BALLET HELP DESK

Summer Intensive Reviews

Programs Reviewed: 240
Total Reviews: 1992

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School

Summer Intensive Reviews

General

Dancer age

1
3
5
11
6
6
2

Gender

30
4

First time at a summer intensive?

29
5

Year of SI

1
1
22
5
5

Weeks available

33
1

Weeks attended

34

Reviewer

11
23

Curriculum

Techniques taught

5
2
2
3
19
15

Partnering (based on age)

15
8
4
1
6

Dedicated men's program?

5
29

# of boys in level

2
6
9
5
12

Other dance genres

6
12
31
1
1
1
22
29
2
1

Quality of other classes

Not Helpful
7
13
14
Helpful

Injury Prevention

Strength classes?

1
17
32
2
1
7
2
5
7

PT offered?

2
5
27

Extra fee for PT?

17
15
1

Injury rate

10
21
3

Teaching

Who taught?

8
24
2

Guest teachers

2
32

Year-round teachers taught

19
8
7

Attention from teachers

Very Little
1
1
7
14
11
A Lot

Technique improved?

No
2
19
13
Yes - Tremendously

Studios

Dance floors

34

Studio space

Cramped
3
15
16
Lots of Space

Studio cleanliness

Dirty
2
9
23
Spotless

Schedule

Classes per day

16
16
2

Saturday classes

34

Saturday class duration

34

Leveling

Leveling

33
1

Leveling type

25
6
3

Did students move levels?

18
11

Leveling fair?

6
28

Students per class

1
24
9

Performance

Performance?

9
25

Rehearsals happened

10
10
5

Casting equitability

Uneven
1
4
4
9
7
Even

Rehearsals detracted from class?

Completely
1
6
27
Not At All

Housing - General

Housing provided

1
27
6

# of roommates

12
13
1
1

Bathrooms

1
1
1
1
1
19
1
1
1

Coed bathrooms

24
3

Air conditioning

27

Housing comment

  • "Rooms were quite spacious. You can request an ac window unit with a doctor note, but we did not. Program was strangely restrictive in terms of supervision which may be a big issue for older kids. Mine was ok because she had a great group of friends but has had infinitely more freedom to be out and about in previous programs when she was much younger."
  • "Excessively strict rules. Students were not allowed to step outside of the building for fresh air without at least a group of 3 and had to walk to and from all meals with an RA. RAs were constantly threatening taking away privileges, creating a somewhat hostile environment. When parent questioned RA about the constant threats, family was told (via text) we could put up or move out. If these same RAs are there in the future, would very strongly consider living elsewhere."
  • "Chatham University - kids bussed to studio every day (15 mins)"
  • "Minor aged dancers were strictly kept separate from dancers ages 18 and above in the dorms"
  • "My daughter stayed in a single room. There are huge common areas though & she spent all of her free time with friends. She was very happy living in the dorm."
  • "Bring shower shoes and no drinking water dispenser available in dorms"
  • "They were historic old buildings. Definitely not fancy, but good size, and good storage. My daughter actually loved the feel of the "old" rooms vs the newer facility she stayed the summer prior."
  • "You can get air conditioning with a doctor's note. Housing is at Chatham, so the setting is really pretty."
  • "A/C in room available with Doctor’s note"
  • "If you wanted air conditioning, you have to pay an extra fee. There are lots of single rooms which results in many people having no roommates, I personally hated living alone. There are two dorm buildings that are split based on gender and age."
  • "Request AC or you will die!!"
  • "There was no air conditioning in the room, but the public spaces like the hallway, kitchen, and lobby were air-conditioned."
  • "Very hot"
  • "Definitely needed the A/C we paid a little bit extra for. Took several days to be installed after the SI began. Chatham University is charming. Entire floor of singles available and that was greatly appreciated."
  • "there is no ac SO BRING A FAN. it is VERY worth it"
  • "Because of the no AC during the summer you will definitely need probably two fans because it gets very hot even with the windows open. But the majority of girls were in single rooms, only the girls who requested roommate’s were in doubles."
  • "they stay at the dorms @ Chatham University. There were a lot of single rooms available despite my daughter not requesting a single."
  • "There was AC available upon request and payment of fee."
  • "It gets very hot with no A/C in rooms, multiple fans were needed. Also, it is helpful to have extra lamps. My son's room was fairly dark with only one window."

Where did they stay?

3
4

Housing - Supervision

Curfew

27

Curfew reasonable?

27

Room check

7
20

How strict were dorms?

