BALLET HELP DESK

Summer Intensive Reviews

Programs Reviewed: 255
Total Reviews: 2234

Tulsa Ballet

Summer Intensive Reviews

General

Dancer age

1
2
3
4
6
3
6
5
5
2
1

First time at a summer intensive?

33
5

Year of SI

2
5
7
18
6

Weeks available

2
2
29
5

Weeks attended

1
14
4
17
2

Reviewer

24
12
2

Curriculum

Techniques taught

3
1
4
34

Partnering (based on age)

19
5
3
11

Dedicated men's program?

7
9
22

# of boys in level

6
32

Other dance genres

2
19
1
1
37
12
1
6
1
2
3
3
3
1
2
1
1
1
1
30
9
5
1

Quality of other classes

Not Helpful
4
2
16
16
Helpful

Injury Prevention

Strength classes?

29
1
1
1
2
16
1
21
1
28
1
2

PT offered?

11
21
6

Extra fee for PT?

2
32
2

Injury rate

12
23
3

Teaching

Who taught?

6
29
3

Guest teachers

5
1
32

Year-round teachers taught

8
19
11

Attention from teachers

Very Little
1
3
21
13
A Lot

Technique improved?

No
1
2
7
10
18
Yes - Tremendously

Studios

Dance floors

1
2
7
32
3
2

Studio space

Cramped
1
2
11
24
Lots of Space

Studio cleanliness

Dirty
1
19
18
Spotless

Schedule

Classes per day

11
25
2

Saturday classes

8
30

Saturday class duration

30
8

Leveling

Leveling

36
2

Leveling type

26
6
6

Did students move levels?

11
1
25

Leveling fair?

6
32

Students per class

3
26
9

Performance

Performance?

25
1
12

Rehearsals happened

7
21
9

Casting equitability

Uneven
1
4
8
5
19
Even

Rehearsals detracted from class?

Completely
1
2
1
5
28
Not At All

Housing - General

Housing provided

1
21
16

# of roommates

21

Bathrooms

21

Coed bathrooms

17
4

Air conditioning

21

Housing comment

  • "Nicest accommodations any dancer has ever had. They stayed a Gorgeous, huge hotel, lots to do, all dancers on one floor, pool on their floor, garden courtyard right out side that was very large and beautiful. They were spoiled in the best way!"
  • "The housing for Tulsa Ballet's summer intensive is a hotel. I really enjoyed everything about this setup and was pleased with the privilege to have housekeeping and other amenities that you typically receive while staying in a hotel!"
  • "We shared hotel rooms with 2 double beds. The food started pretty rough with not enough given to us but after reporting this they got better. We had hotel chicken every single night. The breakfast was good with a wide assortment available to us. Housing seemed to be a newer thing so it might be different next year."
  • "hotel"
  • "The housing is a hotel so there wasn't a common space to hang out in."
  • "In a hotel, very nice"
  • "Activities like board game night sometimes required seemingly unnecessary fees to participate, which discouraged participation a bit"
  • "Stayed at the Hyatt Hotel. Bi-weekly house keeping. Pool and gym accessible to students."
  • "No"
  • "They stayed in a hotel so the rooms were cleaned for them twice a week. It was convenient because we did not have to provide bedding and they had their own tv and small refrigerator in the room."
  • "It was a really wonderful experience!"
  • "It’s in a hotel so dancers are sharing some spaces with the general public. At bed check, chaperones ensured that door was double locked. Hotel wifi was a little weak and spotty."
  • "loved the hotel"
  • "Really nice hotel/housing overall"
  • "It was a very nice and clean hotel. Would definitely recommend the housing program!"
  • "Hyatt Regency Tulsa Downtown"
  • "Nearly every breakfast item had added sugar."

Where did they stay?

5
6
6

Housing - Supervision

Curfew

21

Curfew reasonable?

21

Room check

1
20

How strict were dorms?

14
2
4
1

Infraction handling

1
13
7
1

Housing - Cleanliness

Laundry available

1
20

Laundry free

15
6

Housing cleanliness

Dirty
1
7
13
Spotless

Cleaning required

12
9

Meal Plan

Meal plan

21

Food quality

Gross
1
3
11
6
Excellent

Enough food

21

Dietary needs?

