BALLET HELP DESK

Summer Intensive Reviews

Programs Reviewed: 223
Total Reviews: 1727

University of North Carolina School of Arts

Summer Intensive Reviews

General

Dancer age

1
1
1
1
3

Gender

5
2

First time at a summer intensive?

4
3

Year of SI

4
1
2

Weeks available

6
1

Weeks attended

1
5
1

Reviewer

2
5

Curriculum

Techniques taught

1
1
5
2

Partnering (based on age)

2
5

Dedicated men's program?

1
3
3

# of boys in level

1
6

Other dance genres

2
4
1
7
1
5
3
3

Quality of other classes

Not Helpful
1
1
5
Helpful

Injury Prevention

Strength classes?

4
3
1
1
1
2

PT offered?

1
2
4

Extra fee for PT?

3
4

Injury rate

5
2

Teaching

Who taught?

4
1
2

Guest teachers

1
2
4

Year-round teachers taught

3
1
3

Attention from teachers

Very Little
1
1
2
2
1
A Lot

Technique improved?

No
1
2
2
2
Yes - Tremendously

Studios

Dance floors

7

Studio space

Cramped
2
2
3
Lots of Space

Studio cleanliness

Dirty
2
2
3
Spotless

Schedule

Classes per day

3
2
2

Saturday classes

7

Saturday class duration

7

Leveling

Leveling

7

Leveling type

4
2
1

Did students move levels?

3
4

Leveling fair?

1
6

Students per class

5
1
1

Performance

Performance?

7

Rehearsals happened

4
3

Casting equitability

Uneven
2
1
2
2
Even

Rehearsals detracted from class?

Completely
1
1
2
1
2
Not At All

Housing - General

Housing provided

6
1

# of roommates

4
2

Bathrooms

6

Coed bathrooms

6

Air conditioning

6

Housing comment

  • Dorms were very nice!!!
  • It’s all on campus so dancers are able to walk to dining and classes. Dorms are newer and very clean.

Where did they stay?

1

Housing - Supervision

Curfew

6

Curfew reasonable?

6

Room check

6

How strict were dorms?

5
1

Infraction handling

1
5

Housing - Cleanliness

Laundry available

6

Laundry free

4
2

Housing cleanliness

Dirty
3
3
Spotless

Cleaning required

1
5

Meal Plan

Meal plan

6

Food quality

Gross
1
4
1
Excellent

Enough food

6

Dietary needs?

4
2

Specific needs

1
1

Dietary options

Limited
1
1
Lots

Activities

Weeknight activities

6

Weekend outings

7

Attended weekend outings

1
6

Favorite

  • They weren't very good - malls and such
  • Shopping
  • Thrift store shopping
  • Thrifting, Fourth of July fireworks

Least favorite

  • Just to get out, they are fine.
  • None, she enjoyed the ones she went on

Logistics

Quality of handbook

Spotty
2
2
3
Comprehensive

Program communication

Limited
1
1
3
2
Comprehensive

Transportation

1
1
1
1
3

Neighborhood safety

Not Safe
1
2
2
2
Very Safe

General Comments

Overall recommendation

Definitely Not
1
2
4
Absolutely

Best aspect

  • Felt safe, great teachers,
  • individualized attention with specific corrections
  • The incredible faculty! Nurturing and knowledgeable.
  • Everything was on one campus: food, dorms, studios
  • Location was 1.5 hours away from us so that made us feel better about sending her at such a young age
  • The instructors are phenomenal, the amount of attention each dancer gets is unheard of at an intensive.
  • My daughter thrived and loved her time here. The students were fun and the teachers were the most supportive she has run across in intensives. She grew in maturity.

Least liked about program

  • Lack of communication and leadership seemed elusive
  • No partnering classes
  • UNCSA has a beautiful campus where the intensive staff provides a lot of fun camp-like activities but there isn't much to do nearby and the intensive staff doesn't plan much off campus.
  • It felt a bit crowded
  • I was told my daughter would be placed with other dancers who were new to pointe. Most other dancers had been on pointe for at least a year.
  • One of her chaperones had a lot of personal issues that the students were privy to. She was eventually fired, but I think the program tends to be lax with supervision and considering that my daughter was telling me about this chaperone weeks before she was fired, it seems like the program could do a better job of having eyes on the goings on in the dorms and among students (there was more mean girl behavior than I have seen elsewhere, again seems to be a lack of administration knowing what is going on).

Suggested changes to program

  • More men
  • More male dancers and partnering classes offered
  • Good off campus outings.
  • Less people per classes
  • More thoughtfulness as to who to accept into the program. I don't think my daughter should have been accepted into this program. She had to come home 2 weeks early because of overuse injuries and overwhelm. Most other dancers were much more experienced than her and so there wasn't a good placement level for her.
  • The outings could be better. Old Salem, Reynolda House, there’s lots to do nearby that it would be nice to take the students to.

Culture of program

  • Friendly
  • cooperative and positive atmosphere
  • Nurturing, serious.
  • Intense. Classes were from 9-6 daily. PT wasn't very helpful.
  • Amazing, if every intensive could be as put together as UNCSA it would be amazing.
  • Accepting, supportive

Other comments

  • My son loved it and would like to attend year round - cost and location make that prohibitive
  • I enjoyed working with ALL of the instructors! Evening activities were fun. 10 out of 10!
  • My daughter actually broke her foot while she was there. Nothing that was negligent on staff/instructors literally a freak accident. The way the staff handled the situation and had her seen by the campus Sports Medicine DR then directly to Ortho within 12 hours (it happened at night) was absolutely amazing. I was states away and the communication between the staff, resident life people, dr’s during the visits was amazing. You never want the call from your child that they’ve been hurt but they truly handled the situation as if it were their own child they were taking care of. She couldn’t dance the last 1.5 but she wasn’t just pushed to the side to sit and observe. The instructors switched perspectives with her and knew her passion for choreography and began including her in a different way.
  • No
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