unsure; body conditioning was offered a couple of times.
Yoga
PT offered?
No
Not sure
Yes
Extra fee for PT?
We didn't use PT
Yes
Injury rate
I wasn't aware of injuries
Seemed average
Seemed like a lot of injuries
Teaching
Who taught?
Different depending on week
Different each day
The same every day
Guest teachers
No
Unsure
Yes
Year-round teachers taught
Alongside guest faculty
Throughout the program
Throughout the program, Alongside guest faculty
Attention from teachers
Very Little
1
2
3
4
5
A Lot
Technique improved?
No
1
2
3
4
5
Yes - Tremendously
Studios
Dance floors
Sprung floors with marley but with wrinkles and missing tape
Sprung floors with secure marley
unknown
Unsure
Studio space
Cramped
1
2
3
4
5
Lots of Space
Studio cleanliness
Dirty
1
2
3
4
5
Spotless
Schedule
Classes per day
3
4
5
Saturday classes
No
Yes
Saturday class duration
Half day or less
N/A
Leveling
Leveling
Assigned after placement class
Assigned when accepted
Leveling type
Ability
Age
Unsure
Did students move levels?
No
Yes
Leveling fair?
No
Yes
Students per class
16-24
25-30
31-34
35-40
Performance
Performance?
Full show
Nothing
Small demonstration
Rehearsals happened
Both in and out of class
During daily class
Outside of class
Casting equitability
Uneven
1
2
3
4
5
Even
Rehearsals detracted from class?
Completely
1
2
3
4
5
Not At All
Housing - General
Housing provided
Yes and my dancer lived there
Yes but my dancer did not live there
# of roommates
0
1
2
3
Bathrooms
2 bathrooms in suite for 4 students.
Private in room
Private in suite
Two private bathrooms in room
Coed bathrooms
No
Yes
Air conditioning
Yes
Housing comment
Dancer said it was really nice housing and great food.
A/C was a bit too cold and not able to turn down
If attending all 6 weeks, students got a dorm with their own washer and dryer inside the dorm. Also, the dorms were at University of Texas, so they were shared with the college athletic students that were in for summer training. They did a great job of segregating the students when it came to the dorm floors, but the common areas were a mix of ballet students and University of Texas students.
Dorm included movie room, game room & pool
The dancers staying for only 3 of the 6 weeks had suite style rooms and shared with one other roommate and had a shared bathroom with them but six week dancers had individual rooms and a shared living/kitchen area with 3 other roommates
Students have to take public transportation and walk to/from the bus stop from the dorm and the studio.
Most have parent given privilege to leave the dorm in pairs or groups. My daughter often went shopping in the evenings in the area college campus stores. Some ate out frequently instead of eating provided meals. Lots of independence some may not be comfortable with. However, I think they would be left out if they had to stay in the dorm and weren't allowed to leave (not given parent permission to leave)
Suite style housing - two girls in each bedroom with their own bathroom sharing a common living room kitchen (with full size refrigerator/freezer) in between the two bedrooms. Housing had dining hall almost attatched to dorms. Dorms had pool and hot tub, Game room/Arcade and movie room.
common areas were shared with other groups
dancers under 18 had curfews, over 18 did not have curfew
RA last year was very rude and had biased against students. Dorms are super cold. Found somebodys old tights in my dorm when I moved in. Light in the shower broke within the first 4 days- took them a week and a half to fix. Slow elevators.
Shared suites at UT, accommodations were nice.
Where did they stay?
Stayed with local family or friends
Student lived at home
Housing - Supervision
Curfew
No
Yes
Curfew reasonable?
Yes
Room check
No
Yes
How strict were dorms?
Just about right
Somewhat lax
Very lax
Very strict
Infraction handling
A little harsh
Fair
N/A
Skewed depending on student
Skewed depending on the RA
Housing - Cleanliness
Laundry available
Yes
Laundry free
No
Unsure
Yes
Housing cleanliness
Dirty
1
2
3
4
5
Spotless
Cleaning required
No
Yes
Meal Plan
Meal plan
Yes
Food quality
Gross
1
2
3
4
5
Excellent
Enough food
No
Yes
Dietary needs?
No
Yes
Specific needs
Allergic to nuts/pescetarian
food allergies and sensitivities
Vegetarian
Dietary options
Limited
1
2
3
4
5
Lots
Activities
Weeknight activities
Yes
Weekend outings
Yes
Attended weekend outings
I didn't attend any of them
Yes, all of them
Yes, some of them
Favorite
Swimming at the river
all-she went to the Farmer's Market weekly
Barton Springs
Barbie movie
Barton springs or summer musical
I don't believe that my son took advantage of many of the outings because others in his group were not going...
Shopping on SoCo
Photos session at UT campus, Seeing an outdoor play at Zilker Park
Barbie movie, shopping on SoCo
Swimming at Barton Springs, 4th of July fireworks, Shopping at SoCo
target run
Barton springs
Barton Springs
The Farmers market and thrift stores
Least favorite
N/A
The mall/ shopping districts
n/a
She liked them all, but it was hot for shopping
the bats were underwhelming
Mall trips
They’re all good
Logistics
Quality of handbook
Spotty
1
2
3
4
5
Comprehensive
Program communication
Limited
1
2
3
4
5
Comprehensive
Transportation
Did not stay in dorm
for the older kids with parent consent public transportation w/o chaperone. I believe there were chaperones for younger kids, etc.
My daughter commuted but did walk to local eateries during break
Options to travel with a chaperone were available.
