Ballet Moms

[mom2jrcsc]

How many students are in your child's ballet class? My dd is 12 (she starts pointe next year) and she has 22 kids in her class - to 1 teacher. I kind of feel like there's no way these kids can be getting the individual attention they need. The teacher assures me they are, but I'm skeptical. Just wondering how big other's classes are.

[umarider]

My dd12 has classes of about the same size. Some days the classes are bigger because they combine 2 levels on Fridays, but it's more advance girls coming into dd's class, so they are also more independent. DD has been on pointe for almost 2 years. She did the development work and actually got her first pointe shoes while we were living somewhere else and the dance class was so small and personalized that the instructor went w/ the 6 girls to get them fitted for their first pointe shoes. That gave me a great deal more confidence.

 

I think the instruction at the current studio is good, but occasionally, when I've felt dd needed more attention either conquer a new skill or refine an old one, I've arranged for 1 or 2 private lessons. I do prefer smaller classes, though and when we move next year we will strive to get her back into a smaller studio.

[Jackie in AR]

How many students are in your child's ballet class? My dd is 12 (she starts pointe next year) and she has 22 kids in her class - to 1 teacher. I kind of feel like there's no way these kids can be getting the individual attention they need. The teacher assures me they are, but I'm skeptical. Just wondering how big other's classes are.

 

My dd10 has 12 students in her class. Dd6 has 7.

 

The studio where they attend has many students, they just like to keep smaller class sizes.

[Janet in MA]

At my daughters' ballet school classes are limited to about 15 students.

 

Janet

[Jenny in Florida]

I didn't sound ideal to me, either. But then I sat in for observation weeks this year and was absolutely amazed at how the teacher handles the group. She walks around constantly and speaks to each child individually and makes corrections and keeps them 100% focused on what they are doing. All without ever raising her voice. It's just mind-blowing.

 

He has the same group of student for jazz, and I don't think the teacher is quite as good at managing the larger group, but it's still okay.

 

His other classes--tap and the other ballet class--are slightly smaller.

 

So, I would say that 22 sounds like a manageable number, assuming the students are well bahaved and focused and the teacher is really on top of things.

[Cindy in the NH Woods]

our classes had about 12-15 students. Pointe classes were often even smaller.

 

:001_smile:

 

Cindy

[Krista in LA]

My 12dd has about a dozen in her ballet class and about 8 in her pointe class. Besides the teacher, there is a student teacher that helps out.

[Tracey in TX]

DD's dance class has 16 students, but they prefer to keep it under 15 girls.

[momster]

twice a week. One class has about 6 girls in it, the other has about 15 girls in it. The director told me she likes to cap the classes at 15.