BALLET HELP DESK

Full-Time Training Reviews

Programs Reviewed: 87
Total Reviews: 296

Dance Training Center San Francisco

Full-Time Reviews

General

Who is Reviewing?

5
3
1

Program

9

Season Attended

1
1
7

# Of Levels In School

8
1

Dancer Age

1
4
1
1
1
1

Hours of Dance Each Week

1
3
2
2

Gender

9

Company Affliated?

1

Was Student Scholarshipped?

7
2

Please Describe Scholarship

1

Years At School

1
1
1
1
1
3

Full time or after school?

9

Curriculum

Days Per Week

1
1
7

Classes Per Day

5
4

Weekend Classes?

1
8

Weekend Schedule

5
3
1

Students Per Class

3
6

Weekly Repertoire or Variations?

4
5

Pointe Classes Per Week

2
2
3
2

Live Music in Technique Class?

9

Dedicated Men's Program?

4
3
2

Men Taught by Male Teacher?

4
2

Men Taught Batterie?

2
4

Boys In Level

6
2

Separate Technique Class for Boys

4
2

Techniques Taught

9
1

Technique Teacher Rotation

5
4

Did School Director Teach?

2
1
1
5

Classroom Corrections

4
3
2

Attention From Teachers

Very Little
1
2
1
5
A Lot

Quality of Instruction

Poor
2
1
2
4
Excellent

Did Technique Improve?

Not at all
2
1
1
5
Tremendously

Curriculum Comments

  • We take classical technique classes every day for two and a half hours each day. On most weekdays we have an added class of either contemporary, partnering, or rehearsal. On Saturday we have a full day including technique, variations, and rehearsal.
  • We take classical technique classes every day, for 2 and half hours. On mondays we have contemporary class, tuesdays we have partnering. We do point almost every class as well. On saturdays as well as technique we have a longer variations class plus we will have rehearsal for upcoming performances.
  • Each day we have a technique and pointe class that ranges from 1.5 to 2.5 hours. We will then have contemporary, variations, or rehearsal for a show.
  • No variations class. Technique class 4 times a week exactly the same, same recorded music, same exact routine, no individualized corrections even though less than 10 students in class. May as well have been dancing at home to the same YouTube video over and over.
  • My child was in level 3B and technique classes were 3x a week, 1.5-2 hours. Prepointe training 1x week. Rehearsals are extra on Saturdays for shows.
  • There was no clear curriculum. General ballet classes each day which may include pointe, but that depended on the teacher's mood or whether there were rehearsals for a performance.

Partnering

Frequency of Partnering Class

5
4

Partner Ratio

4
1

Who Taught?

1
4

How Much Partnering Improved

No
5
Tremendously

Quality of Pas Teaching

Poor
1
4
Excellent

How Were Corrections Given?

4
1

Description of Partnering Class

  • 1 hour long partnering class, basic skills and rep
  • We had a partnering class each Tuesday where we would learn skills and worked on repertoire.
  • We had a very in depth partnering class every tuesday, where we would learn basic skills as well as work on some repertoire. we all had the same partner but we managed to get a lot done and everyone got specific detailed corrections.
  • We would often work on pas de deuxs from ballets, as well as learning the basics of partnering.
  • We have partnering class once we and have learned rep.

Additional Comments

  • This year we learned shoulder sits, fish dives, finger turns, and whip turns. These skills were all included in the rep that we learned throughout the year.
  • As well as basic technique we learned more advanced partnering like shoulder sits, fish dives, finger turns and whip turns.

Other Classes

Other Dance Styles

1
7
1

Other Class Quality

Poor
1
1
Excellent

Contemporary Offered?

1
8

Types of Contemporary Classes Taught

6
2
4
7

Contemporary Quality

Poor
1
1
3
3
Excellent

Master Classes?

8
1

Master Classes Description

  • There was a “mock audition” offered in the winter to prepare students for summer intensive and company auditions. A panel of local ballet masters and choreographers from prestigious San Francisco companies observed an audition class and repertory section, and each student received written personal feedback and advice from each panel member after.

Strength & Conditioning

Physical Training Offered?

3
6

Physical Training Types

2
5
3
5
1
2

Physical Training Schedule

4
2

Were Trainers Certified?

1
5

Physical Training Quality

Poor
1
5
Excellent

Strength & Conditioning Comments

  • There is a beautiful gyro studio in the DTC building where students can take supplemental classes from trainers if they like.

Injuries/Health/ Mental Health

Are Doctors Available?

5
4

How Parents Notified?

5
1
1
2

How Treatment Obtained?

  • Physical therapy and doctor.
  • I went to physical therapy as well as taking privates with a teacher to help rejuvenate my ingury
  • NA
  • On our own

PT Available?

4
4
1

Was There a Recovery Plan?