12
3
5
7

Infraction handling

3
15
2
1
9
1

Housing - Cleanliness

Laundry available

27

Laundry free

3
1
23

Housing cleanliness

Dirty
2
7
17
1
Spotless

Cleaning required

21
6

Meal Plan

Meal plan

27

Food quality

Gross
1
8
10
8
Excellent

Enough food

1
26

Dietary needs?

21
6

Specific needs

Repeated Responses:
  • "Vegetarian" (2 responses)
Unique Responses:
  • "Gluten free"
  • "Lactose sensitive"
  • "Multiple food allergies"
  • "no beef or pork"

Dietary options

Limited
1
1
2
2
Lots

Activities

Weeknight activities

1
26

Weekend outings

34

Attended weekend outings

2
12
20

Favorite

Repeated Responses:
  • "Kennywood" (2 responses)
  • "Gateway Clipper" (2 responses)
Unique Responses:
  • "Zoo"
  • "Hasn’t happened yet, but she is attending the end of summer boat trip"
  • "The river boat cruise"
  • "gateway clipper"
  • "Cruise"
  • "Kenny wood Park; river cruise"
  • "River Cruise"
  • "Dinner Cruise"
  • "Dinner cruise"
  • "boat"
  • "Gateway Clipper Cruise"
  • "Boat trip"
  • "Riverboat Cruise"
  • "N/A"
  • "The Gateway Clipper dinner cruise"
  • "Pirates Game, Ross Park Mall"
  • "Amusement Park"
  • "The Gateway Clipper- basically just a party boat with dinner"
  • "Gateway Clipper / Dinner River Cruise"
  • "Clipper boat"
  • "Boat tour"
  • "The dinner cruise was a very fun experience, lots of dancing, taking pictures, and a beautiful view of the city."
  • "Kennywood/Clipper"
  • "Kennywood amusement park"
  • "My favorite excursions were the Clipper cruise and Kennywood."
  • "He had fun on all of the outings."

Least favorite

Repeated Responses:
  • "None" (3 responses)
  • "Zoo" (3 responses)
  • "N/A" (3 responses)
Unique Responses:
  • "n/a"
  • "She was also there last year and loved the amusement park and the baseball game"
  • "N/A she enjoyed all of them"
  • "Aquarium - too long"
  • "She enjoyed all"
  • "The mall. The kids barely had enough time to do anything"
  • "Live Theatre (probably because she did not the the particular show)"
  • "The zoo was really sad, animals in small cages, etc. However, the aquarium attached was cool."
  • "Dancer didn't enjoy Kennywood"
  • "I think they change every year."
  • "I loved all the excursions."

Logistics

Quality of handbook

Spotty
2
8
22
Comprehensive

Program communication

Limited
1
6
19
8
Comprehensive

Transportation

1
31
1
1

Neighborhood safety

Not Safe
4
15
15
Very Safe

General Comments

Overall recommendation

Definitely Not
8
26
Absolutely

Best aspect

  • "Great experience for male dancers to be among so many others."
  • "How happy my kid is with the improvements she is making"
  • "Class variety and some excellent teachers"
  • "Level if instruction; over 47 male dancers; male-only classes; partnering daily"
  • "Each day was packed with classes and the students were challenged"
  • "having multiple different teachers in one day and learning how to adapt to different teacher’s styles."
  • "Teachers were great. Atmosphere was positive and low-drama."
  • "Variety of classes offered and intensity of training. Catered lunch was amazing."
  • "Friendships made"
  • "Small classes and teachers knew names."
  • "The professionalism"
  • "Dance classes"
  • "Instense schedule and good teachers"
  • "We loved everything about this program."
  • "Challenging training and good, individual corrections"
  • "Lots of great classes- student was challenged!"
  • "Very intense, challenging"
  • "Positive teachers and positive training environment."
  • "The program is very well run and the teachers are consistent year to year (PBT faculty and guest teachers). Challenging for every level (there are enough levels to make sure that each level has opportunities to grow). Partnering at every level."
  • "Excellent training"
  • "Number of hours of instruction per week (30hrs)"
  • "It was relatively small and the teachers are all really good."
  • "I loved the student choreography program and setting my work on other dancers."
  • "Year-round teachers teach throughout the program, allowing us to experience what the year-round program is like."
  • "Great teachers. Beautiful facility."
  • "An additional pointe strengthening class called 4 Pointe. Excellent. Have to add that the student choreography showcase was a wonderful opportunity for both choreographers and dancers."
  • "Students can choreograph pieces for a show and pick other students to be in it"
  • "The classes are small enough so that you get attention and by the end of the intensive, the teachers know you by name without using name tags. I made close friends that I still keep in touch with a year later. Every level gets to participate in partnering once a week. The rep pieces were all amazing and there wasn’t one teacher that I didn’t enjoy. I also got very sick somewhere around week 3 and needed to stay back at the dorms for two days and the RA’s were amazing. They stayed, checked on me, and kept my parents informed on how I was doing. Overall an 11/10 summer program."
  • "Training"
  • "The teachers are really nice and supportive of all the dancers."
  • "Getting to train in different styles with different teachers"
  • "Everyone got a lot of personalized attention from a variety of teachers with different styles."
  • "The ballet training"

