Schools around Houston

[Guest grace22cool]

I just found out a few hours ago that I am moving to Woodlands Texas(an hour away from Houston) The closest school is the Payne School of Ballet. The other two more farther schools are about an hour away, the houston ballet and festivel ballet of greater houston. I am going into 9th grade and a serious dancer. Does anybody have any experience with these schools or any other schools around this area.

Thanks bunches!!

[Victoria Leigh]

Victoria Vittum is an excellent teacher from Houston Ballet who has her own school in the suburbs, Ballet Center of Houston. Not sure where it is. She also works with Gilbert Rome at Studio of Dance.

[Guest grace22cool]

Thank you Ms. Leigh, I will have to check these studios out!

[mini cooper]

Ms. Leigh,

 

Please delete if it is inappropriate for me to post here.

 

The Gilbert Rome school has a good reputation. It is in the Champions area of Houston, and is about 35 minutes away from the Woodlands.

 

Another school that is about the same distance is American Academy of Ballet. It is owned by Angela Jackson. This school is a member of Regional Dance America. You may want to check out RDA's website if you don't know what that is. This school may be slightly closer than the Rome school - maybe just 5-10 minutes.

 

I don't know anything first hand about the Payne school. My daughter met a girl @ CPYB who danced with a school in Kingwood which is near the Woodlands. I think the Company name was Kingwood Dance Theatre - I don't know if this is affiliated with Payne. I do know that Payne was started by some former Houston Ballet dancers/teachers.

 

Houston Ballet Academy is a bit further south. It is a good school. They had their auditions last weekend. I don't know if you could still audition.

 

Good luck with your search!

 

MC

[Victoria Leigh]

Thanks, mini cooper

 

Here is the website for Ballet Center of Houston, which is Victoria Vittum's school. I don't know how far it is from the Woodlands though.

 

http://www.balletcenterofhouston.com/

[mini cooper]

In looking at the map for the link Ms. Leigh provided, it appears this school would also be in the 30-minute driving range from the Woodlands. This however, is not a very direct drive with good freeways close by. It involves lots of time on Hwy 1960 which has lots of traffic lights. It is near Klein High School.

 

In seeing how the studios feel, you will also need to see how the drives to the various schools feel. Your parents may like things just fine if they never have to get on a freeway. This will be a fun adventure for you. There is definitely good dancing close by (relatively speaking), it's just a matter of finding what works for you.

 

In January we did this search, but working from the exact opposite side of Houston as you. We are also a bit further from Houston than you are. We found a wonderful school that fits perfectly, and we are driving 45-50 minutes each way. The school is well worth the effort we are putting forth.

 

Again, good luck in your search!

mc

[Victoria Leigh]

Again, thank you mini cooper! That is most helpful

[pugbee]

My suggestions:

I've heard decent things about Payne Academy, and have had some students come to our school from Payne. But they are not as serious as some of the other schools within your area. Remember that a 30-minute drive in the Houston area is not bad at all, and well worth it for a good school. I would recommend Kingwood Dance Theatre (the school's name is actually Rowland/Ballard School of Ballet), but it is more like a 45 minute drive from The Woodlands. If you need to keep it down to 30 minutes, try both American Academy of Dance (located one block west of Kuykendahl Rd. on FM 1960) and Studio of Dance (located around Louetta and Champions).

[dancemaven]

Oops! a parent wandered into this 8-year old, dormant Young Dancer thread by mistake and a post was removed.

 

Please note, in the ensuing 8 years, we have created a specific Forum for collecting information on area Pre-Pro Ballet Schools: Finding a Pre-Professional Ballet School Forum. That forum is arranged alphabetically by State with dedicated threads for various areas within the States and Countries.

 

Feel free to add information on the appropriate thread(s) in that Forum, keeping in mind BT4D's policy about no direct comparisons between/among individual programs.