Public transportation with chaperone
Public transportation with or without chaperone
Public transportation without chaperone
We commuted
Neighborhood safety
Not Safe
1
2
3
4
5
Very Safe
General Comments
Overall recommendation
Definitely Not
1
2
3
4
5
Absolutely
Best aspect
the housing, the performance
the teachers; outside of the actual program, the dorm pool and the dorm suites were a definite plus
Men's technique class
Supportive teachers / great group of supportive students
Very welcoming, fun, really great instructors
Wonderful dorm, fun activities
The amount of pointe offered throughout the week
Friends
being able to be in class with other boys; partnering
dancer says showcase
Super friendly and super fun. they focus a lot on technique which is super helpful.
Dorm life and chaperones
Lots of fun activities and social time throughout the program. Having freedom to walk around in groups without chaperones allowed my daughter to really grow as a person in the free time at this summer intensive.
The Balanchine training, tough love, and freedom to explore the city.
The faculty is caring, attentive, supportive and really wants the students to learn and grow during their time.
solid training, lot's of encouragement
teachers, culture
Meeting people
Some of the teachers were great, great community, good things to do around Austin.
My daughter's growth, acceptance of a wide range of bodies, individual attention, good corrections, safe dorms
A great balance of hard work and rest time for such a long program
Least liked about program
the weather in Texas in the summer!
This occured during COVID policies so only had 1/2 day classes and no partnering
N/A
my daughter would say hip hop. She's still getting better at it.
Lowest level had a wide variety of abilities
The fact that we had the same 3 teachers the whole time
Early starts
level placement and food
Just about everything - food was horrific with absolutely no selection and not nutritional in any way, levels basically by age and some students clearly belonged in higher levels, same teachers the entire time, not challenging, didn't learn anything
more pool availability
Partnering was only once a week for the top level, but twice a week for levels 6 & 7. We also missed a week of partnering because of July 4, which meant only 2 partnering classes during the 3 weeks.
Some of the teaching and some chaperones
Super age based/ biased towards BA or 6 week students. Super hot, dorms definitely had problems. Some chaperones/ RA were super over the top strict. Also in 2024 accepted every boy on a full ride scholarship.
Outings are not required and my daughter is shy and was matched with a very shy roommate so they never went. The one outing my daughter did want to attend was full before she could sign up, so make sure your dancer signs up fast since there's not space for everyone. Lunch daily is a salad and dancers with food sensitivities were sometimes given a bowl of lettuce with no protein or even dressing.
Lunch menu
Suggested changes to program
nothing
N/A
This was the first year in-person coming back from the pandemic, so we only had half days to limit the amount of people in the studios at once. This, no partnering or conditioning classes. I'm sure there are more classes offered during normal years. It was kind of a weird summer, as not everyone was vaccinated yet.
Have conditioning classes for the older advanced level
Levels more based on ability vs age
The teacher variety or class size
N/a
More communication in general
food definitely needs to be improved and they should look more closely at placement vs. just age
More equal casting in DD's part of the show, but other levels seemed more even
Add contemporary or modern classes and take away jazz and hip hop and see above
more emphasis on technique
I would add a Saturday class.
My daughter says get rid of
Hip Hop but she really liked musical theater and jazz this year
more partnering - there were enough boys to have it more often
Have guest teachers come and have more teachers teach classes
Less age biased for placement.
Require dorm students to attend some of the social activities, if not all of them
I wish it were 5 weeks instead of 6
Culture of program
inspiring
Positive and very inclusive.
Positive
Supportive / but challenging
Inclusive, welcoming, positive, learn a lot but have fun
Great, positive
Very positive and intense
Friendly
supportive and welcoming
most of the dancers in my daughter's level (3) very clearly did not want to be there and used any excuse to get out of class possible
Amazing and healthy
It seemed like most students who were there didn't actually want to be there.."injuries", bathroom trips constantly during class, going to the nurse/sitting out for ridiculous reasons or no reason at all, not focused
positive
Fun, but still serious.
Supportive, encouraging, fun, dedicated
very positive, nurturing
Pretty good
The students are overall pretty nice, the chaperones are pretty rude, depends on the teacher.
Accepting, positive
Solid
Other comments
fellowships offered for year round!
I think the instructors really care about the students. The end of SI performance was super impressive. The choreography was unique, interesting and seemed challenging.
The chaperones and teachers were very understanding and kind, they were there to help you and were super nice! The food was fairly good but they served a lot of chicken, I recommend this summer intensive especially for a first or second intensive!!
There was an occurrence in the dorms that was handled quickly, what exactly happened remains unclear, however the RAs managing the problem came across as aggressive and accusatory. It was quite stressful for some of the kids (especially those who were not involved in the occurrence, but were questioned). Clearly no transgressions were tolerated (a good thing), but the approach could have been more diplomatic and thoughtful. The staff at BA was appropriately protective of the kid(s) involved, but were open to my questions and feedback.
It is technique based, and you have to appreciate that.
Waste of time and money
This was my daughters first SI (age 14) and she had a fantastic experience. It was fun and social, beautiful studios and beautiful dorm in great city with lots of great outings to sign up for on a week to week basis. You can choose from one of two 3-week sessions or go the entire 6 weeks. The academy director, Bill Piner, seemed very involved in all aspects of the program.
Ballet Austin has held an SI for 31 years and they do a great job. The full performance at the end is choreographed by company dancers and faculty. They really do a great job giving students another performance opportunity in a short amount of time while not distracting from the technique classes and learning.
The students have a lot of freedom outside of class, which was a great growing experience for my student, but not what everyone wants and really depends on the kid whether they would be lonely, isolated or just not ready for that.
There was an opportunity to apply for the Butler Fellowship while there. Each dancer who applied had a conference with the artistic director and got feedback from the school.
