BALLET HELP DESK

Summer Intensive Reviews

Programs Reviewed: 234
Total Reviews: 1882

CPYB

Summer Intensive Reviews

General

Dancer age

1
3
9
21
19
9
5
1
1

Gender

64
4
1

First time at a summer intensive?

60
9

Year of SI

1
3
38
16
11

Weeks available

68
1

Weeks attended

1
67
1

Reviewer

1
28
40

Curriculum

Techniques taught

53
3
7
8
24
9

Partnering (based on age)

28
4
2
1
34

Dedicated men's program?

6
24
39

# of boys in level

1
13
55

Other dance genres

1
1
1
1
4
58
5
12
12
1
1
3
5
50
2
1
1

Quality of other classes

Not Helpful
3
3
16
21
25
Helpful

Injury Prevention

Strength classes?

36
1
6
1
43
10
12
1
30
1
1
1
6
39

PT offered?

1
4
64

Extra fee for PT?

4
15
49

Injury rate

15
42
12

Teaching

Who taught?

34
32
3

Guest teachers

1
1
67

Year-round teachers taught

31
2
22
14

Attention from teachers

Very Little
1
3
13
25
27
A Lot

Technique improved?

No
1
1
5
14
48
Yes - Tremendously

Studios

Dance floors

1
1
1
8
64
1

Studio space

Cramped
2
13
25
29
Lots of Space

Studio cleanliness

Dirty
1
1
2
22
43
Spotless

Schedule

Classes per day

4
50
14
1

Saturday classes

69

Saturday class duration

1
68

Leveling

Leveling

68
1

Leveling type

48
21

Did students move levels?

18
49

Leveling fair?

13
56

Students per class

33
31
3
1
1

Performance

Performance?

8
61

Rehearsals detracted from class?

Completely
3
66
Not At All

Housing - General

Housing provided

1
54
14

# of roommates

3
43
3
5

Bathrooms

38
5
11

Coed bathrooms

53
1

Air conditioning

2
52

Housing comment

  • "The boys lived in a large house and all had singles."
  • "Dorms were nice and walkable to CPYB"
  • "No elevator, which is fine. Just wish I had known in advance."
  • "Meal plan served a variety of food. However when other camps started they often ran out of selections. Based on timing of Ballet classes some students couldn't wait in the long lines for food."
  • "Quality of housing depends on age of the student. Younger ones would stay in Adams hall with 1 or 2 roomates (or a single if requested) where there were 2 shared bathrooms per floor. Older students in Morgan hall would have their own suites with their own bathroom, with 1-3 roomates"
  • "Cellular connection did not work at all in my building. Wifi was provided, but not great."
  • "The AC did not work well"
  • "A/C didn't work in my daughter's room."
  • "bathrooms were not cleaned routinely or maintained well. Clogged toilets and strong odor"
  • "Amazing Ra’s"
  • "My daughter is on the pickier side with food. She always found something to eat and was never hungry, I just wish there were better options at times for dancers. IE, She got pretty tired of the same dining hall scrambled eggs after a few weeks, but knew she needed protein for all of the dancing. Omelets or something to dress them up a bit occasionally would be nice."
  • "The food was okay but people did get food poisoning. There were other camps also using the cafeteria and some days the lines for food were long or food ran out. We ended up needing to supplement to make sure our dancer always had enough food for class This was an issue with the college dorms - not CPYB’s fault. CPYB did intervene to help the situation. The wifi was pretty bad and unusable. The girls couldn’t walk to the studio alone. I wish the RA’s regularly could walk to the studio. If you’re having a tough time starting friendships, especially in the beginning, it feels magnified when you need to find a way to class and have no one to go with or if your friends don’t want to go night class. Having an RA go at set times would alleviate some of that social pressure. In the past the dress code was pretty strict but it has since improved and is less oppressive for the girls. This was a great improvement - it gets hot in Carlisle!"
  • "Bad wifi signal"
  • "Food was not very good, many girls got food poisoning. depending on the year and your age you would either be in a nicer dorm or a older one. dorms were still sufficant nontheless. carlise is a nice calm town but the dorms are around a 10-15 min walk from the studios which is hard after a longer day. Some of the older girls had their own bathroom/suite. Easy to walk places in town from dorms and secure signing out/buddy process"
  • "The housing was relatively fine. Some of the RA's were rude and stuck up. They did not put in enough effort to get to know anyone or they put in way too much effort with select campers. It felt very much like the mean girls grew up. Very few activities were planned. One of the RA's refused to clean up throw up because she "couldn't handle throw up" and let another camper do it."
  • "For dietary restrictions options, there isn’t too much but if you want more than just chicken rice and veggies everyday you have to ask and tell them. Infractions were more common with certain RAs and dorms."
  • "Each person got their own closet, desk with a chair, and two dressers with 2 drawers each in their room."
  • "There are no elevators so we need to accommodate what to bring in"
  • "A cleaner came 1-2x per week. RA’s & cleaner did their best but honestly a lot of the girls were disgusting and left laundry in the laundry room/stairwell and hair in the showers."
  • "My HD (Shea Cooper) was absolutely amazing!! She was always there for me whether I was feeling sick or missing home - and was always there to check on me. A lot of the other RAs were very kind for the most part as well but some were a bit harsh."

