Low quality housing, smells moldy and needs updating terribly. Old dirty rugs in hallways, pests in the bathrooms and kitchens sometimes. No meal plan, need to provide and make own food.
Tradewinds is less than desirable housing for teen girls living on their own. The property is shared with others who may be vacationing in the area. It was definitely run down so be prepared for that. My dancer had three roommates - all four girls shared one bedroom in the apartment so space is at a premium. Laundry room was sometimes flooded, which made getting leotards/tights clean a bit tricky.
Tradewinds is an older building but the housecleaning service was great and appreciated dancers received clean bedding weekly and cleaning regularly beyond the tidying up the dancers were expected to do.
Housing is at Tradewinds, an apartment hotel comprised of multiple buildings, which is a short walk to the MCB studios. My daughter was fortunate to get a large and updated apartment, I don't think all the apartments were as large or nice. They had a kitchen, living room, bedroom (4 bunks) and one bathroom among 4 students. 3 out of the 4 girls had the same schedule so bathroom time was at a premium. Although there are curfews in place (9pm in the building, 10pm room check) the supervision for housing was practically non-existent, many kids were out past the 9pm curfew and other kids snuck out of their rooms after room checks. They don't really check to see who is coming in and out of the dorms, so I heard of non-MCBS people entering the complex. There are other non-MCBS camps with teens/young adults and hotel guests in some of the other buildings so there can be intermingling as well, especially at the communal and pool areas. I would not recommend using this housing for a younger teen or for those older teens that need supervision. The kids felt very safe regardless, but I was surprised at how the kids were allowed to roam free around Miami without time limits or check-ins and how lax the housing situation was.
They were in apartments not dorms
Two bunk beds In one room.
The dorm housing is brand new but beware...the rooms are SO TINY. Some parents compared them to army barracks. The bedrooms sleep 4 each and the suites have 8-12 dancers total. The storage is limited for this many dancers as is the common area cold food storage w/one small fridge/freezer per suite. This program did require dancers to handle their own breakfasts and all meals on Sunday. You should be prepared to teach some easy meals ahead of time or plan for Door Dash. Miami Beach does have a really great free trolley service that goes by Trader Joes, Target, Publix. Miami feels more expensive than NYC so good to have something like this! Dancers also had to clean their bathrooms which wasn't clearly communicated prior to arriving. The cell service is also not great in the building so you may need to use Face Time audio to reach your dancer. The dorms are right across the small plaza to the studios and while there is a security guard, there are many homeless people who loiter in the plaza in the evening. The RAs were great and really made the girls feel welcomed and helped with any issues between roommates fairly.
Where did they stay?
Rented an apartment or house
Student lived at home
Housing - Supervision
Curfew
Yes
Curfew reasonable?
Yes
Room check
No
Yes
How strict were dorms?
Just about right
Somewhat lax
Somewhat strict
Very lax
Very strict
Infraction handling
Fair
N/A
Skewed depending on the RA
Housing - Cleanliness
Laundry available
Yes
Laundry free
No
Yes
Housing cleanliness
Dirty
1
2
3
4
5
Spotless
Cleaning required
Yes
Meal Plan
Meal plan
No
Yes
Food quality
Gross
1
2
3
4
5
Excellent
Enough food
No
Dietary needs?
No
Activities
Weeknight activities
No
Yes
Weekend outings
No
Yes
Attended weekend outings
I didn't attend any of them
Yes, all of them
Yes, some of them
Favorite
boat cruise
None attended
Venetian pool
Venetian Pool
Venetian
My dancer only attended the water park outing. It was a long 1.5 hr drive away and the lines were really long so she did not get to go on many rides.
only went to water park. dancer thought it was ok but not enough time
Museum day
4th of July rooftop pool party
Least favorite
arts & crafts (playdoh) after hours at the studio
none
n/a
The pool
Most of the Sunday ones...very long days and bus rides for just OK outings. Honestly the dancers liked going to the beach in a group more than the outings.
Logistics
Quality of handbook
Spotty
1
2
3
4
5
Comprehensive
Program communication
Limited
1
2
3
4
5
Comprehensive
Transportation
None
Public transportation with chaperone
Student commuted locally, but dorms are two blocks from the studio
walked with another student
Walked without chaperone
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
Excellent instruction
Choreography workshop (2 additional
Weeks after 5 week Si)
Studios, class instruction
Beautiful studios; dancer picked up a lot of Balanchine technique
Fantastic, engaged and attentive teachers, talented students, and gorgeous facilities.
My dancer loved the faculty and beautiful studios. He felt like he received very meaningful corrections that helped him grow a lot over the course of the program.
Learning a new style and the attention of the teachers
The training and location. The 5 week intensive seemed perfect for older teens that are comfortable with an independent, beach summer experience. Liked that it is a smaller program where dancers have the opportunity to get to know faculty and that instructors are the year round staff.
My daughter loved the variation classes and learning Balanchine technique. The studios were spacious and very well maintained, the building was beautiful. Although the class sizes were large, my daughter found that leveling was appropriate and that she was challenged just the right amount. Her strength and pointe improved due to multiple ballet/technique classes per day (some technique classes were on pointe and then they had a separate daily pointe class).
Instructors
The people! Dancer really enjoyed working with the faculty and made many wonderful new friends.
Repertoire.
I adore the Balanchine technique so being able to train strictly in that for 5 weeks was amazing.
Studios, working with some Balanchine works, did feel like dancers had a summer vacation as well because of being 2 blocks from South Beach.
