Hey Dance News BC readers! I've got some exciting news to share...drumroll please...today I'll be sharing my latest review of the Royal Ballet School's Online 2021 Summer Intensive! Recently, I decided to join a new dance studio after graduating from university and after spending a year of dancing ballet more frequently, my dance teacher recommended that I check out the Royal Ballet's summer intensive to continue training in the summer.
You can imagine how excited I was upon learning about this opportunity, as well as feeling very honoured by my dance teacher's recommendation! After looking it up online, I was really happy to find out that I could still attend, especially given my age, and also that the training would be taught at a higher-level, which is a bit more difficult to find as you get older if you don't become a professional dancer. Another component that made it ten times better was that I would be able to attend the classes at home on Zoom, which would have otherwise made it a lot more challenging since the Royal Ballet is based in London, England.
Course Selection / Packages:
In terms of selecting courses, there were multiple tiers of age categories and training levels from Junior (10-12 years), Mid Classes (13-15 years), Senior Classes (16-19+), and Adult Classes (adults who have taken regular classes or danced previously). There was also the option to book individual classes and add-on classes to your classes schedule. Additional classes were taught in miming, focus classes, masterclasses, private group classes, pilates, contemporary, and healthy dancer talks.
Schedule:
For my schedule, I chose the senior package, which is taught at an RAD Advanced 2 level, and added a class in miming plus two focus classes in port de bras and arabesques. In terms of layout, if you bought the package, it included a certain list of classes assigned throughout the week from (July 13-17th, 2021), however, there were also breaks in between classes where you could add extra classes in other disciplines, as mentioned above. There were 8 included classes in total including: 4x ballet, 2x contemporary, 1x focus class on artistry in the use of the head and arms together, 1x pilates, an on demand talk on supplementary training, and an artistic staff and pianist Q &A.
Note: Included classes may vary based on which package you choose.
Leading up to the intensive, I was both very excited and a little nervous, as I wasn't sure if I had enough training, despite dancing for most of my life, simply because I knew that the calibre of dancers and training the school would be used to is quite high. It is after all the Royal Ballet School! Fortunately, once the day arrived for my first set of classes, I settled down my nerves a bit after the first class and had a fantastic time!
First Impressions/Zoom/Time Zones:
Initially, I wasn't sure how it would be given that the classes were taught over zoom, but I was pleasantly surprised that they were able to personally give me corrections and comment on the exercises throughout the intensive. Also, I wasn't sure if I would be able to stay up or get enough sleep throughout the week, given that the classes were taught in BST (British Summer Time) and BC's time zone is in PST (Pacific Standard Time). However, the experience was so worth it and it was definitely worth waking up as early as 1:45am or 2:30am in the morning and then going back to bed as late as 6am or 9am.
Using Zoom:
As for using zoom, after purchasing your courses, they'll send you an email with your agenda and zoom links, which I found very helpful, since the schedule online will vary depending on which classes you sign up for. During the class, the mic is muted, except for the instructor and you're also able to send in your questions or comments during the last 5-10 minutes of class.
During the first few classes, I was a bit shy to ask anything, but later on I became a bit more comfortable and learned some valuable tips and advice for working on technique such as improving turnout, higher extensions, improving double attitude pirouettes, and improving upper-back cambre.
Also, if you were wondering how the classes were taught, they did have RBS students who demonstrated the exercises. Typically there were two students for the larger classes such as the mixed ballet and contemporary classes and one student for the smaller classes such as pilates or focus classes.
I found this format was very easy to follow and you could tell that the school was used to using zoom optimally for demonstrating ballet, which made it practically a seamless integration. Also, accompanying each class (except for pilates) was either a live pianist or musician (drummer for contemporary classes). I really enjoyed this component, as it made each class feel more theatrical and exciting to dance!
(Below is the class schedule I had for the intensive, review continued down below):
Senior Package (16-19+ years)
Day 1:
Ballet Class - Daria Klimentova
Mime Class - Belinda Hatley
On Demand Talk: Supplementary Training
Day 2:
Ballet Class - Ricardo Cervera
Contemporary Class - Angela Towler
Focus Class - Belinda Hatley
Day 3:
Ballet Class - Ricardo Cervera
Focus Class - Zhan Atymtayev
Day 4:
Contemporary Class - Angela Towler
Day 5:
Ballet Class - Ricardo Cervera
Pilates Class - Leire Ortueta
Focus Class - Ricardo Cervera
Artistic Staff and pianist Q & A - Zhan Atymtayev, Ricardo Cervera, Belinda Hatley, Daria Klimentova, Christopher Powney
Ballet Class Review:
One of my favourite dance styles by far is ballet, which is one of the main reasons why I was so excited about this dance intensive in particular. Also, after having seen the Royal Ballet perform in person prior to COVID lockdown, dancing with the Royal Ballet School made it that much more special. The classes were taught by faculty such as Belinda Hatley, Ricardo Cervera, Daria Klimentova, and Zhan Atymtayev. Learning from all of the teachers was a wonderful experience, as I learned so much about artistry, technique, as well as some of the more specific stylistic choices of movement that are taught to the students at RBS from day one.
Some of my favourite teachers in particular were Belinda Hatley and Ricardo Cervera, as I really enjoyed their teaching style and I also had the most classes taught by them. As I had one miming class and one focus class on arabesques with Belinda and three ballet classes and one focus class on port de bras with Ricardo. One of the classes with Ricardo was originally going to be taught by Christopher Powney, who is the Royal Ballet School's Artistic Director, however, he wasn't able to make it, but he was there for the Q & A on the Saturday later on in the week. However, I really enjoyed the classes by Ricardo, as he gave very specific and helpful exercises and advice in answering my questions on how to improve turnout, attitudes, and faster footwork.
