BALLET HELP DESK

Full-Time Training Reviews

Programs Reviewed: 90
Total Reviews: 306

Houston Ballet Academy

Full-Time Reviews

General

Who is Reviewing?

2
2
6

Program

10

Season Attended

1
5
3
1

# Of Levels In School

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Dancer Age

1
1
1
4
2
1

Hours of Dance Each Week

1

Gender

4
6

Company Affliated?

10

Was Student Scholarshipped?

2
7

Please Describe Scholarship

  • Tuition scholarship
  • I am not sure how many are on scholarship. I do believe. There are more partial than full scholarships. I also know that there are some with no scholarships.
  • He was given tuition scholarship and housing scholarship for the dorm. Some students received a tuition break, but few received housing scholarships
  • I was on full scholarship, I only had to pay a scholarship fee. I also had subsidised living in Market Square Tower Apartments by the ballet.
  • Tuition and Housing-Offered at audition, then offered again at YAGP Finals
  • Mine was a merit based full tuition scholarship covered by the school
  • My son believes many of the 9 Pro 2 male dancers receive a scholarship for tuition. My son received free tuition. He also received financial aid to cover 1/2 of his MST apartment. It meant we paid $500 per month for a shared studio apartment and paid for his grocery money.

Years At School

2
1

Full time or after school?

1

Curriculum

Days Per Week

1
7
2

Classes Per Day

1
1
2
6

Weekend Classes?

8
2

Weekend Schedule

2
8

Students Per Class

3
4
1
2

Weekly Repertoire or Variations?

1
9

Pointe Classes Per Week

1
1
1
1
6

Live Music in Technique Class?

10

Dedicated Men's Program?

10

Men Taught by Male Teacher?

1

Men Taught Batterie?

1

Boys In Level

3
1
6

Separate Technique Class for Boys

1
9

Techniques Taught

9
3

Technique Teacher Rotation

1
7
2

Did School Director Teach?

7
2
1

Classroom Corrections

5
3
2

Attention From Teachers

Very Little
1
4
5
A Lot

Quality of Instruction

Poor
1
2
7
Excellent

Did Technique Improve?

Not at all
2
8
Tremendously

Curriculum Comments

  • Boys were separate with same male instructor on 1 day & with female teacher & girls on the other day
  • Technique, Contemporary, Partnering,Variations, Rehearsals
  • Technique, pointe, modern, jazz, contemporary, gyrotonics, body conditioning
  • It is more Vaganova based. I have technique pointe, pas de duex, variations, rep, contemporary, jazz and modern
  • Men's technique, Pas de Deux, Body conditioning, technique, variations, yoga, Contemporary
  • Technique class for an hour and a half in the morning, followed by an hour to two hours of pointe or variations classes. Then rehearsals in the afternoon for rep, or modern or contemporary classes.
  • Body conditioning followed by Technique, Pointe, Variations, Pas de deux 2 days a week, Rehearsals and an enrichment class. There are also Nutrition and music class weekly. The schedule is almost identical to The Summer intensive schedule.
  • The curriculum was a variety of classical, Cecchetti and RAD training. We rarely did Balanchine. Ballet classes took place in the morning and there were also a lot of partnering and repertoire classes. We also took jazz and modern. Our contemporary training was really lacking in my level because the teacher was weak. Most of what we did was based on watching company rep and then trying to learn that in our classes. The school should consider improving the contemporary training.
  • Daily Class: Pilates/gyro, men’s technique, pas de deux, lunch, weight training/coaching/variations, Jazz/contemp/repertoire/rehearsal

Partnering

Frequency of Partnering Class

2
4
3
1

Partner Ratio

5
4

Who Taught?

9

How Much Partnering Improved

No
1
8
Tremendously

Quality of Pas Teaching

Poor
3
6
Excellent

How Were Corrections Given?