Least liked about program
Some teachers were down right mean. DD wanted to skip class and some dancers were in tears. Communication was terrible throughout. Several times pianists didn't show. Once or twice an instructor didn't show - all due to poor communication. Only 4 hours per day. Wasn't "intensive."
Lack of housing / less desirable
Aspect of high tourist area
The Tradewinds housing and lack of meal plan
Housing was pretty bad/no meal plan. Dancer reported that teachers could be pretty harsh with their critiques/feedback. Not a lot of variety with classes.
Florida is very hot and humid in the summer!
Nothing. My dancer liked everything.
Heard that there were comments made to some dancers about their weight/body type by multiple instructors.
A few levels had 40-45 students in them. Many of the teachers had no idea who some of the kids were in those levels and many students got no attention or corrections at all, leading to struggles to stay engaged and motivated around the 4th week.
Having to cook his own meals
No partnering in lower levels.
Very large class size, not enough levels.
There were only 3 classes a day. Technique, pointe, hour long lunch, last class varied by day. I personally feel there was not much dancing and especially with other styles. There was almost no variety with classes other than once a week contemporary that definitely swung more modern. Students were favored and praised when others were not getting corrections or getting told to “be more like ___” instead of getting corrections to help them more. I personally was not favored at the program and did not feel I got a lot of corrections or improvement at the end.
Too few classes, inconsistent in types of classes/teacher swaps
Suggested changes to program
Full day programming; greater variety in classes. Better communication and a viewing or performance at the end.
Better housing options
Get a different building for housing that is cleaner, more updated, and provide a meal plan with cafeteria style options.
Miami is one of the "three letter" programs, but didn't offer a full-day schedule. Dancer had a lot of down time after class. Better housing is a must for dancer's safety.
Nothing. Great experience.
The Tradewinds apartments could improve their cleanliness.
Accept fewer students in the 15-16 age range so that class sizes remain manageable, or start the age cut-off for the 5-week program at 14. Class variety was lacking, my daughter felt like there were only two ballet/technique classes a day followed by a pointe class. There was very little variety, only one variations and one cotemporary class per week.
More classes
Have partnering in lower levels.
Smaller class size, more levels.
Getting rid of some of the double technique class days to put other styles.
Pointe daily for all levels, partnering for all 14+ dancers, better communication, more days for observations
Culture of program
Strict. Not warm and welcoming.
Covid conditions makes this a tough one to answer
Competitive, high level training that is for the serious dancers. Beautiful studios, amazing instructors.
Leveling was a bit off. Teachers could be intense and occasionally harsh. Communication was spotty. My dancer is glad she went, but we are having a better experience this summer at another location.
Serious but friendly.
Serious and intense, but supportive.
The program is fun, friendly but you get serious training. The location is amazing and there's still enough time for summer fun
Leans old school, strict, faculty will give very direct feedback and not mince words.
The students were all very kind and supportive of one another and my daughter made some wonderful connections and friends. The teachers were fine, just not super attentive.
Welcoming
Strict but encouraging staff, friendly and supportive peers
Good.
I did not love it. The students (in my level at least) were very cliquey and snotty with thinking they were above others with egos getting fed by the teachers
Unsure honestly
Other comments
Parents were not allowed inside the building, ever. There was very limited, if any, communication. Witnessed a parent / teacher meeting outside in front of the building - parent was very upset. Many parents complained about placement. 16 & 17 year olds with years experience on pointe were in a class with 12 year old beginner pointe students. Leveling made zero sense. One dancer (who was amazing) spent 3 weeks in level one (lowest) before moving up to level 2, then 3, then 4, and finished in level 5.
Wonderful training and responsive staff but slightly impersonal
Good training, but would love to have received feedback on dancer at the end of the summer. Not enough hours in the studio each day and not much variety.
Wonderful program! Stylistically heavily Balanchine, yet with a clean, strong classical foundation.
They offer great scholarships for their year round when you work hard in class
Important to know the culture going into it. Could be different levels have different expectations from faculty and experiences. Overall dancer loved it and highly recommends.
Leveling is done partially by age (the placement class is by age and from there they move kids up or down) and I was informed that due to the independent nature of the housing, this intensive skews older (15/16+) which might explain why the 15-16 year olds were packed in to some of these massive classes. There were a handful of standout students in the class that got corrections, and the teachers also did try to watch the students who expressed an interest in staying for the year-round (they send out a form in week 2 or 3). If your child is neither a standout nor interested in the year-round, and falls in the 15-16 age range, then my opinion is that your child will need to be internally self-motivated to get the most out of this intensive.
There were 3 levels for boys. Level G was all boys about 20 and they had separate classes every day. My son was level C there was only 2 boys in that level. My son got pulled up to G 2x week. Level B had younger boys about 10 of them. So I am talking about his experience.
This SI seems better suited for older students. Miami may a bit overwhelming a younger dancer (< 15). My dancer really enjoyed the free time to explore the city with new friends. Even though dancer had only 3 classes a day, they were intense.
(Parent) When picking an intensive, consider the size of the class. I was unhappy that my child was crammed in a room with so many dancers (40) of various abilities. It is important that the class size is under 20 dancers for learning and improvement.
My dancer loved working w/Ms Mann and Ms Carranza and the way they delivered feedback but found some of the other teachers not as helpful with corrections or working through some technique. If you are looking for a Balanchine-based program, your dancer might love it, but if you have another Balanchine program to compare to, your dancer might be disappointed and better served trying something new. Miami is incredibly expensive so be prepared to budget a little higher for things dancers like to do outside of class during the summer like coffee, ice cream, outside meals, shopping.
