BALLET HELP DESK

Summer Intensive Reviews

Programs Reviewed: 255
Total Reviews: 2241

Butler University Ballet

Summer Intensive Reviews

General

Dancer age

1
4
2
1
6

Gender

14

First time at a summer intensive?

12
2

Year of SI

6
1
5
2

Weeks available

10
4

Weeks attended

11
3

Reviewer

5
8
1

Curriculum

Techniques taught

2
13

Partnering (based on age)

4
3
7

Dedicated men's program?

7
5
2

# of boys in level

14

Other dance genres

1
12
3
14
14

Quality of other classes

Not Helpful
3
4
7
Helpful

Injury Prevention

Strength classes?

2
14
2
6

PT offered?

2
12

Extra fee for PT?

6
6
2

Injury rate

5
9

Teaching

Who taught?

12
1
1

Guest teachers

6
5
3

Year-round teachers taught

1
12
1

Attention from teachers

Very Little
1
4
9
A Lot

Technique improved?

No
1
4
9
Yes - Tremendously

Studios

Dance floors

1
1
13

Studio space

Cramped
1
4
9
Lots of Space

Studio cleanliness

Dirty
5
9
Spotless

Schedule

Classes per day

1
6
7

Saturday classes

14

Saturday class duration

5
9

Leveling

Leveling

14

Leveling type

12
2

Did students move levels?

2
12

Leveling fair?

14

Students per class

4
10

Performance

Performance?

14

Rehearsals happened

7
4
3

Casting equitability

Uneven
1
4
5
4
Even

Rehearsals detracted from class?

Completely
1
3
10
Not At All

Housing - General

Housing provided

11
3

# of roommates

9
2

Bathrooms

11

Coed bathrooms

11

Air conditioning

11

Housing comment

  • "Dancers were housed in the freshman dorm building. Dances used a key card to access the building. Then a key was used to access the dorm room. The dining hall was in a different building and the studios were in a third. Gave the dancers a taste of what it would be like to live on campus as a student."
  • "Rooms were spacious and bright with two rooms sharing a bathroom in between."
  • "Each dancer got a desk dresser and a full closet so storage was amazing and more than needed."
  • "Newer building there were TVs and various spaces for the evenings to hang out"
  • "Dorms were recently renovated and nice. Main dining facility was undergoing construction this summer. The dancers were fed at a smaller dining hall along with all of the other student groups on campus, so food choices and supply were limited."
  • "Many of the dorms including mine had mold ants or leaks."

Where did they stay?

3

Housing - Supervision

Curfew

11

Curfew reasonable?

11

Room check

1
10

How strict were dorms?

9
1
1

Infraction handling

3
8

Housing - Cleanliness

Laundry available

11

Laundry free

11

Housing cleanliness

Dirty
1
3
7
Spotless

Cleaning required

5
5

Meal Plan

Meal plan

11

Food quality

Gross
4
6
1
Excellent

Enough food

2
9

Dietary needs?

6
5

Specific needs

  • "Lactose Intolerant"
  • "Severe peanut allergy"
  • "None"
  • "Gluten and dairy free"
  • "Vegetarian"

Dietary options

Limited
1
2
2
Lots

Activities

Weeknight activities

3
8

Weekend outings

14

Attended weekend outings

3
10
1

Favorite

  • "The Garage food hall and the Indianapolis Zoo"
  • "Newfields art museum"
  • "The Lume Monet & Friends exhibition at Newfields"
  • "The trip to the museum"
  • "Art museum trip"
  • "The Indianapolis Zoo and movie theatre and dinner trip"
  • "New Superman movie, art museum, zoo, SpongeBob musical, Butler Ballet movie night"
  • "Art museum"
  • "We went to a movie and then to a dinner place with many different options but the bus was delayed by an hour coming to pick us up."

Least favorite

  • "None"
  • "None they were all great"
  • "N/a"
  • "We walked to an ice cream shop which was good but it was an hour walk there and back and it was very hot."