19
2

Specific needs

  • "MSG free"
  • "Pescatarian"

Dietary options

Limited
1
1
Lots

Activities

Weeknight activities

21

Weekend outings

38

Attended weekend outings

10
5
23

Favorite

  • "Movie night and museum"
  • "The Philbrook Museum. It was a wonderful place to take pictures and see some beautiful sites."
  • "Welcome dinner, scavenger hunt & ice cream"
  • "Botanical gardens"
  • "I can't recall"
  • "Miniature Golfing"
  • "Mini Golf"
  • "Museums and the art classes"
  • "Arcade and Laser Tag"
  • "the farewell dinner"
  • "Local restaurants"
  • "Ceramics"
  • "I loved the welcoming dinner, it was an amazing way to get to know the other dancers and create lasting friendships."
  • "Philbrook Museum"
  • "I really enjoyed going to an art museam where I was able to take lots of pictures."
  • "4th of July picnic and fireworks; woody Guthrie also lots of fun"
  • "The Philbrook art museum"
  • "The Gathering Place and snow cones"
  • "Main Event"
  • "Fourth of July Event"
  • "I loved the quick Target trips we did and the Main Event outing."
  • "Philbrook Museum of Art"
  • "Philbrook Museum, Georgia Arts and Crafts"

Least favorite

Repeated Responses:
  • "N/A" (2 responses)
Unique Responses:
  • "she loved them all"
  • "None!"
  • "none"
  • "None, I think the dancer should try to attend all of them."
  • "Mini golf"
  • "Probably the mini golf outing."
  • "Na"
  • "All of them were so fun, but busy Sundays were definitely a lot sometimes."
  • "Game board night, mini golf"
  • "None. They were all fun!"
  • "Philbrook, Gathering Place, Main Event"

Logistics

Quality of handbook

Spotty
1
2
15
20
Comprehensive

Program communication

Limited
1
15
22
Comprehensive

Transportation

1
1
1
1
1
27
1
1
1
1
1
1

Neighborhood safety

Not Safe
1
1
8
14
14
Very Safe

General Comments

Overall recommendation

Definitely Not
1
2
3
4
28
Absolutely

Best aspect

  • "We were highly impressed with the entire program. As a former dancer and studio director, I pay attention to small details and have nothing but rave review over this program. From the excellent teachers(we watched a full ballet class before a full show), the 3 meals and snacks provided to all, the amazing chaperones, the spacious, clean studios and facility, and the incredible staff and organization of this intensive. Very well done and this is the first time my dancer has asked if she could please go back next year."
  • "It was extremely professional and intense. I never left a class feeling like I hadn't learned a new concept, and I enjoyed the dedication all of the staff had to helping everyone improve."
  • "The best aspect of this program was how the teachers emphasized attention to detail as well as the use proper technique and placement in order to execute each step with excellence."
  • "Nice people and variety of teaching styles. Also having a weekend break was very nice"
  • "The environment"
  • "Small class size"
  • "Great classes"
  • "Very good teachers with pure vaganova classes taught. It gave me a very good sense of what their year round programs are like as it follows a typical year round schedule and uses the same teachers as year round. We also got to take classes with the second company director and one of the Company Rehearsal Directors. The company artistic director watched us some along with the school director. We got to learn some company repertoire which was very fun."
  • "technique classes"
  • "How helpful the staff were and they gave personalized corrections to everyone."
  • "Guest, alternative dance forms, opportunity to advance"
  • "All the different classs I got to take."
  • "The variety of classes and teachers, also getting to view company members rehearsing alongside advanced level students. Food was good and everyone was really helpful and friendly!"
  • "The improvement to technique in Vaganova was tremendous. It was a new style for me and I advanced quickly."
  • "The instructors cared not just about our dancing, but about our bodies and preventing injuries. All the instructors were fantastic! The school director (Lauren) taught regularly. She and Bea (former Tulsa soloist) gave lots of individual attention."
  • "Focus on Placement and a lot of helpful conditioning classes"
  • "Everyone was very inviting and kind"
  • "Emphasis on balance and not pushing through injuries."
  • "The emphasis on quality of technique and placement in classes."
  • "The teachers were very involved, you could tell they wanted each dancer to improve."
  • "Instructors were great about seeing how much challenge a student was ready to partake in; they do not move students forward if skills show they're not ready, but do continuously push them to improve"
  • "It gave good individual corrections."
  • "Instruction was very focused on technique"
  • "I loved how incredibly seen I felt as soon as I walked into classes the first day. It was truly am environment where I could work my hardest, yet also make lifelong friendships throughout."
  • "Variety of techniques and styles of dance offered"
  • "The daily ballet class with a variety of faculty and the availability of the studios for practicing during long lunch breaks."
  • "The intense training and consistent expectations provide an efficient environment for quickly improving and fresh skillset to move on with."
  • "Contemporary, pointe support, the enrichment classes on nutrition and sports performance"
  • "Partnering"
  • "Loved jazz classes, and the single-partnering class was offered."
  • "The show at the end of the program"
  • "The faculty was super strong and I really enjoyed all of the classes. The housing was also very nice and food tasted amazing."
  • "Challenging but not crippling"
  • "Attention to detail"