7
2

Description of Partnering Class

  • Claudio Munoz (the teacher) didn't run a standard classical pas class. It was more contemporary, involving intricate lifts, turns, and other neoclassical elements that you wouldn't get from a standard pas class.
  • Good instruction, general corrections
  • The pas class has a specific instructor and work on the dancers.
  • Challenging
  • Most work on lifts, safely holding partners
  • We had it roughly twice a week and started to an adage and pirouette combo and then moved to harder lifts and a more advanced combo to end the class.
  • Excellent partnering classes, my child had the same partner each class. They were challenged. Sometimes they learned rep sometimes pas combos.
  • Depending on the teacher, we learn basic technique, lifts, and other skills.
  • Beginning of school year partnering fundamentals and basic lifts. Middle of year advanced partnering and complicated lifts. End of year learning classical pas de deuxs such as Corsaire, Coppelia, La Bayadere.

Additional Comments

  • Most of the focus would be on one or two couples, and the rest had to kind of figure it out themselves. Encouraged critical thinking and problem solving, but meant it was hard to get help when struggling.
  • Practiced lifts during class
  • Challenging with lots of lifts in the class.
  • No
  • Very glad to have the opportunity to work consistently with partner or two
  • We did a lot of advanced crazy partnering that prepared me for my professional career
  • no
  • Partnering was a necessity in the school. If you couldn't lift, you had a much harder time getting good roles and opportunities.
  • The pas training is top notch and the most advanced offering my dancer has received. This training sets him up for success in his future career.

Other Classes

Other Dance Styles

1
2
7
9
1

Other Class Quality

Poor
3
3
4
Excellent

Contemporary Offered?

1
9

Types of Contemporary Classes Taught

6
4
8
6

Contemporary Quality

Poor
1
4
4
Excellent

Master Classes?

5
5

Master Classes Description

  • Guest teachers would come through and teach technique, repertoire, and would sometimes choreograph for the HBII dancers.
  • Master classes offered on some weekends.
  • IDK
  • No
  • HB offers master classes on weekends tied to the ballets that are being performed. The strength and conditioning coach also offered additional classes.
  • Contemporary, pas de deuxs, ballet. Mainly used for casting and setting choreography, artistic staff looking to hire dancers, college programs advertising their programs.

Strength & Conditioning

Physical Training Offered?

1
9

Physical Training Types

9
7
8
9
4
2
5
5

Physical Training Schedule

2
4
3

Were Trainers Certified?

9

Physical Training Quality

Poor
1
2
6
Excellent

Strength & Conditioning Comments

  • HBII's had 8 am body conditioning. Due to the early hour, it was less of a structured program and more a do what you need for your body kind of thing. Given free rein of the equipment in the body conditioning room to do what you like.
  • Very good instruction
  • The instructor is very knowledgeable and focuses on each individual dancer.
  • Not always super dancer specific. Felt like we could have had more targeted work
  • Aki the head coach used to train Japanese track and field Olympians. When I was injured, I trained with him regularly and that totally transformed my body. He is so empathic and cares so much about each individual student. One of the things I love about him is that he is constantly learning and trying new things, so the training is constantly improving. However, the body conditioning program this past year started to use the TeamBuilder app to control the curriculum. It was no longer personalized and the men were not getting the training they needed to lift and get stronger. I hope that this was just something new they were trying and that the program will go back to the way it was in the following years.
  • Personalized workout program for each dancer assigned by a professional athletic trainer who has trained Olympic Athletes.

Injuries/Health/ Mental Health

Are Doctors Available?

1
8
1

How Parents Notified?

5
2
3

How Treatment Obtained?

  • Athletic trainers would evaluate and if needed, send student to Houston Methodist for treatment.
  • School facilitated
  • HB partners with doctors at Houston Methodist Hospital - same docs who treat NFL. Immediately seen by specialist, follow up, and fantastic treatment.
  • Through Houston Methodist and Physio therapists.
  • Physical Therapy is very good, and you have access to MRI and x ray if needed. You also have access to in house physical therapy through Houston Methodist, and free training to get stronger.
  • Did not have this issue arise

PT Available?

1
9

Was There a Recovery Plan?

5
5

Describe Recovery Plan

  • PT to regain strength
  • Crutches for 4 weeks, modified dance schedule for 2-3 weeks (observations)
  • My injury was only a few weeks of rehab, but a plan was provided.
  • The athletic trainer would lay out a timeline for your recovery to get back to dance safely.
  • Treated, gave exercises, advised on amount of rest and reintegration

Mental Health Therapists Available?

3
7

Were Students Given Fat Talk?