From all of the teachers I learned so much about technique and artistry throughout the week, which wouldn't have been a possibility even a few years ago prior to COVID. It's amazing what you can do with technology these days, isn't it? However, there were certain steps and exercises that are limited due to space at home, but there was also so much that you can do that you don't think about these limitations.
For instance, there were lots of opportunities to improve technique at the barre, as well as some centre work such as port de bras, adage, pirouettes, and some short allegro work. I was also fortunate to be able to use my Harlequin marley dance mat and portable barre, which you can see the reviews for in my previous posts, which helped to simulate a typical ballet environment fairly well.
Along with using my dad's office (Thanks Dad!), it was almost like being in a studio (minus the spring flooring)! In terms of class format, mixed ballet classes were 1hr 20 minutes, plus 5-10 minutes of Q & A, and focus classes were 50 minutes plus 5-10 minutes of Q & A. In general, focus classes were about half the size of ballet classes around 20-25 participants, which provided more room for individual corrections from instructors :)
Contemporary Class Review:
One style of dance that I haven't done for a while is contemporary. Simply because once I went to college, I only had time for a few classes per week and when given the choice I generally choose ballet. However, taking classes with Angela Towler during the intensive made me want to take more contemporary classes again! During the class we learned technique and style from methods such as Merce Cunningham and Graham.
One thing about contemporary in general is that it allows you to be free and gives you the opportunity to improvise movement in ways unimaginable in ballet. I also really enjoyed how Angela taught the class, as the environment wasn't solely about your technique alone and gave room for individuality. As for the format of the Contemporary classes, they were 1hr 20 minutes, plus 5-10 minutes of Q & A, with two classes for the week, unless you added an extra class.
Mime Class Review:
One of the more intriguing classes that I was excited to sign up for was mime class. Mainly because I had seen videos on YouTube of dancers from the Royal Ballet miming and I always thought it added so much to the performance and storyline of the ballet. During the class, Belinda Hatley taught us a scene from the ballet, 'La Fille Mal Garde' from the perspective of, Lise, after she's locked up in her room crying and fantasizes about a better future. I really enjoyed this class, as it was so different from anything I had learned in ballet recently and also tapped into a bit of acting skills. The class was 50 minutes in length plus 5-10 minutes for Q & A. The only thing I wish they had was more mime classes and more classes in general with Belinda, as she was such a joy to learn from!
Pilates Class Review:
Over the years, many dancers have been told to supplement their training with cross-training such as pilates, yoga, cardio, weights, and/or Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT). All of which are helpful to a certain degree and while I had taken pilates classes for the past few years, I was curious as to which exercises in particular were helpful for ballet dancers.
The Saturday pilates class was taught by Leire Ortueta, who was a former RBS student and ballet dancer, and they had one of their students demonstrate during the class, which made it much easier to follow, especially while lying down for certain exercises. In terms of the class, some of the exercises were fairly similar to those I had previously tried in PBT classes, using supplies such as therabands.
However, compared to your typical pilates class, I did find that the exercises were more specific in targeting certain areas or achieving goals such as improving arches, activating the right muscles and strengthening your calves, abs, and inner thighs during developees and batteries. In total, the class was about 50 minutes in length, plus Q & A for 5-10 minutes at the end of the class, where you could ask the instructor questions by typing them in through the zoom chat.
On Demand Supplementary Training:
On the first day of the intensive, they sent out a bonus 15-minute Youtube video that talked about supplementary training for ballet dancers. The video was accessible during the week of the intensive and included interesting topics such as the pros and cons of strength training and pilates, as well as injury prevention tips, which I was able to watch in between classes.
Artistic Staff and Pianist Q & A:
An interesting component of the intensive was the Q & A section, simply because I didn't know what to expect. However, I did find it interesting to learn a bit more about the school itself, such as how their audition process is and how the Upper and Lower schools work. I also found it interesting to learn about the careers of the dance teachers, with many of them having trained with the Royal Ballet School, as well as what they look for in a dancer and what separates the best dancers from the rest in a company.
If you're wondering what this 'it' factor is, many of them described it as the artistry, performance quality, and connection with the audience that makes dancers stand out, even more so than perfect technique. I found this intriguing and also slightly reminiscent of a similar theme found in the movie, 'Center Stage.' If you haven't seen 'Center Stage', make sure to watch it after finishing my review, trust me you won't regret it! :)
Also, another neat component of the Q & A was that you were able to send in questions for the artistic staff and pianists by email a few days prior to the intensive and also during the Q & A, which made it more interactive and targeted towards the participants interests and questions. I didn't end up sending in any questions, as I wasn't sure what to ask, but there were lots of opportunities to do so, if you did :) As the total Q & A was 1hr 30 min (half of it was with the pianists and artistic staff and the other half was with the artistic director).
T-Shirts:
Prior to starting the intensive, the Royal Ballet School did send out an email about corresponding T-shirts that you could buy. However, I didn't end up buying one, as they ran out of my size and also since it was based in Britain I felt that it might arrive past the time of the intensive.
Certificate:
A pleasant surprise that I didn't expect to see a few days later, was an email with a digital downloadable certificate for participating in the summer intensive. This was a nice way to commemorate the intensive and also a great way to remember it by, especially since the intensive was online :)
Final Thoughts:
Overall, I really enjoyed my time learning from the Royal Ballet School's Summer Intensive and I hope this review helps give you an overview of what the intensive is like and whether or not it's the right place for you! Hopefully, they continue to run the online intensive in the future and if you happen to see me in class one day, feel free to say 'hi'! I hope you all enjoyed this review and if you read this to the end, thank you so much for reading it all, I really appreciate it :) Hope you all have a great week and keep on dancing :)
Here is the link to the Royal Ballet School's website: royalballetschool.org
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