Least liked about program

Repeated Responses:
  • "Nothing" (2 responses)
  • "Nothing." (2 responses)
Unique Responses:
  • "I can't say that there was any negative areas of this program. It was top notch all the way through."
  • "I wish there were classes on Saturdays. There had been in the past but for some reason there weren't any this year."
  • "I had no negative experiences with any aspect of this program."
  • "The 3 classes in the afternoon was a lot"
  • "There is not a lot to do in Tulsa and it was very hot. The food was not great."
  • "more of a company experience"
  • "That I didn't get to do all four weeks."
  • "The music teacher was not good and made several girls feel very uncomfortable. He was a guest and I would not have allowed my daughter back to his class if I’d known how he talked to the girls."
  • "Probably the drive to and from the studio/ hotel."
  • "Can’t think of anything, we were very happy with it!"
  • "The food choices were limited. The food was a healthy variety but if you didn't like the protein there weren't other choices."
  • "Not enough ballet/pointe technique, Flamenco was very slow"
  • "nothing"
  • "Placement and casting for the show"
  • "N/A"
  • "Not being to change studios."
  • "Felt my dancer could have been in a higher level but the boys were only split into two levels"
  • "The areas outside of the hotel were a little bit sketchy at times and you had to be very aware of your surroundings constantly."
  • "Wish there could be more laundry facilities"
  • "It was very much geared towards the final showcase, which meant the majority of our pointe classes were spent rehearsing rather than doing technique exercises."
  • "The staff could be a little harsh about things outside of class but I understood the reasoning for strictness"
  • "Only few students experience partnering class even after being told to buy a partnering tutu, the students rehearsed short demonstration pieces fully for up to 3 weeks which made it boring and monotonous at times. New Combinations could have been introduced more frequently. The 2nd half of the intensive the hip hop class did the exact combinations over and over. Which allowed for improvement with movement but the dancers needed more variety and opportunities to pick up choreography quickly."
  • "Lack of instruction/focus on rehearsals"
  • "How the placement class worked, I was never placed correctly."
  • "We need more boys for partnering!"
  • "Name tags"
  • "Hip hop was repetitive, 3 combos over 5 weeks."

Suggested changes to program

Repeated Responses:
  • "Nothing" (2 responses)
Unique Responses:
  • "Not a thing!"
  • "Not much! I really enjoyed the environment and training i received."
  • "There is really nothing I would change. This program was exceptional."
  • "Slightly less hours but it was definitely manageable. I liked the classes but we had the same ones a lot"
  • "Add Partnering"
  • "NOTHING"
  • "Eliminate the music teacher, vet the guests better"
  • "A shorter commute, but that’s our problem, not theirs."
  • "I would have liked more partnering."
  • "Less Hip Hop and jazz and more pointe and partnering classes. More freedom for housing students"
  • "nothing"
  • "Incorporating more partnering classes"
  • "More variety for dinners at the hotel."
  • "There isn’t anything that would change."
  • "N/A"
  • "More partnering and more different style of dances to learn."
  • "I do wish that we had a few more partnering classes throughout the weeks."
  • "Space in the vans was tight especially when transporting tutus"
  • "More pointe technique classes!"
  • "More guest teachers from the Tulsa ballet company for the younger students/ levels, partnering, guest teachers in modern technique such as Horton and Limon."
  • "I would eliminate the showcase and offer parent observation only, as rehearsals took away from instruction. Less major allergen containing snacks offered to the students without instructions to mitigate risk to those with food allergies."
  • "Placement class structure, studio space, more parterning classes (I personally had one but loved it), and more styles of dance."
  • "None"
  • "Replace demonstration with an informal class observation or remove hip hop from demonstration."

