IDYLLWILD ARTS ACADEMY

[balletbum1]

I got accepted into Idyllwild Arts Academy with a large scholarship. I was wondering if anybody knew aything about there dance program, the school, or in general Boarding School life. If you have any information that would make my decision any easier please let me know!!!!

[dance_through_life]

Their website is Idyllwildarts.com and the program looks decent from what I saw, but I have no personal experience with it.

[balletbum1]

Their website is Idyllwildarts.com and the program looks decent from what I saw, but I have no personal experience with it.

I've seen there website and talked to the staff but thanks anways

[Memo]

I like it. The teacher that gave the audition is ex ABT and was really good. It is a very warm and nurturing environment. They are also very good with contemporary work. There is lots of personal attention. Depends on where you are at dance wise. If you are an intermediate dancer who needs attention and a small nurturing environment Idyllwild is a good choice.

[scdancergal1]

does anybody have any information as far as if this school is a good boarding school or not?!

[DanaD]

I went to the summer intensive here and was seriously considering attending here year round last year. the program has more focus on contemporary and modern work than classical ballet. Several of the students who attend the school year round were also at the SI, and in all honesty, they were mediocre at best. The dorms are nice though, as well as the cafeteria, but it is a mile walk to the dorms from the dance studios. There are only 2 dance studios.

[balletbum1]

seriously considering going here years back, I by visiting and research that the dance program is not the focus or the school. The arts, music departments are some of the best in the country. The dance department not so much I thought it was laking in ballet, but the modern and contemporary dancers were good. If your dance program in your town wasn't working you hard enough it could be an option but there are many other ballet boarding schools on the east coast.

[Momof3darlings]

I'm hoping someone will be able to update on the current "graduates" (if any) in this program and what their plans are for next year. If they have company positions, please let us know if those are trainee, apprentice, corp and then male/female. This information helps others track the true success of the program from year to year.

[SunshineCheyenne]

Hello!

I just graduated from IAA as a three year student. I am happy to say that it is a great enviornment to grow and learn as a person as well as a dancer. However, I was a very strict ballet dancer when I entered this program. As a vaganova trained dancer it was hard for me to do modern and contemporary. The school really made a well rounded dancer and now I can beast out a dance with knee pads and not be scared. The faculty is loving and so caring. I never had any issues with not being able to talk with my professors. These are all very positive things about the program but, as we all know there are some negitive things.

 

The ABT syllabus for ballet....is horrible. Basically, the school calls it's self an abt school just because they prep for exams once a year. The rest of the year they treat you like a baby. No pushing fouettes or anything really. Just a very easy boring ballet class with minimal pointe. The head of the department lacks a strong hand in a way that will expand her dancers. She's too scared to push anyone into anything and this makes it so her dancers hardly ever improve in ballet. Personally, I had to push myself and make myself stay up to the standards that I know ballet has. The school continues to stuggle with actually caring about the dance department. Unfortuantly, the program is ignored by the board and the head was placed without any real thought. The dance department gets worse each year as they aren't producing enough amazing dancers. When I attended my freshman year there were about 5 dancers I could look up to. Then in that same freshman year me and another girl were the only ones to be moved up to the highest level. This made it so I had nothing really to fight for. I was considered to be one of their best ballet dancers at a freshman level. Then upon graduating this last year our teacher openly said "I don't know what I am going to do next year all of my good dancers are gaduating" which was true.

 

After graudating I felt forced to go to college and apply but I had no idea where or how to. I had no support in planning my future. Whenever I asked the head she would just say, "Okay! that looks good." which, wasn't really what I needed. I needed guidence just as any highschool senior needs. I wanted to be in a great enviornment with lots of ballet that could lead to a company. Instead I got stuck with a college in NYC that I didn't even know if I liked. Eventually I ended up deferring from that college and making the choice to go back to my vaganova school and re-train. He said in a year I will be company ready. I expected to be company ready after my 50k education however, the only thing I was ready for was to re-train.

 

On a lighter note and the reason why I stayed at the school the education is AMAZING. it's by far the best education I could've paid for. My teachers were amazing and to this day I still ask for advice on books or anything from them over facebook. I loved the learning enviornment and the fact that they school gave the students a lot of freedom to really learn how to take care of themselves. I grew up a lot in the 3 years I was there, not so much as a dancer but very much so as a person and an adult. This program is great for someone at an intermidate level that is looking to grow as a person and student I would not reccomend it for anyone who is ballet geared or advanced in any form of ballet.

 

Hope that gives some insight.