BALLET HELP DESK

Summer Intensive Reviews

Programs Reviewed: 236
Total Reviews: 1898

San Francisco Ballet School Program 1 (ages 12-15)

Summer Intensive Reviews

General

Dancer age

5
8
5
5

First time at a summer intensive?

17
6

Year of SI

3
6
6
8

Weeks available

1
20
2

Weeks attended

1
20
2

Reviewer

1
8
13
1

Curriculum

Techniques taught

1
11
2
5
18

Partnering (based on age)

15
2
6

Dedicated men's program?

3
20

# of boys in level

9
1
12
1

Other dance genres

3
2
23
20
3
3
2
1
1
12
1
11
1
13
1
2
1
1
1
1

Quality of other classes

Not Helpful
1
6
9
7
Helpful

Injury Prevention

Strength classes?

10
1
1
16
1
11
10
12

PT offered?

7
10
6

Extra fee for PT?

2
18
1

Injury rate

12
10
1

Teaching

Who taught?

4
19

Guest teachers

12
5
6

Year-round teachers taught

2
20
1

Attention from teachers

Very Little
8
8
7
A Lot

Technique improved?

No
2
2
13
6
Yes - Tremendously

Studios

Dance floors

1
1
22

Studio space

Cramped
9
7
7
Lots of Space

Studio cleanliness

Dirty
11
12
Spotless

Schedule

Classes per day

1
3
19

Saturday classes

23

Saturday class duration

23

Leveling

Leveling

8
15

Leveling type

13
3
7

Did students move levels?

11
12

Leveling fair?

4
19

Students per class

2
16
5

Performance

Performance?

1
22

Rehearsals detracted from class?

Completely
1
22
Not At All

Housing - General

Housing provided

15
8

# of roommates

2
1
12

Bathrooms

2
13

Coed bathrooms

15

Air conditioning

3
12

Housing comment

  • "Gorgeous!"
  • "They were very nice. There were two double rooms that shared a common area and bathroom. It was very new and clean and had AC. There is a full size fridge and nice kitchen space with small dining table. One of the suites has a beautiful window, the other interior suite does not. DD was lucky to be assigned to the room with the window. There is a large window in the common room. Food wasn’t great. DD is not a picky eater and really hasn’t ever complained about SI food. But she did not generally like the food at SFB. Some days were better than others, but overall the food was a disappointment. She felt like there was little fresh fruit/veg except salad and she didn’t love the salad dressing avail. They did have a few nights that were good- they had Chinese food one night which was a memorable meal. DD said breakfast was especially disappointing."
  • "Beautiful dorming facility"
  • "Very new dormitory. No desks in the room and closet/drawer space was limited."
  • "Bring your own tp, paper towels, and soaps"
  • "Each night only had one entree option. That might be challenging for a picky eater, but they always had a vegan option, and she enjoyed what they offered."
  • "7 minutes walk to studio"
  • "No"
  • "The rooms have two bedrooms each with two beds. There is a small common sitting area with a full-sized refrigerator, sink & microwave. Shared bathroom with tub/shower in each room. Boys and girls do stay on the same floor. Breakfast & Dinner is provided. Dorms are very close walking distance to studio as well as Trader Joe’s and other restaurants, Starbucks & ice cream shops. Cute, safe neighborhood."

Where did they stay?

1
1
6

Housing - Supervision

Curfew

15

Curfew reasonable?

15

Room check

15

How strict were dorms?

14
1

Infraction handling

1
6
7
1

Housing - Cleanliness

Laundry available

15

Laundry free

12
1
2

Housing cleanliness

Dirty
5
10
Spotless

Cleaning required

1
14

Meal Plan

Meal plan

15

Food quality

Gross
4
6
5
Excellent

Enough food

1
14

Dietary needs?

13
2

Specific needs

  • "Gluten Free"
  • "Vegan"

Dietary options

Limited
1
1
Lots

Activities

Weeknight activities

1
14

Weekend outings

23

Attended weekend outings

4
8
11

Favorite

Repeated Responses:
  • "Santa Cruz Boardwalk" (2 responses)
  • "Sausalito trip" (2 responses)
Unique Responses:
  • "Fisherman’s Wharf"
  • "Fisherman’s Wharf and the Bay Cruise. Perfect tourist activity for San Francisco"
  • "Pier 39 boat trip, beach bonfire"
  • "Bay cruise"
  • "Santa Cruz boardwalk"
  • "Six Flags-Amusement Park"
  • "She only did one. Sausalito"
  • "Six Flags and Sausalito"
  • "Visiting Sausalito"
  • "Tiburon"
  • "None"
  • "6 flags"
  • "Only went on one outing to Six Flags"
  • "Sausalito"
  • "Six Flags Amusement Park"