Least liked about program

Repeated Responses:
  • "N/A" (2 responses)
Unique Responses:
  • "Start/end times of schedule varied widely daily which made a regular sleep schedule challenging. For example, some days started at 9, some at Noon."
  • "There was a teacher shake-up this year"
  • "The full time PD dancers are featured and receive more attention. It’s fine and typical but should set expectations around this reality"
  • "No ac in dorms"
  • "multiple levels had to walk together with an ra to get to the dining hall and back. we also had to wait until everyone was done to be able to go back to the dorms."
  • "Restrictions on leaving campus and general strictness for residential students especially for the older kids."
  • "Having to sit in the dining hall for over an hour for every meal. Not being able to move about campus without a chaperone or group of students."
  • "Lack or air conditioner"
  • "Inability to move to a different level"
  • "So many rules made it hard to follow them all"
  • "Nothing"
  • "Dorm bathrooms"
  • "Not enough communication about end of program demo."
  • "The final performance"
  • "Some of the arbitrary dorm rules"
  • "Level placement of the year-round students didn't always seem to align with their abilities."
  • "No individual corrections (only group corrections)"
  • "I didn’t love the heavy lunches they served and there weren’t many options for the catered lunch."
  • "Lots of their own kids and they did not level them. Placed a whole class into each level regardless of ability."
  • "Extra attention and better placement for year round students"
  • "There was no air conditioning in the dorm and I would have enjoyed more pas classes"
  • "Housing"
  • "They need more styles of dance- not just for the higher levels. The lower levels did not get an opportunity to do partnering this year due to the limited number of boys attending this summer. She was really looking forward to this aspect of the program since Pittsburgh previously had a great reputation for partnering."
  • "Lack of partnering"
  • "Many females at the dorms left hair in the shower drains which caused water blockage and flooding."
  • "Lack of air-conditioning in the dormitories"

Suggested changes to program

  • "Daily schedule."
  • "No opportunity to meet with PBT faculty for discussion. Daughter was offered PD but wanted to at least have some discussion"
  • "Would love to see larger media presence"
  • "N/A"
  • "More freedom to explore the city on down time (or even to move about campus)."
  • "The head RA"
  • "More social media presence from the company."
  • "Increased communication"
  • "I didn’t think it was appropriate that the RA’s handed out prescriptions, should have been a licensed professional who made sure it happened."
  • "More partnering"
  • "She would have stayed the rest of the summer if they offered more than 5 weeks."
  • "Cleaner showers and more supplies in the dorm kitchens (utensils, water dispenser, dishes, appliances)"
  • "Individual evaluation."
  • "More attention for each individual"
  • "more independence for the kids at the dorm, more exposure to artistic director"
  • "Maintain the intensity across the weeks (first and last weeks were more intensive)."
  • "My level placement. I was put in a class with younger students and was not challenged. However, this allowed me to focus on my basic technique a lot."
  • "I would add an additional pas class."
  • "More boys."
  • "Less emphasis on beef and other heavy animal proteins for the provided lunch."
  • "The only thing I would say is I wish you could be allowed to be alone on the quad/benches right outside the dorms to make phone calls to your parents because the walls between our rooms were very thin so it was hard not to disturb your neighbors when talking on the phone. So I wish we were allowed to step outside even to get fresh air without having to find 2 other girls to go with me 10ft outside the dorm to a bench/steps. But the campus is beautiful and the new dining hall is amazing."
  • "Cleaner housing"
  • "They need to bring partnering back for all the levels."
  • "I would offer partnering classes to lower levels."
  • "Add on partnering classes for my level"

