BALLET HELP DESK

Summer Intensive Reviews

Programs Reviewed: 255
Total Reviews: 2236

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

Summer Intensive Reviews

General

Dancer age

1
5
8
5
2

Gender

16
5

First time at a summer intensive?

21

Year of SI

1
3
7
1
3
6

Weeks available

1
20

Weeks attended

1
20

Reviewer

1
9
8
2
1

Curriculum

Techniques taught

5
1
14
1
5
13

Partnering (based on age)

11
6
4

Dedicated men's program?

1
20

# of boys in level

4
11
4
2

Other dance genres

1
1
1
1
18
19
4
1
1
2
12
2
1
9
11
2

Quality of other classes

Not Helpful
5
10
6
Helpful

Injury Prevention

Strength classes?

12
1
1
15
1
12
7
1
14

PT offered?

1
20

Extra fee for PT?

13
4
4

Injury rate

2
17
2

Teaching

Who taught?

4
16
1

Guest teachers

3
1
17

Year-round teachers taught

4
1
12
4

Attention from teachers

Very Little
1
2
10
8
A Lot

Technique improved?

No
1
1
10
9
Yes - Tremendously

Studios

Dance floors

21

Studio space

Cramped
4
9
8
Lots of Space

Studio cleanliness

Dirty
1
9
11
Spotless

Schedule

Classes per day

1
20

Saturday classes

21

Saturday class duration

21

Leveling

Leveling

10
11

Leveling type

10
8
3

Did students move levels?

7
14

Leveling fair?

1
20

Students per class

3
17
1

Performance

Performance?

1
20

Rehearsals detracted from class?

Completely
1
14
Not At All

Housing - General

Housing provided

1
17
3

# of roommates

1
2
3
11

Bathrooms

2
15

Coed bathrooms

17

Air conditioning

5
12

Housing comment

  • "one dancer found they couldn't sleep in the same room as another girl, so she was able to request a move."
  • "No AC"
  • "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
2

Housing - Supervision

Curfew

17

Curfew reasonable?

4
13

Room check

17

How strict were dorms?

6
2
7
2

Infraction handling

5
6
4
1
4

Housing - Cleanliness

Laundry available

17

Laundry free

15
2

Housing cleanliness

Dirty
1
7
9
Spotless

Cleaning required

1
16

Meal Plan

Meal plan

17

Food quality

Gross
1
3
7
5
1
Excellent

Enough food

5
12

Dietary needs?

15
2

Specific needs

  • "vegetarian"
  • "Vegetarian"

Dietary options

Limited
1
1
Lots

Activities

Weeknight activities

1
16

Weekend outings

21

Attended weekend outings

4
6
11

Favorite

Repeated Responses:
  • "Six Flags" (3 responses)
Unique Responses:
  • "6 Flags"
  • "the Big Bus tour was fun, but it was really cold. people got a lot of good pictures on the bus tour."
  • "six flags"
  • "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, but outing wasn’t long enough"

Least favorite

Repeated Responses:
  • "NA" (2 responses)
  • "none" (2 responses)
Unique Responses:
  • "Big bus Tour"
  • "The giants game was boring for me, it just wasn't the vibe me and my roomates thrived in"
  • "None"
  • "They were all great!"
  • "Sausalito or bus tour"
  • "N/A enjoyed them all"
  • "None - All were fun"
  • "N/A"

Logistics

Quality of handbook

Spotty
1
6
14
Comprehensive

Program communication

Limited
1
4
6
10
Comprehensive

Transportation

1
1
19

Neighborhood safety

Not Safe
4
8
8
1
Very Safe

General Comments

Overall recommendation

Definitely Not
2
5
14
Absolutely

Best aspect

  • "Training, feedback from teachers, quality environment"
  • "To me the best aspect was how I had many year round teachers plenty of times so I could really absorb what they were teaching and improve with their longer term methods. like, combos built on the previous class and we improved."
  • "The training was really amazing, I think my overall understanding of ballet technique-especially on how it is personal to each dancer-was really expanded. I think it was a good amount of dancing, intense but not too intense. There was a wide variety of teachers and they were all amazing. I got to try many new styles that I’ve never done before and all the conditioning classes were very helpful. My body felt great and I didn’t get injured at all (I usually do at summer intensives) because they have such a strong focus on technique. All the teachers were kind and understanding, and they made efforts to correct everyone."
  • "Meeting new people and learning different and new things from teachers."
  • "teachers"
  • "The best part of the program was how much input and encouragement the teachers gave students regarding their individuality and future."
  • "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

  • "food at the dorms"
  • "What I liked least was the food served at breakfast and dinner. it was mediocre and the lunch ladies were kinda mean. no lunch plan is offered but trader joes has good options for lunches. theres also no microwave."
  • "There isn’t much that went wrong for me at this intensive, but I didn’t really love the culture at the dorms. I found a good group of people but I noticed sometimes the culture felt very high school drama like."
  • "The lack of teacher led yoga and floor barre. There would always be a teacher there of course but sometimes there was too much pressure on the students in terms of what to do next."
  • "lack of pointe (sometimes could be only 45 min a day)"
  • "Dorm room curfew"
  • "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

Repeated Responses:
  • "Nothing" (2 responses)
Unique Responses:
  • "nothing"
  • "I would change contemporary class because we didn’t do much contemporary. It was improv but with no music, I enjoyed it the first time but I would rather not have it twice. Also, I would have a microwave on the second floor available for student use."
  • "The curfew is a bit early and you can only go out in groups of three. I wish curfew was slightly later and we could go out in groups of 2. Also the cafeteria didn’t always have many options."
  • "I wish the yoga and floor barre was more teacher led. I felt a lot of times it was always what we wanted to do which can be good sometimes, but I wish I learned more."
  • "A break between ballet and pointe classes so it doesn’t cut into point class"
  • "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."
  • "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

  • "positive, challenging, high expectations"
  • "The culture was positive. My class, Group 1, was very tight knit and we all got along and ate lunch outside together. It was some very good vibes."
  • "Definitely a competitive summer intensive but for my class at least everyone was focused in their own lane. My class was friendly and supportive. However, I would say that there were sometimes where the culture felt very high school drama/gossip like."
  • "Supportive and worked me enough without being too exhausting."
  • "Good"
  • "Fun, high energy, lots of hard work"
  • "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

  • "I love the teachers so much, and I improved so much. I made long lasting friends. Also I really appreciated how many variations we did, I feel like I improved my toolbox. Ms. larissa was very helpful in variations because she breaks down each step to help alignment and has so much knowledge on movement to share."
  • "I would 100% recommend this intensive, especially if you are looking to improve your technique. Dorms are great but just a little bit strict. I got a lot of good personal corrections and hope to come again."
  • "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."
Reviews
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Age: 15, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2026, Stayed In Housing
5 out of 5 rating
Age: 16, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2026, Stayed In Housing
5 out of 5 rating
Age: 17, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2026, Stayed In Housing
5 out of 5 rating
Age: 16, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2026
5 out of 5 rating
Age: 15, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2026, Stayed In Housing
5 out of 5 rating
Age: 16, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2026, Stayed In Housing
5 out of 5 rating
Age: 17, Female
Overall Rating

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

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

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

Attended 2024, Stayed In Housing
4 out of 5 rating