5
2
2

Describe Recovery Plan

  • I went to specific ballet physical therapy and teachers gave me exercises and modified classes for me.
  • i took private classes with the directer where we focused on what i could and couldn't do and strengthened and helped me with my injury.
  • NA

Mental Health Therapists Available?

5
4

Were Students Given Fat Talk?

8
1

Staff Made Comments About Bodies?

6
3

Were Students Weighed?

9

Was "Coded Language" Used?

1
5
3

Additional Comments

  • This is such a loving and caring environment while still being a serious training space.
  • This school is so willing to help all the students, if anyone is struggling with anything, even if there is not a professional the teachers will always be there to be someone to talk to or help. Our director is certified in PBT training so she is very helpful with injuries.
  • Yelling, ignoring, all the standard bullying techniques used daily. If anyone complains about this they are accused of having a lack of dedication to dance.
  • Teachers are very approachable and are invested in the success of each student, esp those who are dedicated and focused
  • Although DTC/SF says its mission is to teach all students, there are clear favorites and the top level 6 is the focal point of the staff. The mid levels are not treated well and students can be yelled at, ridiculed and ignored by staff if they are not "liked". Coded language was used in relation to fitting into costumes. Ultimately students who were not liked were determined to be "problematic" and "unable to be taught".

Performances: Winter Show/ Nutcracker

Performance Opportunities

1

School Winter Show?

1

Company or School Show?

1

Cast in Winter Show?

1

How Chosen

1

Winter Show Role

1

Were You Paid?

1

Performance: Ballet Season

Cast in Company Productions?

1

Competition

School Does Competitions?

1

Communication

Formal Orientation?

7
1
1

Handboook & Paperwork

4
1
4

Quality of Communication?

Poor
2
1
1
3
2
Excellent

Who Received Communication?

7
2

Exams

Formal Exam?

9

School Culture

How Supported Did Student Feel By Staff?

Not
2
1
1
5
Completely

How Supportive Were Students of One Another?

Not
2
1
6
Completely

Describe School Culture

  • recreational
  • Community
  • It's very nurturing yet serious.
  • We are a very tightknit community and I feel very supported and loved by all my peers and all my teachers, while still getting very good training from our teachers.
  • Supportive, fun, kind, encouraging
  • Supportive, professional, loving, improvement, happy
  • Bullying, intimidation, total emotional disregulation by the instructors. Lack of performance opportunities. Only a couple of favorites students got any attention or roles even though toy is a small school - growing much smaller due to attrition every year.
  • Supportive, kind yet always striving for high quality
  • Cliquey, toxic, unsupportive in mid levels

Placement Notification Timing

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

How Dancer Was Notified

5
1
2

Dancer Had Mentor?

3
5

Mentoring Details

  • Older students that take care of the younger students
  • It is kind and helpful.
  • Upper class students are very kind and kind of serve as mentors to the rest of us. I am now in the top level, and I love being a mentor to the younger students.
  • The teachers at DTC make themselves incredibly approachable and available to students. They are great at supporting their dancers through audition season, and any struggles they may face in the industry. They don’t have a formal mentoring program but the whole culture of the school is focused on the wellbeing and support of their students and alumni.
  • There are older students and teachers that serve as mentors
  • Zero mentoring. In conference the teachers did not know what grade my daughter was in, did not know that she was embarking on her fourth summer intensive - kept referring to this summer intensive as her “first experience” etc. Even though there were literally only seven students in her level. She had danced there for three years, six days a week, in a class of seven students.
  • My daughter is in the lower levels so there isn't a formal program for kids age 9. However, I know there is mentorship that happens at the upper levels.
  • In general, mentoring took place for Level 6 favorites. If parents requested a meeting to review summer placements or other outside dance workshops, they were given one but not much interest was ever expressed in what a dancer accomplished over the summer at a company summer intensive or at programs with other dance forms.

Overall School Culture

Lord of the Flies
1
1
1
6
Warm & Inclusive

School Outcomes

Is Student In Upper Levels?

1

Highest Levels of School?

1

How Many Promoted Internally to Bridge Level

  • n/a

How Many Come From Outside to Bridge Level?

  • n/a

How Many Left and Went to College?

1

Career Support

1

Describe How School Helped

1

Building & Surrounding Area

Security Around Building

4
5

Safety of Area Around School?

Not Safe
1
2
2
4
Extremely Safe

Studio Space

Cramped
2
4
3
Lots of space

Studio Cleanliness

Dirty
1
4
4
Spotless

Housing

Did Dancer Stay in Provided Housing?

1

Academics

How Did Academics Work?

1

Academic Support

1

Did the School Support Academics?

Didn't support
1
Definitely supported

Overall Program Grades

Overall Dance Instruction

1

Career Support and Placement

1

Emotional Support

1

Housing & Food

1

Performance Opportunities

1

Overall Comments

Anything Else We Should Know?

  • This is a recreational program. No curriculum, no real training. If hoping for a career, go elsewhere
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Dance Training Center San Francisco Full-Time Ballet Training Reviews