Olympic Ballet School

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General

Who is Reviewing?

Parent

Program:

Olympic Ballet School

Season Attended:

2022-23

# Of Levels In School:

8 there is a trainee program and a company level above the school

Dancer Age:

Company Affliated?

Yes

Was Student Scholarshipped?

Curriculum

Days Per Week:

Classes Per Day:

Weekend Classes?

Yes

Weekend Schedule:

Half day

Students Per Class:

10-15

Weekly Repertoire or Variations?

Pointe Classes Per Week:

Live Music in Technique Class?

Dedicated Men's Program?

Yes

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: detailed but only a few dancers consistently got corrections

Attention From Teachers:


Very Little	A Lot

Quality of Instruction:


Poor	Excellent

Did Technique Improve?


Not at all	Tremendously

Curriculum Comments:

Level 7: Monday 4–7 Ballet Technique, Pointe, Conditioning, Tuesday 4:30–6 Ballet Technique, Wednesday4:30-7 Ballet Technique, Contemporary, Thursday 4:30–7 Ballet Technique, Pointe, Character, Friday 4:30–6 Ballet Technique, Partnering Saturday 9:30–11:15 Ballet Technique

Partnering

Frequency of Partnering Class:

1x per week

Partner Ratio:

Everyone had to share a partner.

Who Taught?

Male teacher

How Much Partnering Improved:


No	Tremendously

Quality of Pas Teaching:


Poor	Excellent

How Were Corrections Given?

The teacher focused on one or two couples and the rest of the students were on their own

Description of Partnering Class:

Partnering was with assigned partners. They assigned the best male partners to the best female dancers so that the weaker dancers were always with the weaker partners and there was no rotation.It made it hard for the weaker dancers to learn when they never got work with stronger dancers. It also seemed like the teachers focused only on the stronger pairs.

Additional Comments:

The teacher blamed the female dancers for all the issues that went wrong in partnering.

Other Classes

Other Dance Styles:

Character, Contemporary

Other Class Quality:


Poor	Excellent

Contemporary Offered?

Yes

Types of Contemporary Classes Taught:

Repertoire, Technique

Contemporary Quality:


Poor	Excellent

Master Classes?

Yes

Master Classes Description:

It varied. They brought in various choreographers at times for Masters classes.

Strength & Conditioning

Physical Training Offered?

Yes

Physical Training Types:

Body conditioning

Physical Training Schedule:

Once or twice a week

Were Trainers Certified?

Physical Training Quality:


Poor	Excellent

Injuries/Health/ Mental Health

Are Doctors Available?

How Parents Notified?

Student told parent. School not involved

How Treatment Obtained?

It was up the parent. The school didn't communicate with us at all.

PT Available?

Was There a Recovery Plan?

Describe Recovery Plan:

There wasn't one. We actually had problems getting them to follow a recovery plan that was put in place by a doctor and physical therapist. They wanted dancers to dance through pain and injuries.

Mental Health Therapists Available?

Were Students Given Fat Talk?

Yes

Staff Made Comments About Bodies?

Yes

Were Students Weighed?

Was "Coded Language" Used?

Yes

Additional Comments:

We had costumers say to dancers that they didn't like having to do costumes for them because they were going to have make the costumes the bigger.

Performances: Winter Show/ Nutcracker

Performance Opportunities:

2-3

School Winter Show?

Yes

Company or School Show?

Company affiliated production and the students perform certain 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?

I had both types of parts

How Chosen:

A few students are chosen by the Artistic Staff

Was Casting Fair?

For some but not all

Did Rehearsals Impact School Schedule?

Perfomance Opportunities:

There are auditions for Nutcracker for the Children's roles. Once you reach the upper levels of the school you don't audition. The roles are assigned by the artistic director. Most dancers get some role. For Spring shows there are less school roles and if you are not a favorite you are less likely to receive a role. There is an end of the year show where all students perform.

Were You Paid?

Competition

School Does Competitions?

Yes

Competitions Required?

How Many Compete?

Varies

% of Students Who Performed:

A very small percentage

How Chosen?

They are hand selected by the artistic directors. You have to be asked to participate.

Competitions Cost Extra?

Yes. You pay coaching fees, competition fees, and all travel expenses.

Separate Competition Rehearsals?

Yes

Competition Interfered With Training?

Both. It added to it in the sense that it created a bond in the ensemble that my daughter danced in because they all felt that they were equally scared of the directors. And the time they spent together was good. It was detracted because there was a definite hierarchy that was created between those that were soloists and those that were not and the fact the directors created climate of fear in the dancers if they didn't perform well. They were actually afraid to come out of the dressing rooms alone after the performances because they didn't want to be caught by the directors by themselves.

Communication

Formal Orientation?

Handboook & Paperwork:

No handbook provided

Quality of Communication?


Poor	Excellent

Who Received Communication?

With parents and students

Exams

Formal Exam?

School Culture

How Supported Did Student Feel By Staff?


Not	Completely

How Supportive Were Students of One Another?


Not	Completely

Describe School Culture:

Revolves around favorites

Placement Notification Timing:

August

Overall School Culture:


Lord of the Flies	Warm & Inclusive

School Outcomes

Is Student In Upper Levels?

Yes

Highest Levels of School?

Trainee

How Many Promoted Internally to Bridge Level:

How Many Come From Outside to Bridge Level?

Varies

Where Graduates Who Do Not Get Bridge Level Go:

A few find positions elsewhere but most leave ballet

How Many Left and Went to College?

Career Support:

Received no help - I was on my own

Describe How School Helped:

They were no help. You are ignored or told you will not succeed if you are not a favorite.

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:

B-

Career Support and Placement:

C+

Emotional Support:

C-

Housing & Food:

N/A

Performance Opportunities:

B+

Overall Comments

Program's Best Aspect:

The amount of performance time in Nutcracker and the different opportunities available for casting.

Program's Worst Aspect:

The clear favoritism and lack of opportunities available for those not in that circle.

What Changes Would Be Helpful?

A supportive environment for all dancers to feel that they matter. That the dancers would not be expected to dance when injured.

Anything Else We Should Know?

The instruction is good as long as you are one of the ones that gets the attention of the instructors. If you are one of the ones that they don't pay attention to, then it is just ok.

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