Adult Ballet Classes - Illinois

[Robert]

Oh, wow. I had not heard of Intrigue and it is only a few blocks away from where I live. I will certainly check them out. Had you heard or known people that have taken classes at Intrigue?

 

Many thanks!

[Robert]

This is a total guess, but since you mentioned a swim meet perhaps you are familiar with Hyde Park, home of the University of Chicago (which hosted a Masters' swim meet this weekend).

 

Hyde Park School of Dance has two adult classes each week, one on Monday (appropriate for total beginners) and one on Tuesday (appropriate for those who have had some ballet training). There are currently two men taking the Monday class, so you would not be alone.

 

Yes, I work at the U of C. However, I live downtown so I'm looking for someplace close by. I did not know of the school here in Hyde Park and will certainly keep it as an option. The website looks good.

 

Thank you!

[Lyndee]

I know people who plan on taking class there in the spring but no one who's previously taken class there [i.e., Intrigue]. I found out about it simply because I would walk past it all the time on the way to one of my classes. I'm mostly interested in them due to location and they offer a student discount (which is always nice). Like I said earlier, they haven't updated their schedule yet for the spring but I had emailed them and they said it would change in December so I just keep checking back

[Robert]

I noticed Intrigue does have some good reviews. Their classes are small. I'll be looking for their schedule too. Thanks!

[Lyndee]

where did you find reviews? (do you mean on this forum or elsewhere... I'd like to read/hear them too!)

[Robert]

where did you find reviews? (do you mean on this forum or elsewhere... I'd like to read/hear them too!)

 

Sorry, not here. I think I found the reviews for Intrigue on Yelp. I did a google search and found them. The reviews were very good for the instructors. However, there might be an issue in the quality of space. A few people mentioned that their routines were limited by the smaller space. On a related note, I think the classes tend to be on the small side, perhaps four or five students. Maybe this is standard. Perhaps a small class is better than a large one. I would, however, prefer not to be the only guy in the class.

 

I contacted Intrigue and they invited me to stop by to observe one of the classes.

 

I would need to start in their Novice class as I have no previous training, but it looks like I would only be able to attend one class a week. I think I would need to have at least two classes in order to make progress. What do you think? Should I look for a school that can offer at least two classes a week?

 

Intrigue's location can't be beat as it is three block away from where I live. The Joffrey and Chicago Ballet are only a mile up the road on State St. so they are good options too. The Joffrey only offers one beginner's class a week but Chicago Ballet offers two in the evenings. I'm thinking I should probably go with Chicago Ballet. I have not found any reviews on Chicago Ballet. Have you heard anything about them?

[quill]

Not an adult student, so go ahead and delete this, mods, if you wish. Chicagoan here with a couple of options for you. I'm going to suggest you look into Natalie Rast's Studio; she teaches a lot of adults and I think it might be convenient for you. http://www.rastballet.com/ and there are several beginner classes. I don't know how near you might be to Lou Conte, but they also teach a lot of adults. http://www.hubbardstreetdance.com/lcds_home.asp

[Lyndee]

robert,

when I danced before at the old school it was only one day a week... I felt I improved with each time (especially when I did the stretches on other days of the week) but one would certainly improve faster with going twice a week! I definitely want to start dancing more so I'll improve, however I'm taking a musical theater dance class twice a week starting in january so I'd already be dancing three times a week with the ballet class addition... and have school work on top of that. however I think chicago ballet sounds like a good fit if you want to take your classes all in one place (I'm more open to taking class for wherever is convienent to my schedule but staying with one studio might make more sense!) I haven't heard any reviews of them, however.

 

rast ballet is an option I'm looking into, however they only have beginning ballet I once a week. and they have a intro to ballet class (also once a week) which is probably much like novice or basic ballet. (they have beginning ballet II twice a week though, so it's an option when you get more advanced.)

 

I'm going to check for reviews on yelp! thanks for the tip.

[Pondfly]

With you being in Chicago, makes classes much easier. Being out in the suburbs is a little more difficult in finding adult classes that are both compatible with work and don't require traveling too far in traffic. I have found a couple of locations and sent in an email however I think I missed the winter classes by a couple of weeks. I'll see what pans out and in the mean time try to prepare for when it begins.

[Robert]

Intrigue's Winter schedule has been posted. Here is the link:

 

http://intriguedance.com/classes.html

 

Robert

[Robert]

With you being in Chicago, makes classes much easier. Being out in the suburbs is a little more difficult in finding adult classes that are both compatible with work and don't require traveling too far in traffic.

 

 

Depending on which suburbs you live in, you could take the train in to use either Joffrey or Chicago Ballet. Both are on State St. You could easily get to them from the Red line train or a half mile walk from the Metra trains.

[Pondfly]

I'm 3 blocks from the Metra, but in my life of commuting downtown for meetings with the state I have learned to give a wide time frame. I've never looked at the schools, but I would have to find one in the late afternoon and evening in order to make it from work. Granted I'm salaried and can pretty much make my schedule, unless I'm called out for an emergency but I have a firm belief of being early, as I feel it is extremely rude to be late.

 

I guess it couldn't hurt to look...

[Robert]

The Joffrey would probably work well as they offer several Beginners classes during the week and I believe on the weekend. Here is a link to their schedule:

 

http://www.joffrey.com/academy_open_adult_...on_schedule.asp

[dancemaven]

Dear Posters, it is not necessary to continue to quote quotes of prior posts ad infinitum. As you can see, it begins to take up quite a bit of bandwidth and interupts the flow of your conversation.

 

So, to take care of that you have two options: Option One (the preferred method) is to go down all the way to the bottom of the page (not post) and hit the 'Add Reply' button, which will open an empty box for you to type your reply. Option Two is to do as you have been doing, i.e., hitting the 'Reply' button at the end of the post, which opens a box with a full quote of that post, AND delete the unneeded quoted post before you enter your own.

 

Thanks!

[Lyndee]

thanks for the update on intrigue's winter schedule! I hadn't been back to look because of all the craziness of the holidays. I'm so excited to start class again

Edited December 29, 2009 by Lyndee