Where did they stay?

1
11
3
1

Housing - Supervision

Curfew

54

Curfew reasonable?

4
50

Room check

2
52

How strict were dorms?

28
3
17
6

Infraction handling

6
24
10
4
20
4

Housing - Cleanliness

Laundry available

54

Laundry free

38
2
14

Housing cleanliness

Dirty
1
7
42
4
Spotless

Cleaning required

38
16

Meal Plan

Meal plan

54

Food quality

Gross
1
5
22
21
5
Excellent

Enough food

6
48

Dietary needs?

43
11

Specific needs

Repeated Responses:
  • "Vegetarian" (2 responses)
Unique Responses:
  • "Allergies to peanuts and corn"
  • "nut allergy"
  • "Gluten free diet"
  • "Peanut / Treenut"
  • "vegetarian"
  • "Allergy to Peanut"
  • "Peanut, tree nut allergies"
  • "Vegan, Lactose intolerant, gluten free... many girls had dffrent needs"
  • "Gluten Free"

Dietary options

Limited
1
1
3
6
Lots

Activities

Weeknight activities

13
41

Weekend outings

12
57

Attended weekend outings

3
34
20

Favorite

Repeated Responses:
  • "Hershey Park" (10 responses)
  • "Hershey park" (6 responses)
Unique Responses:
  • "He liked going around to music festivals and restaurants in town with friends. There was a big trip to Hershey Park, which was great but not his favorite past time."
  • "Only had one, Hershey Park was great"
  • "There was only 1 outing to Hershey Park"
  • "Hershey Park was the only weekend event offered-she loved it!"
  • "Hershey Town"
  • "Music Festival"
  • "There was only one to Hershey Park"
  • "Hersey Park / Founders ballet performance"
  • "the hershey park trip"
  • "The only outing was Hershey Park, and it was pretty fun"
  • "There was only one, to Hershey Park"
  • "Trip to Hershey park"
  • "walmart trips, farmers market, hershey park"
  • "Hershey"
  • "There was just one Hershey Park. (I think there’s were some small like Walmart trips but not very formal)"
  • "Hershey Park was really the only big outing"
  • "The only outing was to Hershey Park, my dancer loved it."
  • "Only one offered, Hershey Park"
  • "Hershey park was her favorite, even though it was hot that day she had blast."
  • "Hershey Park or any small little festival"
  • "I really liked going to Hershey Park. Everything was paid for a I got to have a fun time."
  • "Dance store, crepes"
  • "CPYB only does one outing- to Hershey Park, dancer enjoyed it!"
  • "Hershy Park"
  • "There was only one that was actually an outing but I really liked the yumiko pop up."
  • "Hershey park was the only outing. It was fine"
  • "Prom"
  • "The trips to walmart"
  • "Hershey Park, that's the only one as far as I know"
  • "There was 1- Herhsey Park trip"
  • "There was only 1 - Hershey Park"

Least favorite

Repeated Responses:
  • "N/A" (7 responses)
Unique Responses:
  • "There was really only one official outing."
  • "NA"
  • "Walmart"
  • "There were only two outings - founders series on the first day and hershey park later."
  • "Only one outing was offered"
  • "The only outing provided by CPYB was to Hershey Park"
  • "There was only one"
  • "There wasn't many outings overall"
  • "None"
  • "Honestly, Hershey wasn't the most fun. You should definitely go but it’s a lot of walking in little time, and you have dance the next day, so it was not the most fun. Definitely go with a group that likes to do what you like to do even if that means it isn’t your best friends."
  • "Hershey Park was fun but there is not anything else to do besides ride roller coasters and it is very hot."