Culture of program

Repeated Responses:
  • "Inclusive" (2 responses)
Unique Responses:
  • "Positive, friendly."
  • "Seems pretty healthy & supportive"
  • "Professional"
  • "Inclusive and caring"
  • "Friendly and challenging"
  • "encouraging and welcoming"
  • "Warm, supportive, non-competetive."
  • "The program was very supportive and friendly."
  • "Small. Campus was adorable and safe. Studios beautiful. Opportunity to walk off campus and shop on Walnut St from campus. Residential advisors were friendly. Pittsburgh was a great city. Excursions were fun."
  • "Supportive and positive"
  • "Professional but friendly"
  • "Very inclusive, positive, uplifting, worthwhile. Kids learn to their potential when they're happy and she was very happy. Learned & improved a lot!!"
  • "Friendly competition and supportive classmates in Purple level :)"
  • "Supportive. Fair. Challenging."
  • "Good"
  • "very positive! My daughter absolutely loved it and would consider their grad program down the road."
  • "Culture is really positive. This was one DD's first year and another DD's second year in the program. They both made a lot of friends and found it to be a really supportive environment."
  • "Positive, friendly, supportive."
  • "Everyone was so friendly, healthy competition, and I felt like the teachers genuinely wanted to be there and help us."
  • "Positive"
  • "Good atmosphere. Positive messages."
  • "Professional, efficient, effective"
  • "Such an amazing environment to be in. Everyone was so nice and really cheered each other on. Definitely the best dance environment I’ve ever been in."
  • "Good teachers, iffy students"
  • "Very supportive. My daughter loved all the teachers and had a great time with the other girls that were attending the intensive. Her RAs were great!"
  • "All of the teachers and staff were very welcoming, and the students got along well."
  • "Very supportive and inclusive"

Other comments

  • "I could have been more specific about partnering if question allowed. No partnering for my son's level (two levels for men) but there was partnering for second level. Also, I think levels were based on *both* age and ability for men. Also, non-resident students were warmly welcomed to evening dorm activities (movies on lawn, crafts, etc.)."
  • "Great price"
  • "My daughter loved the partnering experience here. Because there are so many boys, even though there is officially only one pas class per week, there was a one to one ratio so they didn’t have to take turns. There was also modern and coda class partnering because they combined with the boys for these levels so it really was quite a lot of partnering experience. Also the student choreography option is a wonderful opportunity for those interested."
  • "Faculty was amazing. Student choreography showcase option was enjoyed."
  • "My daughter wants to return."
  • "It was a positive experience"
  • "This was my child’s first SI but friends compared it favorably to others!"
  • "The amount of partnering was very good. The intensive had a strong group of boys, and all the dancers seemed to love the partnering experience they received. The campus the dorms are housed is very quaint. The kids would see deer and rabbits in the evening on the grounds. The dancers were allowed a walking radius to areas that had cute restaurants, ice cream, coffee, etc. My daughter and her friends loved getting out in the evenings on their early nights home. The schedule differed every week, and the students would have a few early days, but then would be back to the dorms earlier in the evening. They all have to walk together with their groups to meals. Students must be in groups of 3 to leave the campus. The social aspect seemed good, and my daughter worked hard, but also had FUN."
  • "The choreography portion of the program allows students to create choreography and select a group of fellow dancers to be in their pieces. One of my DDs was in one of the pieces. It was a great opportunity for more dancing, but also gave the choreographers and students a great opportunity to create and perform in a new work. There was a separate performance of the new works, and it was wonderful to see the creativity and level of performance from the dancers. Also, one of my DD's sprained her ankle and the support of the school (administration and teachers) and residence in taking her to get care was really great. She was also able to see the onsite PT who helped her with exercises, etc. We felt really supported. Both of my dancers would go back again."
  • "Overall a really good intensive with a great dorm life! The campus is really pretty and the location is great."
  • "Pittsburgh is pretty!"
  • "The SI is rather large but they do a great job of managing the size and providing top notch training."
  • "I highly recommend this program if you are looking for a solid ballet intensive. My daughter showed so much growth and strength in her skills."
  • "Make sure you bring a lock with you to the studio so that your stuff is secure."
  • "n/a"
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Age: 15, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2025, Stayed In Housing
4 out of 5 rating
Age: 14, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2025, Stayed In Housing
5 out of 5 rating
Age: 16, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2025, Stayed In Housing
4 out of 5 rating
Age: 12, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2025, Stayed In Housing
5 out of 5 rating
Age: 15, Male
Overall Rating

Attended 2025, Stayed In Housing
5 out of 5 rating
Age: 16, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2024, Stayed In Housing
5 out of 5 rating
Age: 16, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2024, Stayed In Housing
5 out of 5 rating
Age: 15, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2024, Stayed In Housing
4 out of 5 rating
Age: 15, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2024, Stayed In Housing, Special Diet
5 out of 5 rating
Age: 16, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2024, Stayed In Housing
5 out of 5 rating