10

Staff Made Comments About Bodies?

2
2
6

Were Students Weighed?

8
1
1

Was "Coded Language" Used?

3
3
4

Additional Comments

  • Not many slots available for sessions with a therapist. Fantastic injury protocol. Some teachers often make comments on students bodies, and aren't kept in check about it when brought to school's attention.
  • Excellent PT program in place
  • No
  • There is a mental health professional on staff. The students are given a questionnaire to see if they would benefit from speaking to the mental health professional. If the school thinks that they would benefit from the mental health professional, the parents are contacted first. They also have a nutritionist on staff as well for any questions regarding nutrition. The students were given a workshop on nutrition
  • Injuries treated well, but due to timing, missed out on Spring program. Counselor and mental health sessions available and excellent
  • No
  • The PT at HBA is wonderful. Dancers can visit the PT and are given exercises to do as well as heat/cupping etc. Very impressed with this.
  • I didn’t realize how unhappy I was there until I left. The favoritism and messed up things that went on in this school unchecked for so long caused me to have a low self-image and sense of value. Claudio Munoz is the worst teacher ever, and there is no place for his abuse in 2024. I have seen him call girls fat, use slurs, being homophobic, and I have seen him hit students, and not in a get your leg higher type of hit. Straight up slap students across the face. Sexual Assault in the school has been tossed under the rug to “protect their students” when all it did was protect their reputation. Finally, the toxic masculinity culture at this school needs to be stopped. I get they have a good men’s program, but they also want their students to act over the top manly. The men that got the most roles were macho and big and muscular, and they had a creepy obsession with pairing these students with tiny childlike looking girls for partnering. I felt like I couldn’t be myself in class out of fear of getting roles revoked. I have also had soloist roles revoked because I wasn’t masculine enough. This was after I had rehearsals. This messed with how I viewed my appearance and my body. I would overeat until I was nauseous just so I could try and get bigger. I hated the environment there, and the longer I am away, the angrier I get with how things were run. In terms of injuries, they say they want healthy dancers but will then get mad if students get injured and prioritize, they're health. Students have been told to work through injuries for the sake of a show, and the upper level students, especially HBII's are constantly overworked with no regard to their physical or mental health. The one positive thing I will say is that the academy director Jen Sommers cares about the students and is constantly trying to change the school to better the health of the students. However, Claudio is getting in the way of that with his abusive teachings.

Performances: Winter Show/ Nutcracker

Performance Opportunities

1
1
2
4
2

School Winter Show?

10

Company or School Show?

10

Cast in Winter Show?

10

How Chosen

1
9

Winter Show Role

3
4
3

Were You Paid?

7
2

If Paid, Please Describe

1
1
1
1
1

Rehearsal Impact on Classes

1

Rehearsal Hours

1

Performance: Ballet Season

Cast in Company Productions?

2
8

Kind of Part Given?

2
3
3

How Chosen

5
2
1

Was Casting Fair?

1
7

Did Rehearsals Impact School Schedule?

1
3
4

Rehearsal Hours

1

Perfomance Opportunities

  • Many opportunities for HBII's to dance soloist and principal roles in academy shows, including Fall Studio Series, My First Ballet, Spring Studio Series, University of Houston Moore's School of Music collaboration, Spring Showcase, HBII Graduation, etc. Used in company productions for some standing parts, all did dancing roles in nutcracker, and at least covered dancing roles in ballets with large corps.
  • Company opportunities
  • School showcases, company performances
  • Several all school performances
  • Company and HBII get the main roles. Had same role for years in a row.
  • Getting to perform in company productions, like Giselle as a willi. Also had school productions to perform like studios series, a performance at a college and other opportunities. Had many performance opportunities.
  • Studio Series, 2 educational outreach performances, performed 2 pieces of rep, paired down version of Sleeping Beauty for children, The Nutcracker, Moores College Collaboration and End of the Year Showcase.
  • Spring showcase was rep from Houston Ballet, my First Ballet was Nutcracker choreographed by Claudio Munoz and my dancer did Spanish Pas, Solo night was classical variation that company members and artistic staff came to watch and evaluate, Sleeping Beauty and Raymonda with Company were understudy and standing roles, Studio Series is full show of dancing offered to local schools with 24 shows offered.

