of greater note was the lack of the group coordinator/liaison's willingness to accept feedback and to help when concerns were brought to her. There was a strong level of defensiveness that I witnessed when she was faced with feedback, and that energy was wasted when it could have been focused on solutioning. 2) Annarella Studio - Variability in levelling was unacceptable. Some dancers were placed way too high, others way too low, and others bounced around each week. The process felt rushed and lacked a system or strategy."
  • "Lack of communication in some parts. You only receive the daily schedule the day of and rehearsals to learn pieces for the galas can be rushed. However, it’s understandable that when new students are arriving week-to-week or day-to-day, it’s nearly impossible to set choreographies early. It’s part of the experience to learn how to handle this fast paced environment if you want to someday become professional. Annarella makes it clear that you are there to improve and work towards being professional as opposed to having a fun, chill summer. Annarella herself can be harsh at times and I notice that especially the visiting Americans may struggle to adjust to this new culture. I find that sometimes what Annarella has to say can be harsh yet necessary, although there are times where I disagree with her. It’s worth noting that Annarella usually only takes class for the youngest groups and the rest of the teaching staff are excellent."
  • "Language barrier. Most classes were taught in Spanish."
  • "The performances were 4.5 hours long and they mostly showcased the full time, year long dancers (they were part of the intensive but were not a majority). There was a performance in the middle of the intensive and another at the end. Different pieces. The performances felt more like a show off - highlighting disproportionately the great dancers they have in the full time program - since they appeared repeatedly during the entire show in various solos or as leads in the other dances. The other SI students were showcased in an average of 4 dances per performance but they were group/corps kind pieces for the great majority - in stark contrast with the full time students. For every dance they participated in, the SI non full time students spent approximately 1 hour per dance per day in rehearsals so a lot of time was allocated for performance rehearsals - in the detriment of technique classes. There were many guest teachers and Ms Sanchez rotated through teaching the classes but seemed to prefer teaching the young dancers."
  • "Communication could be better"
  • "Long days, separation between year round students and intensive students"

Suggested changes to program

Repeated Responses:
  • "See above" (2 responses)
Unique Responses:
  • "Increase communication. Placement class based on skills. Separate their own students from those traveling so everyone gets even attention. Balanced casting in the gala. Include photos and videos without a fee. Rental Costumes should be free why are we paying for something they are hosting the show. Don’t smoke in front of students."
  • "Provide a handbook. Weekly schedule to plan ahead. Don’t charge a fee for renting dirty costumes. Free gala photos and videos."
  • "Aside from a few good teachers this entire program needs to be reworked."
  • "- Offer some assistance to the studio to set up a simple handbook for parents. - Establish some basic processes for the studio so they can handle the strain that this SI places on them. Establish some communication norms (eg, a parent information board that includes a daily calendar). - There is a huge sense of pride in celebrating and supporting the phenomenal talent from the family (both daughters and their partners). It feels slightly performative, though, for the SI attendees. The experienced missed a genuine opportunity to elevate these two pairs with mentorship talks or other in-studio interactions vs expectations to buy gala tickets to see them perform."
  • "The performance to be much shorter and with a fairer and more balanced casting."
  • "Nothing really. Can be difficult if you don’t understand Portuguese."
  • "Include housing and weekend outings"

Culture of program

  • "It was like training in Russia circa 1975… lots of yelling, fat shaming, yelling to do something over and over with no actual corrections. The Director was very harsh, openly referring to specific dancers as “fat.”"
  • "Negative culture. I spoke with many families who regretted this experience."
  • "I was hoping for amazing training yet no corrections were given. The classes were not remarkable nor useful. I would have loved to receive more feedback from teachers (weakness/ strengths). It was not challenging or competitive."
  • "Morale was low across the board, among both the year-round and intensive students, and it was especially apparent with the older kids. The kids talked openly with each other about it, and the year-round students in particular were candid about their struggles with the program. The overarching theme was that they were miserable. If anything, the shared hardship seemed to bond the kids together as they'd essentially trauma bonded over the experience. Overall, it's an abusive culture, which is beyond disappointing to see in this day and age."
  • "The culture is both laid back and intense. Laid back because that's frankly the Portuguese culture, and intense in that the Annarella studio offers top notch training with firm expectations for dancers. There is immense pride in the community in the contributions of the studio to the city and Portugal overall, and it's so lovely to see."
  • "The year-round dancers are all very talented and serious about becoming professional, and this is a result of the schools culture. If you are a visitor looking for a fun, easy-going intensive this may not be for you. Days can be long but personally it was the kind of intensive I was looking for and thrive in."
  • "Very safe location, inexpensive grocery, students got lots of support from organizers."
  • "Friendly and highly talented."
  • "Friendly, students were helpful. Positive environment"
  • "Supportive, encouraging, rigorous"