Logistics

Quality of handbook

Spotty
3
11
20
35
Comprehensive

Program communication

Limited
3
4
10
20
32
Comprehensive

Transportation

1
1
1
1
1
3
1
1
1
1
1
1
7
46
1
1

Neighborhood safety

Not Safe
2
4
29
34
Very Safe

General Comments

Overall recommendation

Definitely Not
1
6
9
53
Absolutely

Best aspect

  • "Great for a dancer that needs to catch up and the ability to grab additional private lessons was fantastic"
  • "The attention to foundation work at the barre."
  • "The staff and guest teachers are amazing."
  • "Great training, your dancer can definitely learn a lot. Great staff! They do have partnering!"
  • "Teachers, guest and resident. Tim Fox and Louise Lester!"
  • "Technique"
  • "The training at this intensive is excellent! The teachers, both CPYB and guest teachers, really drill on technique and it shows from what I observed at parent observation. I felt my daughter strengthened in so many ways over those 5 weeks."
  • "There were no performance so that they could focus on brush up their technique. The dancers in the same class seemed had to work on same things and it seemed all teachers knew what it was. So many teachers taught in different words focus on the same thing, so the dancers could work on there "weakest" things. That's my opinion though."
  • "Amount of ballet classes available to the dancers"
  • "The quality of the instruction. The attention to small details in their dancing."
  • "Ballet focused Training. Amount of classes per day - including an optional class each evening"
  • "There were many guest teachers from companies/schools all over the US, it's really cool to be able to learn from such talented people (for example, I had some principals at NYCB and PNB teach my classes, it was very inspiring)"
  • "I loved the change and variety of teachers every day and week. There were many guests teachers, current and former (mainly from PNB, Miami, NYCB). Plenty of time (1 1/2 hrs) in between each class for lunch/dinner."
  • "small classes"
  • "Amazing teachers"
  • "The teachers and the technique training"
  • "Variety and quality of teachers. Positive environment"
  • "The visiting teachers were incredible. Very helpful, enthusiastic and caring."
  • "The facility was very nice with 9 studios, and I learned a lot."
  • "Training was excellent"
  • "A variety of guest teachers from around the USA."
  • "Targeted each dancers area for growth"
  • "Independence, technique"
  • "the technical training"
  • "Quality guest and in house teachers"
  • "I loved having guest faculty, it really enhanced my experience and training"
  • "The guest teachers from the large ballet companies"
  • "Great facilities and instructors"
  • "The quality of teaching and small classes"
  • "the training and consistency of classes"
  • "The environment and all the things I learned"
  • "All the staff and friends made were incredible and helpful!"
  • "Amazing teachers and overall positive environment."
  • "You are told You will be taught Marcia’s syllabus"
  • "all of the teachers were wonderful"
  • "I really loved the diversity of all the teachers and personally my level was very small (11 most were bigger) So we got lots of Individual attention"
  • "If you are willing to dedicate yourself to working hard to improve, this is a great place to do it. Regardless of your level, if you work hard and embrace the experience you will experience tremendous growth"
  • "Small classes, lots of positive attention from teachers, amazing guest teachers"
  • "Wonderful guest teachers, full days of classes M-F, optional conditioning class offered each day, recovery equipment available to use, opportunities for private lessons and Pilates"