Were You Paid?

7

If Paid, Please Describe

1
1

Competition

School Does Competitions?

10

Communication

Formal Orientation?

10

Handboook & Paperwork

9
1

Quality of Communication?

Poor
2
1
7
Excellent

Who Received Communication?

1
9

Exams

Formal Exam?

3
7

Written Feedback?

3
4

Exam Adjudicator

7

Exam Rubrics Clear?

2
2
2
1

Who Attends Exam Meeting?

2
3
2

Well Prepared For Exam?

Not at all
3
4
Completely

How Heavily Did Exams Weigh in Promotions

Not at all
1
2
1
1
2
Heavily

School Culture

How Supported Did Student Feel By Staff?

Not
1
2
3
4
Completely

How Supportive Were Students of One Another?

Not
1
2
5
2
Completely

Describe School Culture

  • supportive, competitive, friendly, intense
  • Supportive boys group in lower school
  • Competitive, expectation to perform at high level
  • It’s competitive and challenging but you will grow as a dancer.
  • Overall supportive of the whole student.
  • Some cliques, generally supportive, some partiers
  • Friendly, hardworking, intense
  • Positive, Inspiring, High-standards, Detailed, Structured.
  • Selective, Isolating, Rigorous, Memorable.
  • Competitive, gossip, cliques, placement notification drama

Placement Notification Timing

  • Early January
  • At end of year
  • December into early spring
  • At the end of the year.
  • April
  • Around March
  • A few months before the next year started.
  • last day of classes for current year.
  • Post Audition season, so I wouldn’t have time to audition other places. So May or June.
  • Last day of the school year

How Dancer Was Notified

1

Dancer Had Mentor?

1

Mentoring Details

  • Informal guidance, corrections, what to work on. Given outside of class by school one male teachers.

Overall School Culture

Lord of the Flies
3
4
3
Warm & Inclusive

School Outcomes

Is Student In Upper Levels?

2
7

Highest Levels of School?

6
2

How Many Promoted Internally to Bridge Level

  • HBII is a two year program. The second company was 18 dancers in total. Of that there were 9 first years. Of the 9, 6 were taken from the upper level of the school.
  • 4-6
  • There are 16-18 in total second company. Most come from the school
  • ?
  • this past year, 3-4 I believe.
  • It changes every year. This past year they barely took anyone from the school into HBII.
  • Unsure

How Many Come From Outside to Bridge Level?

  • In my dancer's year, 3 of the 9 came in from the outside.
  • 2-4
  • 2-4
  • very few
  • Not sure 3-4?
  • 50% of HBII is from the outside.

Where Graduates Who Do Not Get Bridge Level Go

4
1
2

How Many Left and Went to College?

1
2
1
1
1
1
1

Career Support

4
2
2

Describe How School Helped

  • I was a first year and was planning to return for my second year of HBII. So I wasn't auditioning. The 4 is based on friends' experience.
  • Offered to reach out to programs of interest
  • Not there yet
  • Still in program
  • HB offers classes/sessions to build portfolio, cover letters, CV, and help w application process
  • You had to be individually proactive in your own auditions, which in my opinion, is not bad because your career is your responsibility. They gave us classes on how to put together own resumes and audition videos. The academy director did help me with securing a couple auditions, and Jen Sommers was really on top of everybody's career planning.

Building & Surrounding Area

Security Around Building

1
9

Safety of Area Around School?

Not Safe
5
5
Extremely Safe

Studio Space

Cramped
10
Lots of space

Studio Cleanliness

Dirty
10
Spotless

Housing

Was Housing Provided?

5

Did Dancer Stay in Provided Housing?

3
7

Type of Housing Provided:

7
5
1

Housing Minimum Age

1
4
2

# of Roommates:

7

Adequate # of RA's?

Not at all
1
1
5
Absolutely

Type of Bathrooms:

4
3

Curfew?

3
4

Curfew Reasonable?

7

Nightly Room Check?

4
3

Dorm Strictness

Extremely Lax
3
4
Extremely Strict

How Infractions Handled?

3
3
2

How Roommate Issues Handled?

