BALLET HELP DESK

Summer Intensive Reviews

Programs Reviewed: 218
Total Reviews: 1560

Washington School of Ballet

Summer Intensive Reviews

General

Dancer age

1
2
2
2
3
1

First time at a summer intensive?

9
2

Year of SI

2
3
5
1

Weeks available

1
9
1

Weeks attended

1
9
1

Reviewer

3
8

Curriculum

Techniques taught

4
1
1
4
5
4

Partnering (based on age)

5
1
2
3

Dedicated men's program?

4
6
1

# of boys in level

3
8

Other dance genres

7
11
1
2
7
7
7

Quality of other classes

Not Helpful
2
2
4
3
Helpful

Injury Prevention

Strength classes?

9
1
1
8
2
6
1
2

PT offered?

2
9

Extra fee for PT?

4
6

Injury rate

3
6
2

Teaching

Who taught?

4
4
3

Guest teachers

4
2
5

Year-round teachers taught

5
5
1

Attention from teachers

Very Little
2
9
A Lot

Technique improved?

No
1
2
5
3
Yes - Tremendously

Studios

Dance floors

10
1

Studio space

Cramped
2
8
1
Lots of Space

Studio cleanliness

Dirty
4
7
Spotless

Schedule

Classes per day

2
9

Saturday classes

10
1

Saturday class duration

1
10

Leveling

Leveling

10
1

Leveling type

10
1

Did students move levels?

6
5

Leveling fair?

2
9

Students per class

1
9
1

Performance

Performance?

8
3

Rehearsals happened

4
6
1

Casting equitability

Uneven
1
1
2
7
Even

Rehearsals detracted from class?

Completely
1
1
9
Not At All

Housing - General

Housing provided

8
3

# of roommates

2
1
4
1

Bathrooms

8

Coed bathrooms

8

Air conditioning

8

Housing comment

  • Had pool and exercise room, but covid restrictions meant they weren’t able to use
  • Beautiful dorms. No food plan but lots of food shopping and excellent cooking/ prep facilities.
  • Spacious rooms: Shared suite with 2-3 bedrooms (2 students to a bedroom)
  • no
  • Housing is at American University dorms. Four girls to a suite with shared 1.5 bath. Two girls share a bedroom in each suite.
  • Nice newer dorm. 2 dancers per room; 4 in a suite with shared living area and bathroom

Where did they stay?

1
2

Housing - Supervision

Curfew

8

Curfew reasonable?

8

Room check

8

How strict were dorms?

5
2
1

Infraction handling

2
3
2
2

Housing - Cleanliness

Laundry available

8

Laundry free

2
2
4

Housing cleanliness

Dirty
2
6
Spotless

Cleaning required

3
5

Meal Plan

Meal plan

8

Activities

Weeknight activities

1
7

Weekend outings

11

Attended weekend outings

3
6
2

Favorite

  • Monument Tour
  • Old Town Alexandria, DC Monuments Dusk Tour
  • Watching 4 of July Fireworks
  • Moonlight bus tour of the monuments, Ferry boat from Georgetown to Alexandria, VA
  • Ferry to Old Town in Alexandria
  • Ferry to Old Town
  • Night monument tour
  • Paddleboats

Least favorite

  • See above
  • no
  • All were enjoyable.
  • none
  • All were good. There were also surprise outings such as a contemporary dance performance at the Kennedy Center and a museum visit for another performance.
  • none

Logistics

Quality of handbook

Spotty
1
3
6
Comprehensive

Program communication

Limited
1
1
2
7
Comprehensive

Transportation

1
1
1
4
4

Neighborhood safety

Not Safe
1
2
8
Very Safe

General Comments

Overall recommendation

Definitely Not
2
5
4
Absolutely

Best aspect

  • Confidence she gained, being asked to stay year round, friends made, location in DC
  • Local
  • Positive environment , staff
  • My daughter’s technique improved tremendously. The teachers were fair, nurturing and gave individual attention and correction.. The students were supportive of each other. My daughter was sad when it ended!
  • Living in Washington DC was fanstastic.
  • Variety of teachers, helpful chaperones, overall inviting atmosphere. Teachers were thorough with explanations and tailored/helpful corrections. Structure of daily classes: conditioning, tech, and pointe in the morning followed by other genres and rep in the afternoon. Having onsite PT was also super helpful.
  • It was appreciated how every dancer got individual attention to help them improve. It was a judge free space and the teachers weren’t extremely picky and worked with you.
  • 1:1 corrections with great teachers
  • Attention from teachers was wonderful and environment was supportive. Lot's of clear corrections and feedback, and an investment in student development. My dancer felt challenged, successful, strong, and improved. Housing and staff was great - lots of support while also a good amount of independence.
  • It’s a smaller program size wise, so might make a good first intensive away.
  • Loved the teachers and attention. Loved exploring DC. The classes were challenging.