  • "Lots of technique classes"
  • "The amount of training and high quality teachers that really push the students to become better. CPYB offers a lot of quality dance hours - feels like you get your money’s worth at this program. My dancer definitely came back stronger in more ways than one. She’s physically stronger, her technique is stronger, and she has more endurance."
  • "You could tell that everyone really cared about everyone"
  • "Perfecting basics"
  • "Throughout the 5 weeks, I’ve leaned a lot of about my technique and what’s right and wrong with it. The teachers were super helpful in helping me fix certain gaps in my training. I believe I became a stronger dancer both physically and mentally and ultimately filled most gaps in my ballet training."
  • "Technical improvement"
  • "Everything. I loved absolutely everything about it. Non competitive. Everyone is friendly; I made the best friends. Town is walkable and fun. INCREDIBLE TEACHING - my turn out rocks now, my port de bras is so much better.The leveling is so good - they knew exactly what everyone needed."
  • "I loved the attention to detail the teachers all had and that they all made sure that we were using the proper muscles during every combination. I also loved getting to be taught by a lot of different teachers throughout the program."
  • "Focus on technique technique technique"
  • "The day was FULL with additional optional evening class each weekday and my dancer treated those as required so she had LOTS of dancing which she wanted. They can accommodate 16 or so levels with smaller numbers in each because of the number of studios and schedule arrangement. Great little town, charming, safe, a few places students could walk to eat. Lots of great guest teachers along with regular CPYB staff, so lots of exposure to professionals and teaching styles."
  • "the ammount of classes."
  • "Technique class"
  • "I think the best aspect was the teachers. They almost all trained under Marcia at some point and had a similar way of teaching. That being said, it was also different for some teachers, which made it enjoyable. I liked being able to have a more Balanchine class and then a plain classical class next. Most class have around 3 teachers that they have 2-5 days a week and then teachers they may only have once a week which was a good mix."
  • "The level of training was great. My DD improved over the summer"
  • "The technique"
  • "The amount of technical improvement was absolutely phenomenal! They really fill in any holes the dancer has in their technique. They place your dancer not on what they are good at or their level, but with others that need to work on the same thing. Small classes (often only 15 in my daughter’s class). Lots of personal attention. If your dancer buys into the syllabus and program and works hard, they will improve tremendously!!!!!"
  • "I loved how the teachers would take time to explain each exercise and how it worked, and explained what muscles needed to be activated rather than just moving through each combination quickly."
  • "Lots of technique classes which everyone needs no matter which levels they are. Teachers are eager to teach, lots of corrections during classes by them. Dancers from all over the country are very serious and work really hard, that those atmosphere was contagious in the classroom."
  • "Teachers explain corrections in a meaningful way"
  • "The teachers were phenomenal and helped improve technique so much."
  • "Highly focused on improvement and technique. The quality of instructors."
  • "It overall is just amazing. From the friends you make at the dorms to eveyrhting you learn there is so much thought put into making it a fun, productive summer."

