BALLET HELP DESK

Summer Intensive Reviews

Programs Reviewed: 223
Total Reviews: 1727

Philadelphia Ballet “Classical Variations”

Summer Intensive Reviews

General

Dancer age

1
1
1

First time at a summer intensive?

3

Year of SI

3

Weeks available

3

Weeks attended

3

Reviewer

1
2

Curriculum

Techniques taught

3

Partnering (based on age)

3

Dedicated men's program?

3

# of boys in level

3

Other dance genres

3

Quality of other classes

Not Helpful
1
1
Helpful

Injury Prevention

Strength classes?

3

PT offered?

3

Extra fee for PT?

3

Injury rate

3

Teaching

Who taught?

2
1

Guest teachers

3

Year-round teachers taught

1
1
1

Attention from teachers

Very Little
1
1
1
A Lot

Technique improved?

No
1
1
1
Yes - Tremendously

Studios

Dance floors

3

Studio space

Cramped
1
2
Lots of Space

Studio cleanliness

Dirty
1
2
Spotless

Schedule

Classes per day

1
2

Saturday classes

1
2

Saturday class duration

2
1

Leveling

Leveling

3

Leveling type

1
2

Did students move levels?

3

Leveling fair?

3

Students per class

3

Performance

Performance?

2
1

Rehearsals happened

1
2

Casting equitability

Uneven
3
Even

Rehearsals detracted from class?

Completely
3
Not At All

Housing - General

Housing provided

2
1

# of roommates

1
1

Bathrooms

2

Coed bathrooms

2

Air conditioning

2

Where did they stay?

1

Housing - Supervision

Curfew

2

Curfew reasonable?

2

Room check

2

How strict were dorms?

2

Infraction handling

2

Housing - Cleanliness

Laundry available

2

Laundry free

1
1

Housing cleanliness

Dirty
2
Spotless

Cleaning required

1
1

Meal Plan

Meal plan

2

Food quality

Gross
1
1
Excellent

Enough food

2

Dietary needs?

2

Activities

Weeknight activities

2

Weekend outings

3

Logistics

Quality of handbook

Spotty
1
2
Comprehensive

Program communication

Limited
1
2
Comprehensive

Transportation

1
1
1

Neighborhood safety

Not Safe
3
Very Safe

General Comments

Overall recommendation

Definitely Not
1
1
1
Absolutely

Best aspect

  • They learned 4 variations, and were able to choose one to perform it.
  • Working on 4 classical solos.
  • We got to learn 4 variations (Giselle, Kitri, Odette, and Odile) and got to choose one to perform a solo at the show.

Least liked about program

  • It was advertised to be an opportunity for year round offers, but the only teachers were guests. No opportunity. Also the school changed the format of the SI and instead of a choose they ran the performances like a YAGP competition and gave scholarships for next year’s SI to the top 3 in each of the two age brackets. My dancer and her friends found this to be a detractor from the program. Had we known beforehand, my daughter would not have attended. The RAs were not informative. The dancers were told the first night that they would need to ride the subway to and from the studios and to find someone who has done it before for help.
  • Once the students chose their performance solos they didn’t get a lot of time to rehearse. It made sense given the format and everyone got the same amount of time, but it was a lot of sitting around.
  • It was like a YAGP competition style. We only got to practice our chosen variation full out only a total of 4 times and then they just made us perform it on stage. There were no pointe classes throughout the week. I wish we got more corrections and feedback, and learned the history of the ballets more accurately without bias.

Suggested changes to program

  • No competition
  • Do not invite Adrienne Canterna as a teacher/coach. She told the kids (who were learning both Odette and Odile solos) that Swan Lake was a stupid story and showed them a video of Marianela Nunez just to criticize her musicality. She instead required them to learn the version she competed when she was young.
  • No competition style. Wish we had the opportunity to dance more. There were a lot of sitting.

Culture of program

  • Good
  • Supportive and welcoming.
  • Good

Other comments

  • This was the first year for this program so there were some understandable kinks. That said, my daughter would return. Also, at the final performances which were split by age, they had “judges” and the top scoring students in each group were awarded scholarships to the SPB 2026 SI. 1st place - 100%, 2nd place - 50%, 3rd place - 25%.
  • We learned the variations the first two days, review the four variations on Wednesday and by the end of Wednesday, we had to go to a conference to talk about which variation we wanted to perform. On Thursdays, the teacher made us do the variations one by one, so everyone only got to practice full out only 2 times. Friday was the same as Thursday but this time it was tech rehearsal, so we got to practice on stage. The top 3 scorers got scholarships to next summer intensive. I felt like they already had the winners in mind and chose those who they wanted to come back for next summer. We got our feedback and score from the performance by email. Score was based on: Technique: _/40 Artistry: _/40 Musicality & Execution: _/20. The feedback was short, and some of the comments were not helpful whatsoever. There were 5 "judges".
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