Master Ballet Academy

[Anonymous]

I cannot stress this enough. Dance parents should avoid chain studios and private equity owned studios.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I cannot stress this enough. Dance parents should avoid chain studios and private equity owned studios.

Can you give examples of "chain studios"? MBA has one other location, no? I would hardly call this a chain. The artistic director of MBA is also the owner, at least as is made public on the MBA website. Master Ballet Academy is, however, a for-profit school, which does raise eyebrows. All of the other reputable ballet schools (SAB, JKO, Ellison, etc.) are not-for-profit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:TWSB students who I saw on stage this past weekend at Cinderella looked well trained and well rehearsed.

The students at the school are overall behind in technique for their age - I'll see them perform again in a few weeks.
You are also only seeing a small section of students selected for Cinderella - clearly not their average student.
The trainee program is expanding at a rapid rate - and while not an official part of the school will further dilute the training. From a pre-pro stand point the post trainee placement was already not fantastic. Don't believe me? look at their placements - despite being in a trainee program, many leave for ANOTHER round of trainee program

https://reviews.ballethelpdesk.com/postgrad/?programs=Washington%252520Ballet%252520Trainee%252520Program

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot stress this enough. Dance parents should avoid chain studios and private equity owned studios.

Can you give examples of "chain studios"? MBA has one other location, no? I would hardly call this a chain. The artistic director of MBA is also the owner, at least as is made public on the MBA website. Master Ballet Academy is, however, a for-profit school, which does raise eyebrows. All of the other reputable ballet schools (SAB, JKO, Ellison, etc.) are not-for-profit.

It is not a issue of tax status. It's an issue of who is invested in the outcome. For instance District Dance is owned by Private Equity. The only mission is to extract as much $ off the families as possible. If they don't, that branch closes. The same thing that happened to youth sports is coming for ballet and competition based dance studios. Read the USA Today article on youth hockey to see what is on the horizon. Owner operated and legacy, non-competitive studios are the ones with the community and your kids at heart. The money stays in the community rather than going to faceless investors. They have a stake in the outcome for your kid. Chains and PE don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TWSB students who I saw on stage this past weekend at Cinderella looked well trained and well rehearsed.

The students at the school are overall behind in technique for their age - I'll see them perform again in a few weeks.
You are also only seeing a small section of students selected for Cinderella - clearly not their average student.
The trainee program is expanding at a rapid rate - and while not an official part of the school will further dilute the training. From a pre-pro stand point the post trainee placement was already not fantastic. Don't believe me? look at their placements - despite being in a trainee program, many leave for ANOTHER round of trainee program

https://reviews.ballethelpdesk.com/postgrad/?programs=Washington%252520Ballet%252520Trainee%252520Program

You don't know much about the real ballet world do you? Most trainees will never dance professionally. That is true in Philly, NYC, SF, Miami wherever... and those that make it are lucky to make enough to cover pointe shoe expenses. The cold reality is the WSB has superior training by international standards and it still doesn't matter. Most will fail. Dance for joy if you love ballet. For professional work, study a vast variety of styles that lean commercial.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot stress this enough. Dance parents should avoid chain studios and private equity owned studios.

Can you give examples of "chain studios"? MBA has one other location, no? I would hardly call this a chain. The artistic director of MBA is also the owner, at least as is made public on the MBA website. Master Ballet Academy is, however, a for-profit school, which does raise eyebrows. All of the other reputable ballet schools (SAB, JKO, Ellison, etc.) are not-for-profit.

It is not an issue of tax status. It's an issue of who is invested in the outcome. For instance District Dance is owned by Private Equity. The only mission is to extract as much $ off the families as possible. If they don't, that branch closes. The same thing that happened to youth sports is coming for ballet and competition based dance studios. Read the USA Today article on youth hockey to see what is on the horizon. Owner operated and legacy, non-competitive studios are the ones with the community and your kids at heart. The money stays in the community rather than going to faceless investors. They have a stake in the outcome for your kid. Chains and PE don't.

Name a ballet studio chain?
And is MBA owned by PE?

[Anonymous]

Chain yes. Ownership? Who knows. The build out suggests an infusion of money, so you should ask them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Twsb is the standard. Seber is rude. Master us chain brand garbage. Myb is cruel. Mbt is solid still. Lots of quality training in va.

What makes you say MYB is cruel? I thought the issues there were related to the last director who left several years ago. I heard a lot of the older girls left for other schools too.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone heard any updates? I'm a ballet mom who has heard that several girls in DD's studio are thinking of auditioning, but there have been no official updates since the initial announcement. The website is not up yet, either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think that people should be looking at Séber Method Academy instead far better than the twsb and master

+1. WSB is a money making scheme dancers aren't trained in technique anymore their "world class standard" has been far down the drain for years, don't know why this is still a question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone heard any updates? I'm a ballet mom who has heard that several girls in DD's studio are thinking of auditioning, but there have been no official updates since the initial announcement. The website is not up yet, either.

you probably should just email them and find out

[Anonymous]

My daughter is 7 and I’m trying to find a good dance school for her. Shes at WSB right now but 45 minutes a week seems useless. Where else can I go?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is 7 and I’m trying to find a good dance school for her. Shes at WSB right now but 45 minutes a week seems useless. Where else can I go?

Agree with a previous poster, check out Séber Method Academy on wisconsin ave in Bethesda