  • Between roommates, RA got involved when it came to potentially switching.
  • Discussed amongst both parties
  • Fairly. One RA was not helpful, but the other was very good. New RA is fantastic
  • The apartment chaperone helped out but mostly conflict was handled internally.
  • Did not have conflicts
  • I never had them
  • Talk with roommate or talk with school principal or dorm chaperone

Housing Cleanliness

Dirty
4
3
Spotless

Students Required to Clean Room?

7

Laundry Available?

7

Laundry Free?

2
5

Evening Activities?

4
3

A/C In Room?

7

Weekend Outings?

4
3

Transportation Between Housing and Studios?

1
1
5

Safety Around Housing

Not Safe
4
3
Very Safe

Overall Rating of Housing

Poor
7
Excellent

Additional Comments

  • Dancers 13-16 stay in the dorms at the Center for Dance, which is the same building that holds all of the studios. Once students are 17, some are offered the option of staying in subsidized apartments at Market Square Tower, across the street from the ballet building. Note that not all students 17 and up are offered housing at Market Square Tower so some need to find alternative housing. There are nine apartments for 18 dancers in MST and students pay a significantly reduced rate to live there.
  • Nice facilities. Not enough housing for everyone in program
  • Age out of dorms at age 18. Apartments are available to HBII 1st priority. We had a group of boys rent nearby apartment since no HB apt was available. Public transportation easy
  • The RA was excellent this year. They had activities on weekends and they bonded. Very little "drama' or strife. RA was very easy for my child to communicate with and she helped her and talked to her. They had cleaning teams for communal spaces and someone cleaned thier rooms every Wednesday for them( so nice). They were taken to grocery stores cooked for themselves and once. a week they cooked for each other with help of RA. This is the perfect dorm situation for a ballet school. It's also so nice that it's in teh same building and they can walk to theatre using the over street bridge.
  • The CFD dorms can only house 16 people so it is very limited.
  • Completely independent living. There is a handbook for behavior but little to no oversight. My student took bus independently to purchase groceries weekly. He was able to go back to apartment to eat lunch. Did own laundry and cleaning. Was on his own to get school work done as well.

Meal Plan

Meal Plan?

7

Academics

How Did Academics Work?

10

Academic Support

8
2

Did the School Support Academics?

Didn't support
2
2
3
1
2
Definitely supported

Overall Program Grades

Overall Dance Instruction

2
2
5
1

Career Support and Placement

3
1
3
1
1
1

Emotional Support

1
1
2
2
1
3

Housing & Food

1
1
2
1
2
3

Performance Opportunities

3
5
1
1

Overall Comments

Program's Best Aspect

  • These kids get to dance a ton! My dancer, in their first year of HBII, got to do 96 performances. Yes, that means multiple shows of the same program, but it was 96 times on stage between academy shows and company shows. That was invaluable.
  • Strong male training with small class sizes for lower level students
  • Facilities, Instruction, Performance opportunities
  • The program is structured well a variety of classes for woman and men as well plenty of performance opportunities.
  • It is a very rigorous program with a lot of performance opportunities.
  • Excellent training for male dancers
  • The training was excellent and I improved a lot as a dancer in the program. Taught me self discipline and self motivation
  • Training is excellent, my child improved through the year especially in attention to details and lines. My child really loved the instructors and thrived. I am so happy with the decision to train here.
  • I became very close with a lot of people, and the academy director Jen Sommers and the mens' teacher Orlando Molina really believed in me, so without them, I would not be where I am today.
  • High level training, pas de deuxs, male specific training with nine other guys in his level, many performance opportunities, corp de ballet training

