Ballet Melange

#1 of 1

General

Who is Reviewing?

Dancer

Program:

Ballet Melange

Season Attended:

2023-24

# Of Levels In School:

Approx 5ish levels in the school (varies by year), plus junior trainee (take classes with advanced level and trainees), trainee

Dancer Age:

Company Affliated?

Yes

Was Student Scholarshipped?

Please Describe Scholarship:

Scholarships aren't offered as far as I'm aware

Years At School:

4 years

Curriculum

Days Per Week:

Classes Per Day:

Weekend Classes?

Yes

Weekend Schedule:

Full day

Students Per Class:

Less than 10

Weekly Repertoire or Variations?

Pointe Classes Per Week:

Live Music in Technique Class?

Dedicated Men's Program?

Boys In Level:

Less than 5

Separate Technique Class for Boys:

Techniques Taught:

Vaganova

Technique Teacher Rotation:

The school rotated teachers on a fixed schedule

Did School Director Teach?

Often

Classroom Corrections:

Dancer specific: almost every dancer got specific corrections each day

Attention From Teachers:


Very Little	A Lot

Quality of Instruction:


Poor	Excellent

Did Technique Improve?


Not at all	Tremendously

Curriculum Comments:

Pure Vaganova at its finest. Ballet 5x a week, pointe 3x, character 1x, acting 1x (often taken up by rehearsal most of the year), contemporary 1x, composition 1x.

Partnering

Frequency of Partnering Class:

No partnering

Other Classes

Other Dance Styles:

Character

Other Class Quality:


Poor	Excellent

Contemporary Offered?

Yes

Types of Contemporary Classes Taught:

Choreography workshops, Technique

Contemporary Quality:


Poor	Excellent

Master Classes?

Yes

Master Classes Description:

Occasional master classes (like 1-2 classes during the year, 2-3 weeks during the summer), always also Vaganova based

Strength & Conditioning

Physical Training Offered?

Yes

Physical Training Types:

Stretch class

Physical Training Schedule:

Once or twice a week

Were Trainers Certified?

Physical Training Quality:


Poor	Excellent

Strength & Conditioning Comments:

Last year, the teacher moved to Texas and taught on zoom. I believe they found a new teacher for next year to teach in person and it will now be Pilates.

Injuries/Health/ Mental Health

Are Doctors Available?

How Parents Notified?

Student told parent. School not involved

How Treatment Obtained?

Had to find PT on my own

PT Available?

Was There a Recovery Plan?

Describe Recovery Plan:

The teachers often tell students to engage in outdated practices and go to chiropractors.

Mental Health Therapists Available?

Were Students Given Fat Talk?

Staff Made Comments About Bodies?

Yes

Were Students Weighed?

Was "Coded Language" Used?

Additional Comments:

Not a great place to get injured or have mental health struggles. This is one of the worst parts of the studio but I really hope it gets better

Performances: Winter Show/ Nutcracker

Performance Opportunities:

2-3

School Winter Show?

Yes

Company or School Show?

School puts on it's own production and students dance all the parts

Cast in Winter Show?

Yes

How Chosen:

Chosen by school director or the company artistic staff

Winter Show Role:

Dancing part

Were You Paid?

Performance: Ballet Season

Cast in Company Productions?

Yes

Kind of Part Given?

Dancing part

How Chosen:

All students allowed to audition

Was Casting Fair?

Yes

Did Rehearsals Impact School Schedule?

Perfomance Opportunities:

There are two spring productions: a full length ballet or multiple one act ballets and a showcase-type show

Were You Paid?

Competition

School Does Competitions?

Yes

Competitions Required?

How Many Compete?

As many as would like to

% of Students Who Performed:

70%

How Chosen?

Anyone who would like to do a variation can, students chosen for ensembles and pas de duexes (most are picked who are doing solos, and some others)

Competitions Cost Extra?