Least liked about program

  • "There really isn't anything wrong with CPYB's SI."
  • "Bad WiFi!"
  • "Classes too spread out over long day. Hard to get PT appointments."
  • "Just few students got the opportunities for partnering. Seemed like it was so political, I saw so many year round students and SAB students got the opportunities even though their technique levels were not so high."
  • "Lack of consistent partnering. It was only offered once a week with different girls each week so there was no way for them to build on skills/improve."
  • "Do not really have a complaint"
  • "The dining accommodations. Food was fine. CPYB shares the Dining Hall with other camps held on campus. Those camps were pretty rowdy. Dining hall would run out of options quickly. Lines became too long to wait in."
  • "There was a very long walk from the dorms to studios (~15min)"
  • "For 15+ you had to have at least 1 walking buddy and under 15 at least 2. It got complicated. After you and 2 of your friends (from a different dorm building that need at least 2 people) drop you off at your building, they would only have each other. They would need to find at least 2 others to walk them to their building, so those 2 or more people had each other to walk back with. It needs to be planned out. 15-20 minute walk to the studios. The levels were not accurate."
  • "there were clear favorites that were given extra opportunities that others were not, there were LONG breaks between classes and my dancer was bored"
  • "Very strict rules, but they are worth it for the instruction"
  • "lack of other classes"
  • "It’s far from us"
  • "The year round staff is negative and in many cases demeaning to non “Barn Babies”"
  • "I heard the food was not great, and that there were maggots in the broccoli."
  • "Not much social activities"
  • "class allocation process did not seem appropriately matched to dancers ability. Teacher at home was a former CPYB dancer and she felt the designated level did not match my dancer."
  • "Food"
  • "Cost"
  • "the mile walk from the dorms to the studio"
  • "There weren’t many weekend activities, and the dress code for walking around was a bit strict"
  • "There was a lot of confusion surrounding the placement of dancers in the dorm. A lot of dancers were put in single occupancy rooms when they requested to have a roommate. My daughter was one of them. She was incredibly upset and thankfully they changed her room , but after a lot of drama and waiting around to get permission from other parties. This was extremely frustrating and I know a lot of dancers were not allowed to move into a roommate situation. This is really unfair to girls coming from all over the US and putting them into a isolating situation. I really hope they don't do this again. This was extremely disappointing and unprofessional. I had to remain with my daughter for an extra 4 hours to get her situated. I then had to speed back to the Philadelphia International Airport to catch my flight back to California."
  • "Too strict, especially dress code (outside of class) which I specifically asked about and felt mislead. Dancers weren't allowed to wear tank tops, crop tops or open-toed shoes on the weekends. I found that to be ridiculous, and it wasn't told to dancers until after check-in."
  • "Lack of activities for the students"
  • "no feedback for dancers on improvement throughout, growth or gaps to build on in order to be in year round."
  • "the long and hot walk from studios to dining hall/dorm hall"
  • "The town itself grew boring but it was fun with friends."
  • "Only if year around teachers are teaching class, But they don’t teach many classes if at all. Teachers are brought in and they do not know the Marcias syllabus."
  • "the year-round students put no effort into their dance and the visiting students (me and other visiting students) were not corrected as much because the year-rounders didn’t put any effort in."
  • "I’ve heard the cafeteria food was not amazing"
  • "Got kinda bored of dining hall food, a lot of walking to & from studio"
  • "Nothing"
  • "The walk from the dorms to the studios. Really wish there were live accompanists and partnering. Partnering was only offered for a few of the top levels."
  • "Some girls would make a big mess in the hallways of the studios and not clean it up"
  • "No partnering classes, and they catered to younger dancers or year round students"
  • "I didn’t like how everything was more centered around younger dancers. I felt like since I was the oldest in my class, that I wasn’t getting all the proper training CPYB deemed would “help” me become a better dancer. While yes, I did gain strength I felt like I was shelved and put to the side because I was older and my talents didn’t match what their vision of a perfect dancer was."
  • "She was injured for the majority of the time- not due to the intensive."
  • "I want it to be longer. Maybe add some more Sunday outings - like going swimming or something."
  • "Not having partnering and the hip hop teacher"
  • "Sometimes dorm rules seemed arbitrary"
  • "My dancer was 15 and didn't get any partnering because partnering was reserved for only the levels that had their year-round dancers in them. Socially, they did not have any organized activities other than a day trip to Hershey Park which was TOO short to really tackle the park adequately anyway!"
  • "It really depended what level you were in. My daughters level was good and she got a lot of individual attention and improved lots. the year-sound kids were kind of in there own levels and heavily favored and sometimes brought into class to demonstrate. teaches definitely picked favorites, usually by body type...some teachers would make comments about facility (not weight/body type) like height of extension/arches etc. The kids that were in less favorite levels didn't get much attention and were kind of lost in the crowd. It really depended what level you were in to be good. Carlisle is also a pretty boring town so not much to do. dint really matter though because of amount of time in class/walking. very long trek to studios/food."
  • "The RA's"
  • "There were only 3 classes a day and then an optional, and while I understand that they get to accommodate a lot more people I would’ve liked the optional to be every night like last year. I also didn’t like the walk. It was fine regularly but I know people who got injured or their injuries would get inflamed because it’s about 3 miles all together every day."
  • "She really struggled with the food in the dining hall. Not great healthy options. She ordered food and ate in her room a lot."
  • "The walking to the studios"
  • "The 1 1/2 hour breaks between each class. This was so dorm kids could walk back and eat, but really feel like they could have shorter breaks between classes."
  • "I didn’t like how very few people got a chance to have partnering."
  • "It was really hard to schedule private classes with teachers."
  • "Should be more outings on the weekend"
  • "The RA’s were really strict and honestly immature. Also same time curfew on weeknights & weekends."
  • "Sickness seemed to run through the dorms."
  • "The thing that I liked the least was that some of the RAs were a bit unkind to the kids and didn’t seem to care how we really felt."