Least favorite

Repeated Responses:
  • "None" (3 responses)
  • "N/A" (3 responses)
Unique Responses:
  • "All great"
  • "Santa Cruz Boardwalk"
  • "She only did one."
  • "NA"
  • "They were all fun."
  • "The cupcake decorating was pretty fun but the cupcakes were inedible"

Logistics

Quality of handbook

Spotty
1
7
15
Comprehensive

Program communication

Limited
1
2
9
11
Comprehensive

Transportation

1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
12
1
1

Neighborhood safety

Not Safe
1
4
14
3
1
Very Safe

General Comments

Overall recommendation

Definitely Not
2
2
4
15
Absolutely

Best aspect

  • "Dorms, friendships made"
  • "DD liked exploring the city with friends."
  • "The teachers and kids"
  • "Learning from a variety of teachers including SFB faculty"
  • "The classes were really fun."
  • "Learning from different teachers and many helpful classes"
  • "Dorms and new friends"
  • "We felt the main teacher who is on staff was excellent. She provided detailed feedback to every student and moved at a pace where technique was a possible focus."
  • "The training is very solid and pulls from Vaganova, ABT, and French methods."
  • "The best aspect of the course was the professional environment with rigorous classes and dedicated dancers, as you were treated with respect and dignity."
  • "Technical improvement."
  • "Company affiliated. Very focused on artistry and body alignment."
  • "Each level was able to work on partner work"
  • "Great teachers, beautiful city"
  • "The teachers really knew what they were talking about and their teaching methods were mostly consistent."
  • "The training & teachers"
  • "Nice facilities, good amount of freedom, fun places around SFB to go to"
  • "Dancer: How the teachers really pushed me."
  • "4 weeks was a good length for the intensive, groups separated by age was helpful, schedule was well-paced"
  • "Overall atmosphere, friendships made, positive environment, great classes and Instructors"
  • "Communication was professional, clear, excellent. Teachers were fantastic- really cared about my dancer and gave a lot of personal corrections."

Least liked about program

  • "Level 1 was extremely basic. It was almost solely made up of SFB Ballet Division students who were technically behind and frequently silly. They were not pre-professional students. The few students who were in level 1 who came from other parts of the country were very disappointed."
  • "DD was disappointed there wasn’t a placement class and was also disappointed to miss out on partnering."
  • "More times to socialize at the dorms."
  • "N/A"
  • "Some teachers had favorites and didn't give others corrections."
  • "The long break in between classes"
  • "Insufficient emphasis on partnering and contemporary dance."
  • "The area isn't great. But the bulding is secure which is good."
  • "Daughter has had a period of adjustment each time she goes because it is obviously fairly competitive"
  • "I liked least about this program was that the dorm did not provide lunch and access to the dorms were banned during the day unless you were sick or injured."
  • "Hip hop"
  • "The city it is in. The schedule. Not enough pas de deux."
  • "The surrounding area"
  • "the neighborhood"
  • "The teaching was very turn focused... We often skipped adagio and grand allegro. We were expected to do more advanced pointe work in variations class than we ever did in the actual pointe class, which just didn't seem right."
  • "Offer other styles of dance more frequently, only had 1 hip hop class over the 4 weeks"
  • "Have to pack your own lunch daily"
  • "Dancer: Inconsistency in scheduling of afternoon non-technique & pointe classes. Some days were all PBT/Yoga/Ballet Acting, then another day would have both variations followed by partnering for a total of 3.5 hours on pointe."
  • "One teacher favored the SFB year round students but the other teachers were more fair."
  • "Nothing"
  • "Nothing- was really pleased with the program. There seemed to be some dorm drama but inevitable with this age group."

Suggested changes to program

  • "There should be no SFB ballet division students in the program. Or that should be a completely different level."
  • "Have a placement class and offer partnering to more levels. Be honest in the handbook about how safe the surrounding area is. DD felt like there was too much downtime. She had a blast exploring the city with friends, but would have liked a little more dancing. The days with mat and pantomime as the 3rd class felt especially light. Also, there were many days there was a 2hr15min break between technique and the 2nd ballet class which wasn’t ideal for keeping limbs warm and ready to work."
  • "More to socialise at the dorms."
  • "N/A"
  • "Pas de deux for all levels."
  • "Rooming with people in the same level"
  • "Reduce the number of character classes. Certain breaks felt overly extended."
  • "If there could be fewer long breaks, that would be ideal, but I think the scheduling must be very tricky."
  • "If they could have fewer longer breaks, that would be great, but I am not sure it is possible."
  • "If I could change anything about this course, it would be that the pointe classes would be longer, often only being 45 minutes long."
  • "Better weekend outing options and more pas classes."
  • "More fixed schedule, more pas class."
  • "Be able to observe all classes on the last day"
  • "the food"
  • "I wish that our extra classes (different genres of dance) were more in depth. For example, we only had one Graham class in the entire summer intensive. It kind of seemed like they just touched on other genres. Definitely not a deep dive."
  • "Offer other styles of dance & partnering more frequently & make the program 5 weeks"
  • "Allow returning to dorms during lunch break, free laundry"
  • "Dancer: More Pas de Deux and Variations classes (at least once a week each would be amazing)."
  • "Balance out intervals between similar classes"
  • "Make it longer!"
  • "Nothing!"

