"Approx 5ish levels in the school (varies by year), plus junior trainee (take classes with advanced level and trainees), trainee"
"5 levels in the main school, adult program, junior trainee, trainee"
Dancer Age
16
Older than 21
Hours of Dance Each Week
21-25 hours
Company Affliated?
Yes
Was Student Scholarshipped?
No
Please Describe Scholarship
"Scholarships aren't offered as far as I'm aware"
"Work study was available if there was a financial need. But to my knowledge most people paid."
Years At School
4 years
5 years
Full time or after school?
Full-Time
Curriculum
Days Per Week
5
6
Classes Per Day
3
4
Weekend Classes?
Yes
Weekend Schedule
Full day
Half day
Students Per Class
Less than 10
Weekly Repertoire or Variations?
No
Yes
Pointe Classes Per Week
4
Live Music in Technique Class?
No
Dedicated Men's Program?
No
Men Taught by Male Teacher?
Yes
Men Taught Batterie?
Yes
Boys In Level
Less than 5
Separate Technique Class for Boys
No
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
1
2
3
4
5
A Lot
Quality of Instruction
Poor
1
2
3
4
5
Excellent
Did Technique Improve?
Not at all
1
2
3
4
5
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."
"Vaganova Technique was taught. The quality was wonderful. The schedule for the trainee program varied daily, but was generally consistent week to week. The program met the requirements of pre- professional training."
Partnering
Frequency of Partnering Class
No partnering
Other Classes
Other Dance Styles
Character
Horton
Modern
Other Class Quality
Poor
1
2
3
4
5
Excellent
Contemporary Offered?
Yes
Types of Contemporary Classes Taught
Choreography workshops
Improv
Repertoire
Technique
Contemporary Quality
Poor
1
2
3
4
5
Excellent
Master Classes?
No
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?
No
Yes
Physical Training Quality
Poor
1
2
3
4
5
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."
"The teacher definitely had extensive experience and she got results from her students. Her classes did a lot for me."
Injuries/Health/ Mental Health
Are Doctors Available?
No
How Parents Notified?
School called parent
Student told parent. School not involved
How Treatment Obtained?
"Had to find PT on my own"
"You had to seek it out yourself"
PT Available?
No
Was There a Recovery Plan?
No
Describe Recovery Plan
"The teachers often tell students to engage in outdated practices and go to chiropractors."
"The program is awful with injuries
Injuries are looked down on and pushing thru is encouraged. Even if it could do more harm."
Mental Health Therapists Available?
No
Were Students Given Fat Talk?
No
Staff Made Comments About Bodies?
Yes
Were Students Weighed?
No
Was "Coded Language" Used?
No
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"
"It’s not a good place for injuries or mental health. I’d say the director sees it more as weakness than a real issue."
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
Audition
Chosen by school director or the company artistic staff
Winter Show Role
Dancing part
Were You Paid?
No
If Paid, Please Describe
"No"
Rehearsal Impact on Classes
4
Rehearsal Hours
3-5
Performance: Ballet Season
Cast in Company Productions?
Yes
Kind of Part Given?
Dancing part
How Chosen
All students allowed to audition
All students allowed to AUDITION
Was Casting Fair?
For some but not all
Yes
Did Rehearsals Impact School Schedule?
2
4
Rehearsal Hours
3-5
Perfomance Opportunities
"There are two spring productions: a full length ballet or multiple one act ballets and a showcase-type show"
"Everyone could audition. Participation was encouraged"
Were You Paid?
No
If Paid, Please Describe
"No"
Competition
School Does Competitions?
Yes
Competitions Required?
No
How Many Compete?
As many as would like to
% of Students Who Performed
Repeated Responses:
"70%" (2 responses)
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)"
"Anyone could do it who wanted to."
Competitions Cost Extra?
"Yes - about $100/hour for private variation coaching, no extra fees for pas de deuxes and ensembles"
"Private lessons and the competition fees"
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."
"Added. It was a good opportunity for performance. The quality of the private lessons were excellent."
Communication
Formal Orientation?
No
Yes
Handboook & Paperwork
Fairly comprehensive but missing a few pieces
Quality of Communication?
Poor
1
2
3
4
5
Excellent
Who Received Communication?
With parents and students
Exams
Formal Exam?
Yes
Written Feedback?
No
Exam Adjudicator
Internal
Exam Rubrics Clear?
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Who Attends Exam Meeting?
No
Yes and parents were included. The meeting was with the Artistic Director
"The teachers are very involved with the teaching the technique. But keep a fairly distant personal relationship with students."
Overall School Culture
Lord of the Flies
1
2
3
4
5
Warm & Inclusive
School Outcomes
Is Student In Upper Levels?
Yes
Highest Levels of School?
Trainee, Post- Graduate/Graduate, Second Company, Studio Company, Apprentice (only if it is not part of the company)
Trainee, Second Company
How Many Promoted Internally to Bridge Level
50%
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?
30%
Majority
Career Support
Received no help - I was on my own
Received some help
Describe How School Helped
"You can pay the director to film your audition video, but overall she has few connections to companies"
"The teachers would give recommendations on how to present yourself. The didn’t offer up professional connections. The training offered was good enough that the jobs would still come."
Building & Surrounding Area
Security Around Building
No
Safety of Area Around School?
Not Safe
1
2
3
4
5
Extremely Safe
Studio Space
Cramped
1
2
3
4
5
Lots of space
Studio Cleanliness
Dirty
1
2
3
4
5
Spotless
Housing
Was Housing Provided?
No
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
1
2
3
4
5
Definitely supported
Overall Program Grades
Overall Dance Instruction
A+
Career Support and Placement
B-
B+
Emotional Support
D
Housing & Food
N/A
Performance Opportunities
A
A-
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."
"The training is amazing. Not many programs truly offer the training you need to actually dance professionally. This one does. My level got along well enough overall. We had small disagreements but in the important ways we supported and respected each other. There were a few outliers, but generally the girls were supportive."
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."
"The culture is bad. The director doesn't treat their students with basic respect. Injuries are treated as weakness. It’s normal for rehearsals to end in tears. There’s a lot of favoritism that’s unnecessary. If the director doesn’t like you, your life is gonna be hard. It’s too bad. The training is really above average. The treatment isn’t okay."
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."
"The treatment of the dancers"
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."
"They are always positive with new students and that can be misleading."
