BALLET HELP DESK

Summer Intensive Reviews

Programs Reviewed: 231
Total Reviews: 1850

San Francisco Ballet School Program 2 (ages 15-18)

Summer Intensive Reviews

General

Dancer age

1
3
5
4
2

Gender

10
5

First time at a summer intensive?

15

Year of SI

1
3
7
1
3

Weeks available

1
14

Weeks attended

1
14

Reviewer

1
5
8
1

Curriculum

Techniques taught

3
1
12
2
9

Partnering (based on age)

5
6
4

Dedicated men's program?

1
14

# of boys in level

2
8
4
1

Other dance genres

1
1
1
1
12
13
1
1
1
6
1
3
6
2

Quality of other classes

Not Helpful
5
6
4
Helpful

Injury Prevention

Strength classes?

9
1
13
1
6
4
1
8

PT offered?

1
14

Extra fee for PT?

8
3
4

Injury rate

2
11
2

Teaching

Who taught?

4
10
1

Guest teachers

3
1
11

Year-round teachers taught

4
8
3

Attention from teachers

Very Little
1
2
7
5
A Lot

Technique improved?

No
1
8
6
Yes - Tremendously

Studios

Dance floors

15

Studio space

Cramped
2
7
6
Lots of Space

Studio cleanliness

Dirty
1
6
8
Spotless

Schedule

Classes per day

1
14

Saturday classes

15

Saturday class duration

15

Leveling

Leveling

4
11

Leveling type

6
7
2

Did students move levels?

5
10

Leveling fair?

1
14

Students per class

1
13
1

Performance

Performance?

15

Rehearsals detracted from class?

Completely
1
14
Not At All

Housing - General

Housing provided

1
12
2

# of roommates

1
2
3
6

Bathrooms

12

Coed bathrooms

12

Air conditioning

4
8

Housing comment

  • In each suite one of the bedrooms does not have a window.
  • No a/c at night, lack of food variety, if you are international student you must bring quarters for laundry. Do not lose your key card.
  • no
  • The rooms were pods with two bedrooms with 2 dancers per room sharing a common space and restroom. It was quite nice and newer.
  • Not a great surrounding area but was okay for dancer to walk to/from dorm/studio/shopping/restaurants as long as not alone and stayed alert
  • 2 rooms to each dorm. Each room had 2 dancers. Room selection was predetermined but not shared with the dancers. Each dancer met their roommate at move-in.

Where did they stay?

2
1

Housing - Supervision

Curfew

12

Curfew reasonable?

4
8

Room check

12

How strict were dorms?

4
2
4
2

Infraction handling

2
5
3
1
4

Housing - Cleanliness

Laundry available

12

Laundry free

11
1

Housing cleanliness

Dirty
1
5
6
Spotless

Cleaning required

1
11

Meal Plan

Meal plan

12

Food quality

Gross
1
2
3
5
1
Excellent

Enough food

3
9

Dietary needs?

10
2

Specific needs

1
1

Dietary options

Limited
1
1
Lots

Activities

Weeknight activities

1
11

Weekend outings

15

Attended weekend outings

2
4
9

Favorite

  • Sausalito trip
  • Amusement park
  • Beach bonfire
  • Sausalito
  • Boardwalk
  • Hop-on hop-off bus
  • Santa Cruz and bonfire
  • Santa Cruz
  • Sausalito and baseball game
  • Six Flags
  • Six flags, but outing wasn’t long enough
  • Six Flags

Least favorite

  • none
  • They were all great!
  • NA
  • Sausalito or bus tour
  • none
  • N/A enjoyed them all
  • None - All were fun
  • N/A

Logistics

Quality of handbook

Spotty
1
6
8
Comprehensive

Program communication

Limited
1
4
5
5
Comprehensive

Transportation

1
1
13

Neighborhood safety

Not Safe
4
6
5
Very Safe

General Comments

Overall recommendation

Definitely Not
2
5
8
Absolutely

Best aspect

  • The quality of the teachers
  • high level of dancers
  • Ballet classes
  • Solid instruction in nice studios.
  • The care and quality of the teachers
  • The level of training
  • Rigorous classical ballet training. Small overall size with ample partnering classes.
  • Excellent instruction. High level of dancers.
  • Good instructors, helpful, safe environment, RAs good, good feedback
  • my technique improved immensely
  • Training and individual friend group activities
  • My daughter really enjoyed her time in SF
  • Variety of classes and teachers, small class sizes, attention from teachers, high talent level, ability to observe company classes, food
  • The teachers
  • I loved all of it!

Least liked about program

  • The character classes, the tight curfew and the rules
  • Very competitive
  • Schedule sometimes had long breaks.
  • Was slower paced than usual but still very helpful
  • Location is close to the Tenderloin
  • NA
  • Food
  • Good in dorms, flooring- new floors on 4th too hard, room environment with suite mates, too much talking by teachers, slow paced instruction, limited contemporary,
  • sometimes we had long breaks just to have 1 class afterwards, but i didn't mind it that much
  • Curfew was reasonable but wish it was extended.
  • can't think of anything
  • Requirement to leave studio and return to dorms immediately after class
  • Dorm life was too strict, not enough outings/activities
  • I wish it was longer.

Suggested changes to program

  • Change the curfew for 18 year olds or give them no curfew and no need to partner up to go out during the day.
  • better outings
  • Provide movie night / games in the dorms
  • More attention to optimizing schedules.
  • Nothing
  • Extend the intensive to 5 weeks. Provide lunch for students, or provide longer breaks during the day as some days there was not enough time to eat lunch.
  • Include longer lunch break. Could make it five weeks if the schedule was little less intense.
  • Contemporary classes- not right instructor, favoritism towards year round students,
  • Pariek Armand being there the entire time.
  • Location
  • Dorm life to loosen up a bit, have more activities and ways to bring kids together more. Too many kids just stayed in their rooms. My daughter only had partnering once the entire 4 weeks. Seemed very strange.
  • I wish there was a communication system among students. We needed 3+ to leave the dorm and school. I wish I could have communicated in a chat to see who wanted to go for coffee, boba, or to the store.

Culture of program

  • Inviting, all the other students were nice.
  • very competitive
  • Competitive
  • Average teen behavior from students, friendly teachers.
  • Dancers were kind and hardworking
  • Very inclusive
  • Dancers very focused on training. Very meticulous instruction and corrections.
  • Seemed positive overall
  • Safe and nurturing but limitations for older students
  • very disciplined and a big learning environment
  • Very hardworking dedicated students.
  • seemed very fun and friendly
  • Dancers and teachers were self-motivated to give their all and strive for improvement in each class. Everyone was kind. It did not feel competitive among peers.
  • Seemed good. Nice kids for the most part. There will always be cliques wherever you go
  • Very Friendly

Other comments

  • Kid was left alone by his peers downtown San Fran as my son wanted to head back to the dorms cuz it was getting dark and late. The other boys wanted to roam around more .. my son made his way back to the bus stop and arrived the dorms by himself . RA handled it well. But overall a scary situation.
  • At the time of this post (2023) SFBS is amidst a period of change, thus not sure how much has changed or will change.
  • Wonderful program. My daughter attended 2 years and was absolutely bawling when she had to leave.
  • This program is for dancers wanting a serious, classical ballet only focused program.
  • Amazing pt sad she is leaving.
  • Would definitely come back!
  • Overall was a really good experience with exceptional training.
  • As a parent, communication with the staff was outstanding. They always got back to me quickly.
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