BALLET HELP DESK

Summer Intensive Reviews

Programs Reviewed: 236
Total Reviews: 1898

Joffrey Academy of Dance Chicago

Summer Intensive Reviews

General

Dancer age

1
2
3
8
1
1
1

Gender

14
3

First time at a summer intensive?

17

Year of SI

3
6
3
5

Weeks available

5
11
1

Weeks attended

7
10

Reviewer

7
9
1

Curriculum

Techniques taught

1
1
1
1
2
10
8

Partnering (based on age)

7
4
6

Dedicated men's program?

9
5
3

# of boys in level

3
14

Other dance genres

9
3
1
17
13
1
7
1
11
1
1
14
1
1

Quality of other classes

Not Helpful
3
8
6
Helpful

Injury Prevention

Strength classes?

7
1
10
2
2
1
4

PT offered?

1
3
13

Extra fee for PT?

1
8
7

Injury rate

5
12

Teaching

Who taught?

4
11
2

Guest teachers

9
2
6

Year-round teachers taught

2
15

Attention from teachers

Very Little
1
3
12
1
A Lot

Technique improved?

No
1
1
11
4
Yes - Tremendously

Studios

Dance floors

17

Studio space

Cramped
2
8
7
Lots of Space

Studio cleanliness

Dirty
4
13
Spotless

Schedule

Classes per day

14
3

Saturday classes

17

Saturday class duration

17

Leveling

Leveling

7
10

Leveling type

8
5
4

Did students move levels?

10
7

Leveling fair?

1
16

Students per class

2
13
2

Performance

Performance?

13
4

Rehearsals happened

3
10
4

Casting equitability

Uneven
2
2
3
10
Even

Rehearsals detracted from class?

Completely
2
3
12
Not At All

Housing - General

Housing provided

13
4

# of roommates

8
5

Bathrooms

1
12

Coed bathrooms

13

Air conditioning

13

Housing comment

  • "The supervision was very relaxed. All dancers were on the same floor and allowed to hang out in the lounge together, regardless of gender."
  • "The housing was very nice and the rooms were very spacious."
  • "Breakfast and dinner are provided, but students are on their own for lunch. They do provide to-go bags if you want to have your breakfast as lunch. The dorm rooms are HUGE!!!"
  • "Dorm is used by other universities, but dancers are on a couple of floors in blocks together with RA's supervising. Cafeteria is in the dorm and the building is about a 15 minute walk to Joffrey Tower where the studios are."
  • "Great housing in the city! Strong building security, great mail room and package handling, sheets and towels were changed once a week, walkable to SO many places including Target, the lake, Maggie Daley Park, restaurants, and on and on"
  • "15 minute walk to the studios, great location. Safe to walk in groups. Lots of shopping, things to do, & restaurants nearby."

Where did they stay?

1
3

Housing - Supervision

Curfew

13

Curfew reasonable?

13

Room check

13

How strict were dorms?

8
2
2
1

Infraction handling

7
5
2

Housing - Cleanliness

Laundry available

13

Laundry free

7
1
5

Housing cleanliness

Dirty
2
5
6
Spotless

Cleaning required

6
7

Meal Plan

Meal plan

13

Food quality

Gross
4
6
3
Excellent

Enough food

1
12

Dietary needs?

8
5

Specific needs

  • "Vegetarian, nut-free"
  • "Allergic to nuts/pescetarian"
  • "Nuts"
  • "Vegetarian"
  • "Peanut Allergy"

Dietary options

Limited
1
4
Lots

Activities

Weeknight activities

6
7

Weekend outings

17

Attended weekend outings

2
14
1

Favorite

Repeated Responses:
  • "Navy Pier" (3 responses)
Unique Responses:
  • "The baseball game or the mall"
  • "The Boat Tour"
  • "Going to the beach. Also seeing the show "Looking Glass Alice""
  • "Mall trip/Ice Cream Museum"
  • "Lyric Opera House tour and the Museum of Ice Cream"
  • "Either Navy Pier or Lincoln Park Zoo"
  • "The beach"
  • "She seemed to enjoy all of them- mall, baseball game, Ice Cream Factory, etc."
  • "Going to the Lake Michigan beach and seeing SIX the musical"
  • "Museum of ice cream"
  • "Beauty and the Beast, Navy Pier, Millennium Park"

Least favorite

  • "The Lincoln park zoo"
  • "They were all required."
  • "All were fine"
  • "N/A"
  • "none"
  • "None"
  • "Beach"
  • "They were all fun & mandatory"

Logistics

Quality of handbook

Spotty
2
3
4
8
Comprehensive

Program communication

Limited
1
2
3
6
5
Comprehensive

Transportation

1
1
3
8
4

Neighborhood safety

Not Safe
8
7
2
Very Safe

General Comments

Overall recommendation

Definitely Not
2
1
1
13
Absolutely

Best aspect

  • "The faculty and facilities"
  • "In terms of technique, it was high level, strict, and professional. My son got a bit of a dressing down one day for asking a new teacher a question before introducing himself. She reminded him clearly of etiquette, and he fixed it immediately. There were also many workshops that were talking about the career and Joffrey itself as a company. My son came away from the program in love with Joffrey as a company. They also got to represent Joffrey in the community at a performance and he felt like a professional. That is what the goal of an intensive should be."
  • "The teachers were all engaging and made the classes really fun. There were also helpful lectures such as creating a dance resume, and also a pantomime class which was really fun."
  • "Excellent instructors/Good atmosphere"
  • "Small class sizes, beautiful studios, opportunity to take class with and/or observe company members, dedicated attention from year-round faculty, professional atmosphere, friendly peer groups"
  • "The environment was very welcoming and fun. The teachers were all very strong and my dancer felt that she learned a lot and improved greatly."
  • "Hard to say. Was a well rounded program overall."
  • "We were very happy with everything- housing, instruction, activities, food, organization, etc."
  • "The quality and dedication of the teachers"
  • "Results technique wise"
  • "Qualify of dancers in JI level 3 was universally strong, it felt like it leveled her up compared to the full/senior intensive she did at 12 yo where there was a lot of variation in abilities."
  • "Beautiful studios, being in Chicago and quality of instruction"
  • "The location in downtown Chicago, days were a good length, and reasonable freedom for this age group. Dorms were great."
  • "Big focus on artistry. Fantastic experience."