Logistics

Quality of handbook

Spotty
1
1
6
6
Comprehensive

Program communication

Limited
1
1
1
6
5
Comprehensive

Transportation

1
1
2
10

Neighborhood safety

Not Safe
3
11
Very Safe

General Comments

Overall recommendation

Definitely Not
1
1
12
Absolutely

Best aspect

  • "The range of dance styles and balance of time on pointe with time in other styles was a perfect balance for a first intensive. The structure of the program both in terms of curriculum and administrative items provided a seamless experience for both my dancer and me as a parent."
  • "Liked having the full experience of a highly regarded college dance program."
  • "Instructors take a genuine interest in the students."
  • "My daughter thought every instructor was top notch"
  • "Excellent training."
  • "The community and how each teacher gave us all attention in classes and outside and they cared about us."
  • "Small classes allowed for each student to be seen and corrected"
  • "At the end you do a one act production of a classical ballet and you get to learn all of the roles and variations from that ballet"
  • "Professor Cholewa and Professor Ruffo were incredible and very knowledgeable"
  • "Attention from teachers; friendly and supportive environment with teachers and other dancers; ability to audition for college program while there"
  • "- Excellent training - Good balance of fun and hard work - Appreciated the short breaks throughout the day - Loved building relationships with the teachers - The campus is beautiful"
  • "The RAs and other dorm life aspects like the outings, movie nights, and games."

Least liked about program

Repeated Responses:
  • "Nothing." (2 responses)
Unique Responses:
  • "Indianapolis humidity is no joke. It was incredibly hot and humid, daily. Dancers were not allowed any access to the campus pool."
  • "Daughter did not stay in dorms, lost out on some of the camaraderie"
  • "Extra rehearsals after dinner were a lot."
  • "Not much to do near or around campus during downtime"
  • "Only two levels this year so classes had very wide-spread abilities; younger girls struggled a lot"
  • "The food but only because the main cafeteria wasn’t open this year."
  • "- The food 🙃 - Not a lot of men in partnering classes so we it took a while to get through all the female dancers. - had to share the cafeteria with several other camps on campus - sometimes took a long time to get food"
  • "There was very little attention paid to the lower level and certain dancers were definitely showcased. There was also a competition studio some of the teachers taught at and they let students from that studio arrive late in the program and skip multiple days during it which took away from how many dances we could preform."

Suggested changes to program

  • "Nothing."
  • "Not scheduling a mandatory group outing every weekend. They were all fun but dancers were tired and one weekend of rest would be good to have."
  • "I would like to know the weekend activities in advance before arriving to drop her off."
  • "Option for a shorter program"
  • "Outings more interesting"
  • "More levels, longer pas classes"
  • "Wish there had been more structured social activities at the beginning of the month. Dancers got to know each other eventually but the RAs were hands-off with facilitating group gatherings."
  • "N/A"
  • "To have more attention given to the lower level."

Culture of program

  • "Firm, but supportive. Many girls came from competition studios. My dancer came from a very peer supportive rec studio. The difference in dancer personality took her a bit of time to adjust to, but as the dancers made friends, it began to feel more supportive to her."
  • "Extremely positive experience in terms of culture. Dancers were all there to work hard and seemed to have the mindset of having a lot of fun together as a group. The atmosphere felt supportive and less competitive than her year round school."
  • "Very professional"
  • "Ballet intense, for sure. Daughter excels at modern and jazz, but felt improvement, especially in pointe work."
  • "High expectations for serious attitude and dedication."
  • "friendly and a great experience. There were some of the older girls who sometimes picked on younger girls likely because they were in a higher level than them or had a featured part but it wasn't often and the RAs took care of it and were SO nice."
  • "Very supportive and educational"
  • "It was very welcoming"
  • "Extremely welcoming"
  • "Challenging but friendly"
  • "Fun, positive"
  • "It is pretty small there were only two levels of about 15 people each, with mostly seniors. I didn’t find any really close friends but I knew some who did. The RAs were so nice."

Other comments

  • "Many dancers were from out of town and would have benefited from one trip to Target, which is not nearby."
  • "The camaraderie built between the students and the RA’s is really neat."
  • "Excellent showcase, choreo very good!"
  • "Would recommend for high school students, especially juniors and seniors who are planning to audition for the college program."
  • "Nope"
  • "Highly suggest this intensive for younger dancers. They will feel very supported in a positive atmosphere. They will feel very comfortable here!"
  • "It is a great opportunity for seniors since they offer an audition for the college during the intensive."
Reviews
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Age: 15, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2026, Stayed In Housing, Special Diet
5 out of 5 rating
Age: 16, Female
Overall Rating

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

Attended 2025, Stayed In Housing
5 out of 5 rating
Age: 17, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2025, Stayed In Housing, Special Diet
5 out of 5 rating
Age: 17, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2025, Stayed In Housing
5 out of 5 rating
Age: 12, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2025
5 out of 5 rating
Age: 13, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2025, Stayed In Housing, Special Diet
2 out of 5 rating
Age: 17, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2024, Stayed In Housing, Special Diet
5 out of 5 rating
Age: 17, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2023, Stayed In Housing
5 out of 5 rating
Age: 13, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2023, Stayed In Housing
5 out of 5 rating