Least liked about program

  • Not challenged
  • Not enough partnering
  • Washington Ballet has a few studios within the same area. My daughter was in the lower level intensive, and the studio was not great. It was older, on the small side, but it was functional. The studio where the demonstration was held was new and wonderful. But this is a very minor thing, as my daughter loved her SI and we highly recommend it!
  • Not many students lived in the dorms.
  • A small number of teachers(1-2) had favorites, but nonetheless classes were strong and helpful even with these particular teachers.
  • very little partnering classes (i only got one partnering class the whole 5 weeks)
  • no dedicated men's training.
  • My dancer would have preferred more equal time spent on other dance styles. Though she had a couple classes in Flamenco, Contemporary, and Modern, her group was picked to perform a Jazz piece so she had mostly Jazz classes. She already had a lot of Jazz experience and would have loved an opportunity to explore more Flamenco or Modern.
  • Little to no movement in placements, placements done almost exclusively by age. Lower level studios have little to no windows/natural light.
  • Public transportation. It was hot.

Suggested changes to program

  • Fewer students per teacher
  • More partnering
  • My daughter wanted it to be longer. The lower level intensive was 4 weeks while the upper division is 5.
  • Each level had many different ages. For example, one level had students as young as 11 and as old as 18. There were not enough 11 year olds at the same level to have an 11/ 12 class, for example.
  • In the dorms, better clarity at the beginning of the SI regarding what behaviors constitute infractions...some very small things received "strike" consequences. Even so, all chaperones were reportedly very kind. The only thing to change would be more examples/clarity in the initial dorm meeting.
  • i would add more partnering classes.
  • daily mens classes
  • A meal plan, more partnering classes (need more male dancers enrolled)
  • They randomly place dancers with roommates who are the same age. This is fine, but would also be helpful to send out some kind of a Google form to demonstrate consideration in roommate placement: cleanliness habits, night owl vs sleeping early, party room vs wanting a quiet place to unwind, etc.
  • More partnering.

Culture of program

  • Professional and caring
  • Not too intense. Big groups.
  • Very positive, encouraging, they want the best for every single student
  • Supportive, nurturing, warm, welcoming, with great focus on technique.
  • Warm culture. Inclusive
  • Very inviting, healthy culture, caring teachers, staff and chaperones.
  • On the smaller side, lax but still a level of prestige, good for a dancer’s first intensive
  • extremely supportive - best one I've been apart of
  • Supportive, positive, welcoming.
  • Good
  • Positive, inclusive, challenging

Other comments

  • It’s a solid program. The quality really depends on who you get as a main teacher.
  • RAs were jewels! Knew every child. Were strict but kind.
  • Excellent experience both at the intensive and in the dorms. Lots of freedom and independence to explore the local area, but with strong safety precautions in place.
  • - About half of the students are commuters/year round students at the Washington School of Ballet - The dorms are veryyyyy nice and clean. Students dorm at American University. - We also had little surprise weekday excursions and activities here and there like the Kennedy Center, National Portrait Gallery, and the Zoo, but it varies.
  • If you are a girl, this is an A+ intensive, if you are a boy and want dedicated mens program, you may want to look elsewhere.
  • Classes are on the larger size. For dorming dancers, the fact that there isn’t a solid meal plan option is something parents need to consider. According to the handbook there is one but they discourage students from signing up for it bc it’s apparently not a popular choice. As such, my child didn’t know anyone with a meal plan and was not on the meal plan either. Dancers grocery shop and are responsible for making all three meals on their own unless they leave the studio daily and walk 10 minutes to the nearby grocery store/restaurants to grab something. cooking and grocery shopping at this age sounds great in theory but actually ends up being kind of inconvenient after a day of classes, and results in most dancers eating frozen meals and junk food most of the summer; there is very little cooking and healthier eating going on.
  • Be prepared to make your own meals. It wasn't too bad, but you needed tools and a plan.
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