Program's Worst Aspect

  • Elements of favoritism, certain teachers and students get to follow a different rule set. Some teachers were allowed to say things that they thought were funny, but were not. Maybe it was a cultural thing, but my dancer heard some teachers say some pretty problematic things and it was chalked up as "oh that's just him," or "that's just her."
  • Evaluations last year were very vague, but have improved significantly this year
  • A few areas of concern noted amongst peers, but not mentioning specifics.
  • The body image talk among the students.
  • Played "favorites" - not everyone getting cast. Not enough enforcement of rules w regard to partying
  • The teaching style was quite intense and a lot was left up to the dancers in regard to their mental health and lives outside of ballet.
  • The primary male teacher uses abusive teaching practices. Both physical and verbal. There is a double standard when it comes to how the girls act versus the boys. Sexual assault has been swept under the table to conserve their reputation. In pas de deux casting, there was a creepy tendency toward casting the tallest, biggest men with the smallest, and sometimes, prepubescent looking girls. It was just weird and gross. And the favoritism is very apparent. One of the rehearsal directors at the school was extremely inconsistent in their behavior toward the students. It made for a toxic environment because you just never knew what kind of mood they were going to show up in. And, this director tended to take their moodiness out on the students. This person plays favorites, is extremely condescending and will never make eye contact with students Also, they say they care about academics, but a handful of upper level students have either dropped out of high school or got GEDs. They don't care about education. Teachers have told us that college is for quitters. While other schools require a complete high school education, and will support their students, Houston Ballet Academy does not care. They only gave us 4 hours a week to do school and the rest was on us
  • Competitive clique drama culture of dancers. If my dancer did not have outside community of faith family and friends he would have been worse off.

What Changes Would Be Helpful?

  • A better system to keep the power of teachers in check, as well as better communication between the academy and company.
  • Quality program
  • I would like more student life programs that include all the students not just dorm kids.
  • Wish housing was provided for all students; very expensive on own.
  • More support in guiding the dancers as human beings not just dancers.
  • The main male teacher for the upper levels, engages in very problematic teaching practices. As I mentioned in other comments, he creates what I believe is an unsafe environment for students based on the language he uses. He calls students fat, engages in other body shaming, has an unsettling approach to how he creates pas partnerships and he has displayed overtly homophobic behavior. Some would refer to him as old school. I just saw him as incredibly unhealthy for the students. I would also like to see a stronger emphasis put on academics. Having a study hall for only two hours, twice a week simply isn't enough time. It would be great if the school would consider adding additional study hall requirements during the week. I would also like to see sexual assault and sexual harrassment taken far more seriously. There is a widespread belief that sexual assault has been brushed under the rug or that punishment was handed out based on how much teachers liked a specific student. It seemed as if every case of sexual assault at HBA was ignored. Summer training should also be reevaluated. I would have liked the freedom to go to other places over summer to get different training. I believe that requiring the students to train at Houston 24/7 is isolating and can prevent student growth in their training. It can also limit a student's exposure when looking at trainee or second company spots at other programs.

Anything Else We Should Know?

  • If your dancer is planning to attend the upper levels of this school, they really need to be ready to live on their own. There is not a lot of hand holding for the students living in the apartments in Market Square Tower. While my student loved this, it's not for everyone. In addition, if your dancer wants to perform A LOT, Houston is the place. But, your dancer needs to be prepared to work extremely hard and not have a lot of down time. For some, this had an impact on their ability to finish high school. If your student can finish high school early, before arriving at HBA, I'd really encourage that. The school is very supportive of academics but time is at a premium at this program.
  • I would encourage parents to reach out to the Director or instructor if you have concerns or questions
  • Competitive, high quality instruction, high expectations of students, facilities built for the ballet dancer that are open and available to students outside of class time (easily accessible which is often rare with company affiliated programs)
  • HBA has Career Planning when students reach a certain level to help prepare them for job search.
  • The program is focused on the whole student not just ballet. There is some body image problems but I feel like that is driven by the students more than the teachers. It is a rigorous and competitive program
  • Houston is a diverse, wonderful city! Lots to see/do. HB's training is wonderful and does a lot to support dancers while ensuring they have weekends to enjoy the city
  • Honestly, the training is good, you will come out an amazing dancer. But the program is missing so much. A lack of an academic program is a bigger deal than a lot of people believe. I really feel like I had to sacrifice my education when I came to HBA, which no one should have to do. I shouldn't have had to choose between school and ballet. I should have been able to do both. Plus, housing isn't offered to everybody. And the abuse the lead teacher for the upper levels and some of the other teachers put the Pro 2 and HBII's through needs to change.
  • Your dancer must be mature and have good independent living skills such as public transportation, shopping, cooking, laundry, independent schooling, time management. Student must be able to navigate friends and cliques. Excellent top notch h training but not for everyone and not for nervous parents who want lots of chaperoning and over sight.
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