BALLET HELP DESK

Summer Intensive Reviews

Programs Reviewed: 223
Total Reviews: 1727

Kaatsbaan International Ballet

Summer Intensive Reviews

General

Dancer age

4
3
2

First time at a summer intensive?

8
1

Year of SI

1
3
4
1

Weeks available

1
2
1
1
4

Weeks attended

4
2
1
2

Reviewer

2
6
1

Curriculum

Techniques taught

2
1
2
5
4

Partnering (based on age)

1
8

Dedicated men's program?

5
2
2

# of boys in level

9

Other dance genres

1
1
9

Quality of other classes

Not Helpful
2
2
5
Helpful

Injury Prevention

Strength classes?

7
1
2

PT offered?

6
3

Extra fee for PT?

1
7

Injury rate

8
1

Teaching

Who taught?

5
3
1

Guest teachers

9

Year-round teachers taught

3
1
3
1
1

Attention from teachers

Very Little
1
2
3
3
A Lot

Technique improved?

No
1
4
4
Yes - Tremendously

Studios

Dance floors

1
1
5
1
2
1

Studio space

Cramped
1
8
Lots of Space

Studio cleanliness

Dirty
1
8
Spotless

Schedule

Classes per day

4
4
1

Saturday classes

9

Saturday class duration

9

Leveling

Leveling

2
7

Leveling type

8
1

Did students move levels?

3
5

Leveling fair?

9

Students per class

4
4
1

Performance

Performance?

4
5

Rehearsals happened

2
6
1

Casting equitability

Uneven
1
2
2
1
3
Even

Rehearsals detracted from class?

Completely
2
4
3
Not At All

Housing - General

Housing provided

1
7
1

# of roommates

5
2

Bathrooms

7

Coed bathrooms

7

Air conditioning

7

Housing comment

  • When showering, we often ran out of hot water, so cold showers were often. And there were a lot of large insects since the location was rustic.
  • RA didn’t do anything when all roommates had issues w/1 roommate who didn’t follow quiet hours and room rules that affected their sleep. The affected roommates should’ve taken it up to higher staff.
  • The RAs were wonderful!
  • Feels like glamping.
  • Rustic and campy-very cute
  • It is a motel building with 2 floors with the doors to each room on the outside of the building. There are nice beds with 2 closets and a bathroom with 2 sinks and a shower.
  • Dancers Hotel located on grounds - wifi could be spotty

Where did they stay?

2

Housing - Supervision

Curfew

7

Curfew reasonable?

7

Room check

7

How strict were dorms?

3
1
3

Infraction handling

2
4
1

Housing - Cleanliness

Laundry available

4
3

Laundry free

7

Housing cleanliness

Dirty
2
4
1
Spotless

Cleaning required

3
4

Meal Plan

Meal plan

7

Food quality

Gross
1
2
3
1
Excellent

Enough food

4
3

Dietary needs?

7

Activities

Weeknight activities

1
6

Weekend outings

3
6

Attended weekend outings

6

Favorite

  • There was only one outing, a trip into the village for ice cream.
  • Only outing is walking to town, shopping and ice cream.
  • Fortune’s Ice Cream
  • Ice cream parlor in town
  • There was only one. It was a 2-3 hour trip into the small town with minimal shops.
  • Very limited options - Tivoli is a very small town. Favorite was going out to see a movie inbetween sessions and of course icecream excursions

Least favorite

  • N/a
  • Only one outing
  • No
  • Go on the only outing because there is nothing else to do
  • n/a

