BALLET HELP DESK

Summer Intensive Reviews

Programs Reviewed: 255
Total Reviews: 2234

The Rock School West Chester

Summer Intensive Reviews

General

Dancer age

1
1
2
2

Gender

6

First time at a summer intensive?

1
5

Year of SI

1
5

Weeks available

1
4
1

Weeks attended

4
2

Reviewer

2
1
3

Curriculum

Techniques taught

1
2
1
3
5

Partnering (based on age)

4
2

Dedicated men's program?

6

# of boys in level

3
3

Other dance genres

4
1
6
6
2
6

Quality of other classes

Not Helpful
1
4
1
Helpful

Injury Prevention

Strength classes?

5
1
4
4

PT offered?

6

Extra fee for PT?

4
1
1

Injury rate

4
2

Teaching

Who taught?

2
4

Guest teachers

6

Year-round teachers taught

2
2
1
1

Attention from teachers

Very Little
2
4
A Lot

Technique improved?

No
1
4
1
Yes - Tremendously

Studios

Dance floors

1
6

Studio space

Cramped
1
3
2
Lots of Space

Studio cleanliness

Dirty
3
3
Spotless

Schedule

Classes per day

3
3

Saturday classes

6

Saturday class duration

5
1

Leveling

Leveling

6

Leveling type

6

Did students move levels?

1
3
2

Leveling fair?

1
5

Students per class

6

Performance

Performance?

4
2

Rehearsals happened

1
2
1

Casting equitability

Uneven
1
2
1
Even

Rehearsals detracted from class?

Completely
1
1
3
Not At All

Housing - General

Housing provided

5
1

# of roommates

4
1

Bathrooms

1
3
1

Coed bathrooms

5

Air conditioning

5

Housing comment

  • "Nothing was really wrong with the housing, although you don’t know know how many roommate you had until you got to the intensive. For example I was in a suite with three other roommates and other people only had one other roommate. Also the dining hall food was not the greatest and had little options for people with dietary needs/restrictions."
  • "Air conditioning in the room was very loud, maybe broken? But still cold."
  • "Dresser was coming apart a bit. Rooms are quite roomy, and my 13yo had a parent RA a few doors down. I appreciate "parent RAs", as a parent. I heard only good things about the RAs."

Where did they stay?

1

Housing - Supervision

Curfew

5

Curfew reasonable?

5

Room check

5

How strict were dorms?

3
1
1

Infraction handling

1
2
2
1

Housing - Cleanliness

Laundry available

5

Laundry free

5

Housing cleanliness

Dirty
5
Spotless

Cleaning required

2
3

Meal Plan

Meal plan

5

Food quality

Gross
3
1
1
Excellent

Enough food

5

Dietary needs?

4
1

Specific needs

  • "Lactose Intolerance"

Dietary options

Limited
1
Lots

Activities

Weeknight activities

5

Weekend outings

6

Attended weekend outings

1
5

Favorite

Repeated Responses:
  • "Hershey Park" (3 responses)
Unique Responses:
  • "I was only able to go to the Dorney Park outing because I only stayed for two weeks, but it was really fun and I enjoyed it."

Least favorite

  • "N/A"
  • "None"
  • "The ABT Swan Lake performance was amazing, but my dancer did not like the loud Hard Rock Cafe dinner afterwards."

Logistics

Quality of handbook

Spotty
3
3
Comprehensive

Program communication

Limited
1
1
4
Comprehensive

Transportation

6

Neighborhood safety

Not Safe
2
4
Very Safe

General Comments

Overall recommendation

Definitely Not
1
4
1
Absolutely

Best aspect

  • "There was a good balance between the number of hours danced per day and free time afterwards. Also all of the people there were super supportive and kind. The teachers and the classes were great too."
  • "All the teachers gave students equal amounts of attention and helped everyone improve."
  • "The guest teachers were a lot of fun, and the dorm campus of the university."
  • "Partnering 1:1 ratio and frequency. Some ballet teachers were excellent."
  • "My daughter didn’t want to leave after her two weeks. She loved the classes and the kids she was with. She will definitely return."
  • "I loved how much attention and how many corrections I was getting from the teachers. Everyone was super nice, including any of the RAs and staff."

Least liked about program

  • "Definitely the dining hall food, as well as the age range of dancers. Before I got to the intensive, I wasn’t aware that the West Chester location had a younger demographic. Being 15, I was one of the oldest people there. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I would’ve just went to the Philadelphia location if I was aware of this beforehand."
  • "We often had to wait large periods of time doing nothing between the bus ride and the start of classes."
  • "The food wasn’t the best, especially the lunches and breakfast."
  • "My dancer found the culture unwelcoming among students, but not teachers. We're not quite sure why that dynamic happened."
  • "Not one complaint."
  • "Maybe the lunch, but I honestly don't know. The intensive was great. The lunch for students who were staying at the cottages wasn't great because it had to be packable and was served with breakfast. We were allowed to leave during breaks, though. There was a Dunkin and a pretty good pizza place."

Suggested changes to program

  • "If I could change anything about this program, I would definitely want the layout of classes to be thought about more. The schedule changed everyday which was nice, but it could get really tiring having four straight classes en pointe in a row for example. But I do know that because I was in the highest level, we had the most amount of classes so it could’ve been different for people in lower levels."
  • "More lunch options would be provided."
  • "Having more classes as part of placement day assessment would be better to know the dancer’s abilities. More partnering opportunities as this level only got it once over three weeks rather than weekly."
  • "More class time or more classes."
  • "Wouldn’t change a thing!"

Culture of program

  • "The culture was great. Everyone was nice and supportive throughout the whole time I was there. The teachers gave a good amount of corrections to everyone but of course there were certain people teachers would pay a lot more or less attention to. However, there was not a lot of diversity and most dancers were sort of young."
  • "Very supportive and positive"
  • "Overall good and friendly dancers and teachers."
  • "My dancer is introverted, but found the cliques to be overly tight (this was the highest Westchester level). She found the year-round dancers to not be welcoming. She's been in other intensives, and just did not find this one welcoming in her level."
  • "Perfect. RAs were so nice, kids nice, instructors were phenomenal."
  • "It was great. No matter what level you were in, everyone was super sweet and supportive. It was definitely a great first summer intensive."

Other comments

  • "No"
  • "Definitely enjoyed it!"
  • "She loved the food and dorm room. The program in Westchester is very safe. I think some dancers were quite disappointed by their leveling, especially if they had come from a long distance. The Rock has a wonderful reputation, and my dancer was challenged well in her ballet classes, but if your dancer is not as advanced as others, they might be placed into a level that has a worse schedule or not as excellent teachers. My dancer's level (top level) was definitely prioritized for studio space, teachers, and schedule."
Reviews
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Age: 15, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2026, Stayed In Housing
4 out of 5 rating
Age: 13, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2026, Stayed In Housing
4 out of 5 rating
Age: 12, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2026, Stayed In Housing
4 out of 5 rating
Age: 13, Female
Overall Rating

Attended 2026, Stayed In Housing
3 out of 5 rating
Age: 11, Female
Overall Rating

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

Attended 2024, Stayed In Housing, Special Diet
4 out of 5 rating