Suggested changes to program

Repeated Responses:
  • "Nothing" (2 responses)
Unique Responses:
  • "That their year-round was more like the SI!"
  • "Dickinson College needs to stagger the meal times with other camps on grounds. Dancers need to eat."
  • "Classes closer together."
  • "More partnering; better variety of teachers within the levels. The same teachers seemed to teach certain levels and some levels never got a lot of the teachers."
  • "N/a"
  • "More partnering. Out of 250+ students only 24 girls and 12 boys would be selected for a single partnering class on Saturday. Due to the amount of boys ready for partnering and their abilities - this was naturally limited. They tried to rotate but some girls did get the opportunity for more than one class for the summer."
  • "The partnering selection is really confusing. Instead of having specific levels that have partnering a few times a week or something, they would have one partnering class on saturdays and select individual students to do it. The partnering roster would change every week, and rarely would a student get the opportunity to take more than 1 partnering class, they only would if they were super talented. Most students don't get the chance to take partnering at all. In all 5 weeks, I was the only one in my class who was selected, and there were around 17 people in my class. I know some levels were no students were selected at all."
  • "more classes each day. not so long of breaks. more fair opportunities to all dancers"
  • "another class per day"
  • "They fired several good teachers just before the intensive."
  • "A performance would be nice"
  • "There is in reality no partnering. It’s the same few select kids who get to partner on Saturday."
  • "Better food plan"
  • "Improve social/cultural experience. Also offer transportation options as CPYB is VERY difficult to get to"
  • "The artistic director giving classes to all levels."
  • "Not have a big of breaks between classes so they could finish the day before dinner and allow more downtime I’m the evenings."
  • "More partnering, more scholarships"
  • "clearer communication with the dorm living situation. Please let the girls know their roommates in advance. This will make it easier for them to acclimate to the living situation"
  • "Less strict about things that don't really matter (dress code outside of class, lights out and completely silent at 10:00pm. I see no reason why roommates can't talk to each other quietly at night.)"
  • "More observations"
  • "more feedback throughout and after program with dancers/parents"
  • "more opportunities for partnering/variations/choreography"
  • "More yoga classes."
  • "For it to only be taught by CPYB teachers."
  • "year-round students must be tested as rigorously as visiting students"
  • "More breakfast food variety"
  • "Maybe add a stretching class to all levels regardless of how advanced they are."
  • "Closer dorms or a shuttle bus and more weekend outings. Wish there more boys and partnering opportunities. Live accompanists are important - dancers need to learn to modulate to the varying tempos of live music. I don’t think CPYB has pianists for their year round either. That really surprised me."
  • "I would say make the schedules more fair to each level, G4 had an extra class(contemp, modern, or hip hop) three times a week depending on which one was the assigned style of the week and they would also have partnering classes while my level G3 only got one extra class a week and no partnering classes"
  • "Bringing in guest teachers to assist with partnering classes. Explain leveling more clearly to parents and students."
  • "I would change the way levels are handled and the classes dancers are exposed to. I felt like I wasted 5 weeks of my life taking baby classes. And I’m not saying going back to the basics but I felt like a child being ignored rather than an almost adult in the ballet world."
  • "My daughter not being injured so she could have danced more"
  • "Longer day of classes on Saturday. Let girls partner each other - then they can still learn the basics without boys."
  • "Partnering for more levels"
  • "Dining hall sometimes very crowded, need more time allotted for meal times if there are a lot of other programs using dining hall at the college"
  • "More partnering opportunity. My dancer heard constantly about how bad the dorm cafeteria food was. Dancers really need better nutrition options for 5 weeks."
  • "Better food."
  • "Change the housing set up, placement was not comprehensive, not enough pointe, communication between RA's and students (we couldn't communicate and it didn't feel safe), more activities, more lenient rules."
  • "A little less people. It was in total about 370 at the warehouse, and while it was on two different tracks, it was still a lot of people every day. I think it’s amazing to be able to have the many people get opportunities like this, but it’s just a lotttt of people."
  • "More partnering would've been great but understand there are a limited amount of boys"
  • "Transportation and some ra’s"
  • "Not so long of breaks between classes and maybe mix in a variation or repertoire class. My daughter was in the main studio (not barn) but only had technique and pointe each day. Once a week modern (which was fine). She really would have liked a variations class here and there. It really is ballet boot camp. Maybe not as “fun” as some other SIs, but 100% worth it if your goal is to improve tremendously. Perhaps older levels had these classes."
  • "I would change the level sizes. My level had around 25 people while some levels only had around 10 people. I find that it is easier to grow and improve in smaller levels as you get more attention from the teachers."
  • "It would be great if parents can receive some evaluation afterwards, which I understand that is not their policy though."
  • "Organize a bowling trip, trip to the park, fireworks- something to do on the weekends. Sundays were very boring I was told"
  • "More freedom for dancers to go out and walk around. Also a limit on how many RA’s could take class."
  • "More support for injury prevention."
  • "I would change the walking to the studios everyday especially when it’s above 90 degrees."