Culture of program

  • "The teacher we observed was extremely impressive in the way he explained each combination. Before each exercise, he clearly communicated its purpose and what the dancers should focus on. Afterward, he provided thoughtful corrections, explained what needed improvement, and often had the dancers repeat the combination so they could immediately apply his feedback. It was evident that the students genuinely respected and enjoyed learning from him, and we heard similar praise about many of the other faculty members as well. The dancers all became fast friends and were nurtured and supported throughout. The chaperones were also wonderful people and many of them are teachers volunteering their time."
  • "Welcoming and energetic while still extremely professional and strict."
  • "The faculty heavily prioritized doing things correctly and executing steps with proper technique, but their encouraging and helpful approach made the studio an incredibly inspiring place to train."
  • "Kind but strict"
  • "Feedback was good and the culture was overall good"
  • "Friendly"
  • "Very intense. You should expect to be pushed both mentally and physically. The teachers are very hard on you. This was ideal for me as an older student but I would not recommend this to younger students who have not gone to other summer intensives away from home."
  • "very intense"
  • "I have been to many other summer intensives, but this one seemed the most friendly and paid attention to the physical health of every dancer."
  • "Friendly, helpful"
  • "Really nice. Everyone was friendly and welcoming. Dedicated dancers from all over North America attended, overall a really pleasant experience."
  • "Positive. Obviously there are always dancers that aren't nice but that is normal in the dance world. The teachers at Tusla were fantastic and encouraging."
  • "Supportive, friendly, caring."
  • "Very supportive and Fun"
  • "encouraging and challenging"
  • "Supportive with high standards for student performance"
  • "Very positive, learning environment. Teachers were attentive; most students received corrections. Peers were talented, high achieving dancers who remained humble and fun to be with."
  • "Intense, in a good way."
  • "Inclusive, professional, flexible, supportive"
  • "Excellent"
  • "Friendly and warm"
  • "Extremely professional and demanding but in the most safe and supportive environment."
  • "Very supportive environment while being challenging in terms of dance instruction; instructors seemed to pay attention and give feedback to all dancers—invested in seeing growth and improvement among all dancers"
  • "Everyone was very friendly and supportive. The teachers genuinely want every student to improve and have fun!"
  • "Great culture for good training, high expectations, and a set up for a professional career."
  • "A very warm and supportive culture that values students and has their best interest at heart."
  • "The instructors were helpful and welcoming for the most part. The other students seemed to struggle with attention and respect for instructors at times."
  • "Inspiring and Friendly"
  • "Faculty intense, students friendly"
  • "Culture was good. Sometimes got very loud during class."

Other comments

Repeated Responses:
  • "No" (3 responses)
Unique Responses:
  • "I am surprised I have not previously heard more about this program, but will and would highly recommend it to all dancers."
  • "Its a wonderful program and I feel that it is a hidden gem among the many programs out there. The training is phenomenal."
  • "This is truly a special program and my personal favorite summer intensive that I have ever attended. I would highly recommend this intensive to any dancer."
  • "I got to see company dancers in class and even make friends with some of them."
  • "We are grateful for the experience and would return again."
  • "This intensive is tough and you have to put in a lot of work but it's worth it as you will definitely walk away having improved on technique."
  • "I would highly recommend this program!"
  • "I wish I stayed longer, for the full duration of the intensive. 2 weeks was a great value in terms of pricing, but I had so much fun and learned so much I could've easily stayed for 4! I highly recommend this intensive."
  • "This program is heavy on technique, which I think helped a lot especially as an older dancer who doesn’t get many actual technique classes."
  • "I absolutely loved this intensive. I will definently be going back in the future, as I noticed immense growth in the short four week time period. The staff are extremely dedicated and bring an incredible professionalism to the program."
  • "Add to the packing list that it would be helpful to bring a nicer outfit or two for meals out"
  • "Very talented teachers and artists that inspired the students."
  • "TBT Summer Intensive prepared my dancer for a great season ahead!"
  • "My dancer loves this program so she was back for the second time!"
Reviews
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Age: 16
Overall Rating

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

Attended 2026, Stayed In Housing
5 out of 5 rating
Age: 14
Overall Rating

Attended 2026
5 out of 5 rating
Age: 13
Overall Rating

Attended 2026
5 out of 5 rating
Age: 16
Overall Rating

Attended 2026
4 out of 5 rating
Age: 15
Overall Rating

Attended 2026, Stayed In Housing
5 out of 5 rating
Age: 14
Overall Rating

Attended 2025, Stayed In Housing
3 out of 5 rating
Age: 13
Overall Rating

Attended 2025
5 out of 5 rating
Age: 17
Overall Rating

Attended 2025, Stayed In Housing
4 out of 5 rating
Age: 21
Overall Rating

Attended 2025, Stayed In Housing, Special Diet
5 out of 5 rating