Yes - about $100/hour for private variation coaching, no extra fees for pas de deuxes and ensembles

Separate Competition Rehearsals?

Yes

Competition Interfered With Training?

Getting personalized coaching for competitions is a phenomenal experience. The teachers here are truly amazing. Ensembles are another performance opportunity, but not as important.

Communication

Formal Orientation?

Handboook & Paperwork:

Fairly comprehensive but missing a few pieces

Quality of Communication?


Poor	Excellent

Who Received Communication?

With parents and students

Exams

Formal Exam?

Yes

Written Feedback?

Exam Adjudicator:

Internal

Exam Rubrics Clear?

Strongly disagree

Who Attends Exam Meeting?

Yes and parents were included. The meeting was with the Artistic Director

Well Prepared For Exam?


Not at all	Completely

How Heavily Did Exams Weigh in Promotions:


Not at all	Heavily

School Culture

How Supported Did Student Feel By Staff?


Not	Completely

How Supportive Were Students of One Another?


Not	Completely

Describe School Culture:

Serious

Placement Notification Timing:

Orally during conference following exams

Overall School Culture:


Lord of the Flies	Warm & Inclusive

School Outcomes

Is Student In Upper Levels?

Yes

Highest Levels of School?

Trainee, Second Company

How Many Promoted Internally to Bridge Level:

All but one

How Many Come From Outside to Bridge Level?

Depends on the year, between 0-5

Where Graduates Who Do Not Get Bridge Level Go:

Some find positions elsewhere and about half leave ballet

How Many Left and Went to College?

Majority

Career Support:

Received no help - I was on my own

Describe How School Helped:

You can pay the director to film your audition video, but overall she has few connections to companies

Building & Surrounding Area

Security Around Building:

Safety of Area Around School?


Not Safe	Extremely Safe

Studio Space:


Cramped	Lots of space

Studio Cleanliness:


Dirty	Spotless

Housing

Was Housing Provided?

Where Did Dancer Live?

Lived at home

Academics

How Did Academics Work?

Separate e.g. online, independent study, etc.

Academic Support:

There were no formal study requirements. Students were on their own

Did the School Support Academics?


Didn't support	Definitely supported

Overall Program Grades

Overall Dance Instruction:

A+

Career Support and Placement:

B-

Emotional Support:

Housing & Food:

N/A

Performance Opportunities:

Overall Comments

Program's Best Aspect:

Ms. Elizabeth is the BEST TEACHER I have ever experienced. She can turn anyone, no matter their natural ability or talent, into an amazing dancer. I have never experienced the amount of individual attention that I receive in her class. I'm talking dozens of individual corrections every single class. To everyone in the room. It is pure vaganova training (Ms. Elizabeth trained at Vaganova herself and went through their teacher training) that is really beautiful and hard to find in other places. The other thing is the opportunities you get here. There is a separate cast for every show of nutcracker and other performances that we do, so you get to do tons of parts.

Program's Worst Aspect:

Going here pretty much means you are sacrificing pretty much everything else for good training. Which IMO, training is the most important part so it is worth it. To name a few, the contemporary training, rehearsals taking up class time, not really knowing casting until days before the show, no support for injuries, few connections to other ballet companies for jobs, mind games and harsh corrections from the director.

What Changes Would Be Helpful?

A lot is going to change as the company began this year. But for the trainee program, the main thing that I think should change is a better cross training/injury recovery program.

Anything Else We Should Know?

This is an amazing school for very specific purposes. #1: You are from Denver, are 12-16 or maybe 17, and are working towards a professional career. But GET OUT when you are 15-17 and go to a big pre-professional school. Very talented kids get stuck here because they get too old for many other companies. #2 You aren't (or maybe are) from Denver, you are 17-19 or 20, and want a professional career but you might be a little behind on technique. Elizabeth accepts most people who audition into trainee and she will get you into shape real fast to be suitable for smaller professional companies.

Loading…