Least liked about program

  • "The outings could be better"
  • "They have a 3 week and a 5 week. He only got into the three week that summer. The three week did not have men's classes or partnering."
  • "Everything good"
  • "Communication prior to program start could have been more frequent/timely"
  • "This was the 3-week junior and instruction was very low level. Hardly any pointe even though several of the students had been on pointe for 3-4 years."
  • "Parts of the handbook was a little confusing and information would be sent in piecemeal by emails. Would have been nice to get all the info in one spot and be made aware that not all meals are provided ahead of time. (They informed this at the virtual meeting before check-in)."
  • "It would be nice if they were placed in levels at the time of acceptance, and if there was more partnering."
  • "Loved it all!"
  • "Bad environment"
  • "Felt like the extra classes were entirely dedicated to show/performance instead of truly learning those techniques…"
  • "Lack of communication before and during program."
  • "Lots of rehearsals for the show."
  • "Lack of partnering (only one boy in level)"

Suggested changes to program

  • "Not sure"
  • "The audition and registration process is a little hectic. They don't provide a ton of information in advance."
  • "I would have liked to have partnering classes. There were a decent amount of men's classes each week, but not everyday because there weren't many guys. about 5 guys total."
  • "Schedule men’s class prior to lunch break (instead of after)"
  • "Offer more partnering opportunities - understanding that is dependent on number of males"
  • "Communication was very poor and instruction was not at all in the level of what we understand the 5-week program to be. Kind of a waste."
  • "In the afternoon having three hour classes instead of two hour and a half classes."
  • "No"
  • "More partnering"
  • "More partnering—but owing to the lack of guys, that’s difficult."
  • "Lower the cost- $6000 for three weeks is insane."
  • "N/A"
  • "Lack of communication and change to rolling admissions"
  • "Add more boys/partnering"

Culture of program

  • "Serious, fun and urban"
  • "At the studios, very strict and professional. At the dorms, very relaxed and fun."
  • "Very positive atmosphere"
  • "Positive and supportive (both dancers and instructors)"
  • "Professional, high-caliber, inspirational"
  • "A lot of fun in the dorms, loved the other kids, but instruction made it not worthwhile."
  • "The culture was very welcoming and safe."
  • "Very positive experience."
  • "Excellent"
  • "Very positive and supportive. Teachers are welcoming, engaged, and personal. Dancers are hardworking, committed, and friendly. RA’s were wonderful too."
  • "Some teachers were nice and gave good corrections, and my technique improved a lot the first time I went, but for how short the intensive was it was incredibly overpriced. Most of the other style classes spent time working on the showcase dance rather than the actual class, so less was taught and not enough corrections were given. Having each level do one or two extra styles would be better than having them do a rep piece and then five style pieces. There was favoritism towards the girls who were in the program year-round, but it wasn't that obvious. Some ballet teachers were discouraging during the technique classes- not all of them, but one did describe a step I did as "horrible"- so it's not the best place for girls who are between the ages of 12 and 15. The pointe classes were extremely easy because some girls in the level hadn't gotten their shoes yet and others had been on pointe for 3+ years."
  • "Strong, girls were friendly and very committed to dance. Teachers had very high standards on behavior/focus."
  • "Positive"
  • "Students took it seriously and were all goal orientated without being competitive"
  • "Positive & uplifting"

Other comments

  • "This is a good program for older dancers. They are expected to navigate a lot as adults and Chicago is a big city. This was perfect for my son who wants to be treated like an adult. There was plenty to do and he made a lot of friends very easily."
  • "Classes 9-4 Monday-Friday. Performed at Sundays on State (outdoor elevated stage) 3 end of intensive performances. Intensive good for older dancers 18+ as well as younger dancers. Good intensive to maintain ballet technique. Good contemporary classes. Good Contemporary and Ballet choreography/instruction/partnering."
  • "Administration was very disorganized and communication with parents was poor. Would not do this intensive again."
  • "Overall amazing program and would definitely recommend for anyone considering."
  • "Great overall. The amount of excursions during the week depended upon the chaperone."
  • "Body positive, upbeat, beautiful views, studios, housing...and my daughter enjoyed the contemporary ballet a lot."
  • "Unless you're wanting to be a year-round trainee at Joffrey, don't go to this program. It's extremely overpriced and while you do get corrections they're more class-based and not specific towards one person. My technique did improve when I went there, but not as much as when I went to other intensives. There also wasn't any partnering, but it also could've been how there were only 1-2 guys in each level. I hope they teach actual variations in the future, because for the rep section of the day we had five days a week we just did a core dance from Giselle or Don Quixote. Overall, it's an okay program and your technique will improve, but if you're not looking to dance professionally or didn't get some kind of scholarship or financial aid then I would say skip it and look for places that are cheaper but more intimate (smaller class sizes and personal corrections)."
  • "It’s now called Grainger Academy of the Joffrey Ballet. And this was the 5 Week Advanced Intensive."
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