Culture of program

Repeated Responses:
  • "Positive" (2 responses)
Unique Responses:
  • "Very welcoming and encouraging"
  • "Friendly, supportive. Both guest and permanent faculty spent extra time answering questions and seemed invested in the students' results."
  • "CPYB culture is friendly and caring."
  • "Serious."
  • "Like a family reunion with people you haven’t met"
  • "Nurturing and aspiring"
  • "My daughter met some truly wonderful students at this program - supportive of each other"
  • "Very focused on technique like "Ballet Boot Camp" :)"
  • "Positive culture"
  • "On the younger side, typically up to age 16, but still some older dancers were there. The teachers care and want to be there."
  • "Very positive and encouraging."
  • "nurturing"
  • "Very positive, people there are very committed and you learn a lot"
  • "very positive and encouraging"
  • "It was better with the old director Noe"
  • "Supportive, concern for dancers physical and mental health, in a great community"
  • "Hard work. You get out of it what you put into it."
  • "Very lively, fun, helpful, and inclusive"
  • "good training without social experience"
  • "Nurturing"
  • "Positive and beneficial"
  • "Fun, here to get good training, supportive"
  • "Great and very supportive to the development of the dancers"
  • "Conservative, strict, very focused on technique (for good and bad)"
  • "Everyone was amazing and all the teachers were supportive"
  • "positive and informative, very friendly staff in and out of the studio"
  • "Very diverse"
  • "Teachers have favorites. Classes are too big. Classes are too far apart. Students get cold in between classes and then are expected to jump on their pointe shoes."
  • "more relaxed, in-between classes there were 1-1 1/2 breaks"
  • "My level being small was very connected and supportive"
  • "Positive & encouraging"
  • "Positive and nurturing"
  • "Pretty positive. No major red flags."
  • "Supportive"
  • "Welcoming but serious. Excellent training but your dancer has to be self motivated and focused to get the most out of it. Would highly recommend this SI and will likely be sending my dancer back. My SI student is considering the year round but had no real access to the year round students aside from a panel offered earlier. Would have liked more opportunities for her to engage with some of the year round students so she could get a better sense of the school culture."
  • "very diverse"
  • "Year round students were favored. Older dancers needing to catch up are overlooked and put on the shelf. They want you to trust their process for placement and training. Very elitist."
  • "If you weren’t good enough for their “standards” you weren’t popular. A lot of the girls had horrible personalities and were very mean. I would often get glares if I got a teachers attention for doing anything good. Even outside of the studios, if you didn’t have the newest pointe shoes or the newest clothes, you were deemed bad and useless. I hated the environment here and was glad to just focus on myself rather than my social life while there."
  • "Some students are very talented and professional and some are entitled."
  • "Supportive, ballet technique focus."
  • "Everyone was friendly and nice for the most part and it didn’t really feel competitive. Year round students were favored and were able to get away with crazy behavior at the studio."
  • "Unparalleled in terms of dedication to ballet & improving technique"
  • "Very good, hard working days, professional staff. It's definitely an intensive where dancers go to improve, not be entertained or explore a big city."
  • "Good, positive and supporting. very very large program so depends on what friends you make"
  • "Cliquey"
  • "It depends on the class, but for mine the teachers were very being on your seat and turnout. And the students were all there to work. A lot of kids want to go year round and it gets a little stressful to have certain teachers being watching every class even when they have you as a student. I think mainly it was like a we drill the basics and the technique kind of intensive, but I still learned so many new steps!"
  • "Very focused on technique and overall improvement."
  • "Good"
  • "Friendly, supportive, nice. She adored almost every teacher and guest teacher."
  • "A very positive, encouraging environment that challenged you in the best way possible."
  • "Intense but still friendly and warm atmosphere, we can feel all teachers are committed to support all participants progress."
  • "Excellent training"
  • "Pretty serious and a lot of dedication to ballet from everyone, which lead to good and bad cultural aspects."
  • "It was positive, but there was some drama in the dorms."
  • "Amazing - most everyone was kind and wanted to help you better yourself."