Other comments

  • "My dancer did not grow at all technically as there was no attention given to the kids who were not year round students. There was an over focus on the end of session performance. My child really enjoyed getting to know kids from all over the world. The dancers quickly bonded due to the extreme circumstances there. We were very disappointed in the American Liason. She was disorganized and more focused on people going on tours than the dancing."
  • "I was lucky to be able to stay locally with my child because for those traveling in the group with Louise it was like traveling alone. Despite of what she tells you. Many parents informed me she was always on tour or at the pool. She sat at the airport lounge while those traveling alone roamed duty free. There was no supervision provided with girls drinking at the pool, the bars, and staying out at all hours of the night. Snapchat tells all and my daughter shared stories.. We do not recommend this program to anyone, yet if you do it travel with your child. I heard countless stories."
  • "Not inspiring, supportive or fun. Students were kind but the environment was not healthy."
  • "We'd done extensive research on Annarella Conservatory and had our sights set on it for the last few summers, even considering it as a year-round option. Both my daughter and I were genuinely excited for what we hoped would be a transformative summer. Unfortunately, it was anything but. Conditions were bad enough that some parents were considering pulling their kids out before the first week was even over. My daughter found Annarella Sanchez harsh from the start. By day two, she'd already witnessed Annarella verbally attacking a student in Spanish (despite being able to speak English, she chooses not to use it). Fat-shaming was a recurring theme, targeted especially at American students, though many year-round kids weren't spared either. It was hard to escape the impression that Annarella was primarily interested in American dollars — from pressuring parents to buy tickets to a ballet starring her own daughter (and calling kids "uncultured" if they declined), to charging 45 euro for a costume that's normally 25 euro during the school year, to tacking on last-minute performances and then charging students to rent costumes that were dirty, under the guise of a "cleaning fee." American families in particular felt nickel-and-dimed constantly. Leveling made little sense. It was supposedly age-based, but clearly wasn't applied that way. Year-round students, who trained at the intensive, got the lion's share of attention. Annarella told the American girls they couldn't take partnering (pas de deux) classes because her boys were getting hurt lifting girls she deemed "too heavy" and body/food commentary toward students was constant. My daughter had exactly one partnering class in four weeks. Overall, the focus felt weighted toward performances rather than actual training, with class time repeatedly cut short for rehearsals — whether for galas or impromptu castle performances. Most classes were taught in Spanish and/or Portuguese, and teachers made disparaging remarks about students in Spanish, which the students who understood would sometimes translate for the others. Students were called names like "fat" and "stupid" by staff. My daughter felt that if Annarella weren't so directly involved with the school, the environment might be better as her negativity and harshness seemed to trickle down and shape the culture of the entire staff. We came in hopeful and left deeply disappointed. I do not recommend this program."
  • "I would never send my child as an unaccompanied minor. The supervision was non-existent. I saw other feedback about body shaming. My dancer did not experience this, nor did she see it. If you are doing this SI, make sure you are able to adapt to an international program. Instruction will not be in English. It can be hot. There are different standards for organization and communication. Your child may not be the star. Now maybe those things can improve, but you are ultimately in a very different culture, so make sure this is something you are capable of embracing as part of the experience."
  • "I saw some other reviews mentioning concerns of student supervision, but I think it’s only fair to mention that the small group of underage kids I noticed partying were all doing so in the early hours of the morning with their parents also in attendance at the intensive. Annarella makes it clear that she does not condone partying, drinking, smoking etc."
  • "There are ACs in the studio but they are rarely turned on, no fans, just open windows. Was a massive change that effected the learning experience, and made the floors sticky and hard to dance on. So you cuu out you not do you best work in class."
  • "Parents can see the Gala concert and spend great time to visit many beautiful sites."
  • "Great program to join for a different kind of summer intensive that has a bit of everything."
  • "Great experience. Got more out of this intensive than any other ones attended in the USA"
Reviews
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Age: 14, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2026
1 out of 5 rating
Age: 14, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2026, Stayed In Housing
1 out of 5 rating
Age: 13, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2026, Stayed In Housing
3 out of 5 rating
Age: 15, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2026
1 out of 5 rating
Age: 13, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2026, Stayed In Housing
5 out of 5 rating
Age: 20, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2026, Stayed In Housing
4 out of 5 rating
Age: 15, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2025, Stayed In Housing
5 out of 5 rating
Age: 14, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2025
5 out of 5 rating
Age: 15, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2024
4 out of 5 rating
Age: 16, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2024
4 out of 5 rating