Logistics

Quality of handbook

Spotty
2
7
Comprehensive

Program communication

Limited
1
2
2
4
Comprehensive

Transportation

1
1
1
6

Neighborhood safety

Not Safe
9
Very Safe

General Comments

Overall recommendation

Definitely Not
1
1
2
5
Absolutely

Best aspect

  • I liked performing the classical rep (from La Bayadere) and Balanchine segment.
  • Challenging and encouraging
  • Safe environment, strong ballet/pointe focus
  • Great for students who had had limited performance opportunities. Gillian Murphy is a wonderful teacher!
  • Amazing, kind, encouraging teachers
  • The technique is good
  • The personal attention from Martine Von Hamel - she was wonderful. My daughter also had Stella Abrera at the time. She would have either Stella or Martine every morning for technique classes. The guest teachers would teach in the afternoon. She felt like she grew a lot as a dancer. The days were long with lots of dancing. The guest teachers were also inspirational.
  • ABT focused curriculum (variations, repertoire) with classical ballet technique. As Kaatsbaan isn't tied to a year round school it's really focused on teaching students, performance excellence, a wide variety of ABT repertoire and variations (be prepared to learn quickly) with AMAZING guest teachers like Sara Mearns, Baryshnikov, Yan Chen etc. Lectures from guest teachers and then teaching technique, pointe and variations. T This is a program better geared to more mature dancers who are focused on working hard. Loved the smaller class sizes and the food has greatly improved with a fantastic local caterer dedicated to the intensive. The performance is a big part of the experience and was very impressive. Again it's a focus in a significant part of the classes The RA's were fantastic and cared a lot about the dancers, looked out for them and were a highlight. They are all serious dancers who "get it" and they wrote the most touching notes to give to my dancer at the end

Least liked about program

  • The rest of it.
  • Food
  • Lack of targeting individual student needs
  • The food is terrible. We supplemented with a ton of snack because most meals were barely edible.
  • Repetitive daily schedule
  • The dorm life is REALLY BAD. it’s in a beautiful campus yet we were only allowed to walk on one path from the dorms to the studio building. There is NOTHING to do during free time except sit in the dorms. It is in the middle of nowhere with a tiny town with minimal stores and food. The food was also really bad and they often ran out so you had to get there early.
  • This was right after covid, so they did not provide housing, but it worked out fine.
  • One of the studios has a very hard floor and a number of dancers had problems with shin splints including my dancer. Highly recommend Orza technique shoes. Paloma Herrera also could be pretty harsh with some dancers and very intimidating. Kaatsbaan is remote so if you're not very focused on ballet, spending time with fellow dancers and recovery on weekends it could be boring: but my dancer never complained of boredom . The RA's were fantastic and cared a lot about the dancers, looked out for them and were a highlight. They are all serious dancers who "get it" and they wrote the most touching notes to give to my dancer at the end.

Suggested changes to program

  • The food, and there could have been more/better outings.
  • Better food
  • Break down groups into smaller focus groups for individual corrections.
  • The program is not very selective. Many of the students are lacking technically and artistically. A lot of them are from recreational studios and are not planning on being professionals. My daughter would have preferred to be with more serious dancers.
  • More variety of classes
  • Location
  • More trips into Tivoli to pop into the ice cream shop, a bit more freedom in the town.

Culture of program

  • Very cliquey, no one cared to talk to anyone outside their clique.
  • Everyone, including the RAs, were kind. The instructors provided excellent instruction while encouraging dancers. My dancer felt she grew in artistry and technique.
  • Supportive, fun for my daughter
  • Gorgeous setting with some exceptional teachers. My daughter easily made friends.
  • Nurturing, encouraging, positive
  • Competitive
  • Very positive, nurturing and challenging.
  • Hard working, focused, caring , self sufficient

Other comments

  • There was only one boy, and they took time out of technique classes to give the boy private instruction, which wasn’t fair. There was no security—the lock on our dorm door was broken and not fixed when reported. Laundry was a service that only came once in the two weeks.
  • Beautiful nature grounds and safe to walk around and explore on their own
  • The setting of Kaatsbaan is beautiful and tranquil. It’s a nice change of pace.
  • The other girls attending were very kind and hard working.
  • Some students/parents may be upset with casting because there are challenging parts in both the classical and contemporary pieces that many of the dancers would not have been able to execute well. Some dancers got great parts, while others didn’t.
  • Send care packages to your dancers and make sure they have snacks, health beverages etc for their rooms. Make sure they can use door dash for fun things (like candy for movie nights)
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