Other comments

  • "You must put yourself forward to get feedback"
  • "I hope my dancer will attend again. It was and great first time away SI experience."
  • "Overall very good"
  • "Highly recommend CPYB!"
  • "RAs are really great. They all (I'm not sure ALL, but almost all) had some kind of dance experience and they gave students advice so much. My daughter's RA was a apprentice of a professional ballet company and helped my daughter a lot."
  • "The dancers are pretty independent. There is a lot of walking (in groups of 3 for 13 y/o) from the dorm to the dining hall and and across a road from the "campus" to the CPYB buildings. Dancers are also allowed a bit into the town on their own."
  • "such a great program with great teachers! you get so much attention because of class sizes and it’s great"
  • "I wish we would have sent daughter when she was 11/12 age then she would have gone for a couple years. For older dancers it’s not really a valuable use of time unless dancer doesn’t have strong technique classes year round."
  • "I thought it was a great place to experience an intensive. I just would have loved to have seen as much growth as we have experienced in other SI’s at CPYB. I have a very committed dancer and it didn’t seem like she grew as much with the price tag involved."
  • "It’s just very expensive!!!"
  • "Excellent program - highly recommend"
  • "Overall it was a good experience to be in a small town with a stricter studio. My dancer wouldn't go there again though."
  • "This summer I not only grew as a dancer but also as a person."
  • "i really enjoyed this program, i made great friends and the teachers were great. i don’t think that the year round students were auditioned, and if they were, they had a lower bar then the visiting students. the year-round students put NO EFFORT AT ALL into their dancing and it really took away from the fun because half of the classes were just the year rounders being corrected, ( and they didn’t even apply them anyway ). overall, i enjoyed CPYB, but i wish the year- round students put more effort so everyone could get an equal amount of corrections"
  • "Very few levels get partnering usually only levels with year rounds in them (my level did not get partnering)"
  • "Lots of opportunities for private lessons"
  • "Dancer loved her time there and is definitely considering returning next summer."
  • "Love this program."
  • "One of my dancers biggest gripes is when she doesn’t get enough corrections. She got a lot of corrections at CPYB and felt like she really improved. She fell in love with the program. It’s an excellent choice - especially if your dancer needs to improve or catch up on their technique. This was the best quality instruction she’s received at an intensive."
  • "They accept year round applications throughout the program but do seem to cater to attracting younger dancers."
  • "This program is aimed for more younger people. I would not recommend this intensive to anybody over the age of 15. CPYB wants to find younger people to be a part of their program and if you’re too old, like me, they will toss you aside. I hope this helps."
  • "GO! You will be so glad you did. I know I'm coming back next year - the growth was insane."
  • "I really recommend this program if you feel like you’re behind with basic technique because CPYB does an amazing job of going back to basics and refining your technique."
  • "It was excellent."
  • "Your level really matters. if you had a birthday in the summer you were always with kids younger than you. leveling was in groups by age and then in ability from there, with year round kids kind of separate. only year round kids got partnering and only 5 ish guys. many guest teachers from diffrent company's so each of them had their own style (some held favorite etc) overall year round faculty was fantastic and even though they had favorites everyone still got very individual attention (at lest in the smaller levels). They were good at watching classes and moving people up throughout the program, even week five. many classes a day, and pretty much all ballet and one pointe, no variations or anything but sometimes a specific teacher would do a variation in a optional night class or pointe class. night classes were combined with other levels. only one non-ballet class per week. and the youngest 2 levels of the 13-18 year old kids did not have pointe and the next two had pre-pointe (even though some of these girls were 15)"
  • "If you take out the dorm life component it's amazing. Dorm life is the #1 thing to be improved upon. Campers felt unsafe by people in the town catcalling and or talking in an inappropriate manner towards them."
  • "Levels are on ability but they definitely group girls around their age. For example it’s a letter and then 1-5 levels in that ( G2, G3, G4, etc.) this year it was EFGH and you can tell they put a lot of 13 year olds in E, 14-15 In F, G was 16-18, and H was mostly year round girls or really good ones. The favoritism isn’t too bad since it’s not year round girls in regular classes but like anywhere if you’ve been before they pay attention to you. This intensive is hard and while it’s not a lot of classes, it’s all ballet and they work you. If you go, make sure to stretch a lot (including your calves and feet) to prevent injuries. Carlisle isn’t as boring as people say. It’s not New York or anything, but it’s got some fun shops (and a cat cafe!). I also know a lot of people were too tired to try to go out and do something every night. For pointe F got it one hour every day and E was some girls had it every day some had it 3 times a week, last year one level didn’t have it at all. G and H do partnering as well as variations en pointe. Overall it’s a really good intensive, especially if you want to work on your basics, want to focus on ballet, or it’s your first intensive."
  • "Her favorite SI so far."
  • "I highly recommend it. Even though during the summer my dancer wished to actually dance a little more - variations, etc - she sees the fruit of her labor now and wants to return next year and maybe full time in a few years."
  • "I greatly enjoyed CPYB. I think this program is great for kids of all ages. This intensive taught me so much about my technique and strength. All the teachers were highly invested in helping each individual student improve, which is very motivating as a dancer. I am highly considering going back next year."
  • "I saw somewhere someone mentioned about favoritism of this particular program and I was a bit concerned, until I joined their parents observation day. For me, if dancers are showing their enthusiasm, hard work or interest during the class, teachers also reflect on those attitude. If you stay back of the room (I saw some dancers do that not only during one class but several classes) or even arrive later than everyone else, teachers also notice and may change their attitude also. People might call that "favoritism" but I realized that teachers are really observing everyone in a class, that's all."
  • "They really break down corrections so they make sense to the students and go slow to teach the foundation. My dancer improved greatly. Loved the program and would do it again"
  • "This is my daughter's favorite intensive she's done so far. She really appreciated it was so focused on technique."
  • "Such a great experience!!"
Loading…