Culture of program

  • "The culture was friendly, but there was no push to improve technically."
  • "A great way to meet a lot of the SFB faculty and explore a beautiful city. Not the most intense intensive, but a fun program."
  • "Good vibes"
  • "Supportive, helpful teachers."
  • "Friendly, positive environment"
  • "Inclusive"
  • "The atmosphere was welcoming, but favoritism was present."
  • "Serious study of ballet"
  • "It has a serious approach to ballet that seems appropriate for the level."
  • "The overall culture of this intensive was mostly positive, although the environment was controlled with many rules."
  • "Some dancers weren’t serious and were talking in class, but everyone was nice. The teachers were very nice and dedicated to the dancers improvement. Ms. Holmes is very kind."
  • "Teachers are very loving. Care about dancers development."
  • "My dancer loved her group. Every dancer was very welcoming and kind. Not many dancers from SF, thus Everyone was new."
  • "very positive, some dancers were very competitive with each other, but they were in the minority, most of the dancers were positive and kind to each other."
  • "Caring teachers and staff. The SI students were generally friendly, but some of the year round students were disruptive and acted entitled."
  • "Warm, friendly, supportive, with high expectations"
  • "Pretty relaxed"
  • "Dancer: My group was super supportive of each other. Teachers were really supportive."
  • "Supportive, cheerful"
  • "Very positive"
  • "Hard-working and focused."

Other comments

Repeated Responses:
  • "No" (2 responses)
Unique Responses:
  • "Wouldn’t audition again until eligible for session 2."
  • "The program felt very safe and the dorm and dance studios very secure. There are some sketchy areas surrounding the school that can easily be avoided if you know where they are. However I think the school was a bit irresponsible suggesting students could easily get to the local Target which involves a walk through a rather unsafe section of town (the Target was listed in the welcome materials as within walking distance). My husband and I walked with DD to the Target on move-in day to get some supplies and we told her never to go there again without adult chaperones. The Target is right on the border of the Tenderloin District and we saw countless tents/homeless and lots of unsanitary/unsafe conditions. Definitely not a safe section of town for young dancers. Session 1 says it’s for the “intermediate student”, so they do go a bit slower and focus on the basics. Not necessarily bad, just not particularly challenging for my DD who was on the older end of the age range. I think the bigger problem was there wasn’t a placement class. Classes weren’t by age, so I would guess they placed students based on prior SFB attendance (several year round and returning SI students) and audition notes. Problem is different teachers adjudicated different auditions, so there was a wide range of abilities in all the levels. Students could freely observe other classes and DD felt like there were students in lower levels who could have easily been in her level, and students in higher levels who were clearly out of place. One dancer in my DDs level privately told DD that she felt she was placed in too hard a level and didn’t feel like she was able to keep up. Unfortunately DD agreed with her. Feel like a placement class could have eliminated some of this disparity."
  • "Food was good. Portions were good. Starbucks near dorms."
  • "N/A"
  • "The level of dancers was very high. There was a pointe shoe seminar with Josephine Lee from the Pointe Shop and an opportunity to get fitted as well."
  • "There was a noticeable display of favoritism by certain teachers, who seemed to prioritize particular ballet students initially. I was particularly disheartened by an incident during an observation class, where the teacher directed corrections at a specific girl that were not only relevant to her. These corrections could have been applied to approximately 90% of the students in the class. However, it was evident that there was some personal tension between the teacher and this student. I empathized with the girl, as she was undeniably a skilled dancer, and such behavior from the teacher could be quite emotionally impactful for a student. It was surprising to witness this behavior during the observation class, especially considering the presence of parents. Other parents also took note of this occurrence and discussed it after the class."
  • "My daughter loved it."
  • "Daughter received 100% merit scholarship which was a true blessing."
  • "As mom I am so impressed with my daughter’s technical improvements over the summer. This was an extremely impactful intensive for her technique, far more than any other intensive she’s done. I’m really really pleased."
  • "The new AD Grace Holmes is a fantastic teacher."
  • "Carpool lane was very helpful since parking was a little tricky to find for Free."
  • "My daughter had a fabulous experience and hopes to return."
  • "I was impressed with how the school eventually handled a very disruptive and bullying student, though initially this student got away with a lot of bad behavior."
  • "Dancer: Leveling seemed to be a combination of age and ability. Parent: Ran out of female dorm rooms for acceptances near the end of audition season. 2 protests/marches occurred during the session and appreciated how school constantly communicated their plans to keep students safe. (Dorms/school are 1 block from City Hall but I was not concerned except for the traffic due to being a commuter)."
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