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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Washington Ballet.

Until recently, Maryland Youth Ballet was also excellent, but ever since their former artistic director retired, they've had some issues at the top, have let their current artistic director go (he was a complete mess), and as a result, their conservatory has shut down. Your daughter is too young to belong to one anyway, but [b]there's enough flux at MYB that you might want to go elsewhere[/b].

Kirov has shut down for financial reasons (plus they always had those murky ties to the Korean Moon cult).

So... there's only Washington Ballet that I can recommend. They're not perfect, they have long been dogged with accusations of nepotism and favoritism in performances, but [b]their classes are objectively of high quality. [/b]
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The teachers at MYB are almost all the same now as they were five years ago. Maybe one departure. There is no reason to believe that the “issues at the top” have impacted the quality of the dance training. Mr. Muñoz came in at an unfortunate time as all but 14 months of his 44 month tenure were complicated by COVID-19 and this region’s reaction to it.  A really bad time to start up a daily conservatory group. On the positive side, the studio Re-opened for in-person classes on July 6, 2020 and has stayed open ever since. Which dance school did better than that?

Personally, I’m not a fan of the conservatory because it essentially wipes out a kid’s entire day and I can’t fathom when they get actual learning done. At night, after dinner, I guess. Sounds exhausting. If the studio doesn’t have the resources to have a tutor/teacher on staff and a dedicated learning area, then it seemed irresponsible to entice kids to short shrift their education to add an extra two or three hours of dance during every school day. At least Kirov seemed to understand that.

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Flux, not turnover, PP. And if your child is in the lower levels or has the traditional appearance of the ballerina [b](desired height, complexion, body type)[/b], then she might go through MYB never realizing some students are treated differently.

MYB staff had more cohesion and direction when Michelle Lees was there. Munoz, being artistically gifted but administratively lacking, had the effect of revealing flaws and inequalities in how some teachers taught students, and how MYB as a group responded to complaints of favoritism and bullying, because there was no firm hand on the rudder. Their Covid response was pretty good, I'll grant you that. But a lot of parents of higher-level students are pulling their kids out, since MYB, despite sending out a survey and trying to correct course, did not address the main cause (separating from Munoz) until parents were fed up.

I hope their next artistic director is fair-minded and forces certain other teachers to behave.[/quote]

What does this mean?[/quote]
It means that at this school, just like at most high-level ballet schools, there is discrimination regarding:
Height (not too tall, not too short)
Body shape (as slim as possible, elongated limbs)
Skin color (pale so everyone can look the same in line)

Yes, you read that right, and I hope you're not surprised, if you know anything about the ballet world.
[/quote]

What is the ideal height range?[/quote]

5'4" to 5'6" is ideal, below or above not so much if looking for a professional job after trainee level[/quote]

That's surprising, I always thought ballerinas looked really tall![/quote]

I danced (ballet) professionally and I’m 5’7”. In my company, sometimes I was even cast in short girl parts. For a while our corps tended really tall. Not all the advice people (person?) are posting on here is accurate. Or, it’s somewhat accurate but way more absolutist than I experienced. They did demand extreme thinness, and from the looks of my former company, still do.

OP, [b]as someone who still feels a bit ruined by a lifetime in dance,[/b] I encourage you to look for a healthy environment over the “best” schools. If your daughter truly is on the path to a professional career, this will become obvious at summer programs, and you can decide to move later. Ballet Nova will provide great training for a 9 year old. It’s a solid program, presumably near to your house, with (from what I’ve heard) a good environment. Good luck to you and your daughter! And always always check in and make sure she’s still finding it worth it.[/quote]
This x 100 over. Unless your kid shows an intense passion and desire to be a ballet professional dancer, she can still get a solid dance education in many different studios.  Dance can be an awesome activity even if a kid doesn't go professional....and most don't.   Professional ballet is a short lived career that can leave both emotional and physical scars.   I think the kids who take ballet along with other dance types in solid but non prestigious schools do not burn out and still love it later on in life. A lot of the seniors graduating at our studio are going to great colleges and majoring in things like CS, pre-med, etc with a few minoring in dance.  [/quote]

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