Conservatory Ballet

I am a proud Conservatory parent, with 2 girls attending the ballet school. They have both been attending classes at the school since they were just 18 months old in a ‘mommy & me’ class. While I have certainly seen their ballet skills grow over the years at the Conservatory, I always feel like they learn even more important things there like respect, manners, grace and tenacity. They receive wonderful ballet training and have also made many life-​long friends in their ballet classes. The Conservatory teachers are all definitely like a second family to us and my girls always feel at home at the school. Whether or not the students at the school go on to become professional dancers, they will have a great ballet education, learn to love the art form and enjoy their time dancing.

This studio is chaotic, unorganized, unresponsive, moody, and unprofessional with an «artistic» attitude. They never answer their calls or return their messages. Has poor planning with numerous times classes cancelled at the last minute without notice or a note sent after the fact. It is a VERY poorly managed studio especially since they lost their main manager last year.
Also, their is a childish attitude of jealousy between instructors, and some brown nosing that takes place, as well as favoritism of some kids with $$$.
The mistress of the company shows up occasionally or when the mood strikes. No one knows for sure if she would be there or not to teach and if so when. Teachers are substituted last minute, without notice, not just on a few occasions. Instructors bring their wee little ones to the class on a regular basis.
The children are left to roam around and run around the place as if it’s a playground without any supervision. No other serious ballet school would allow that to happen. Parents are treated as elementary school children with condescension as if they had no knowledge whatsoever about ballet. Mrs. Redick may had had some good training in the past but along with her frailty, unfortunately, her teaching ability has come and long gone. To top all this, there is a certain attitude of superiority of which I’m puzzled as to what is for since it is not warranted based on what they have to offer. The facility is shabby and unkept with many inappropriate objects left around; the teachers are ~B– level. The technology is lacking. Curtains and shades are put up to prevent parents from observing what is going on in the class. Is it to cover up all this unprofessionalism that carries through into the classroom studio? Other studios permit parent observation from a one way glass to prevent student’s distraction, this could certainly be done here too.
They do offer recital performances for the younger children, however they have a very unrealistic requirements for attendance vis a vis the minuscule part that they are given. Weekly 3hrs long rehearsals for a few minutes of performance! Just wonder what the little ones are doing during ALL that time… again parents are discouraged to watch any of this preparation. It’s all kept a «mystery»…
What do the kids learn: anything goes…
So why would anyone who is interested in real instructions and professional ballet school stick around this «conservatory»? Well, they don’t…they move on to the several other better qualified studios in the area :-)
Just to mention a few… GWBS, Baine Academy, CBT

I wrote a harsh review a few months ago that I am updating. I am still disappointed with my experience here, and I would not recommend this school to my friends. However, my daughter had fun and when they are young I suppose that is what most can expect.
Pros:
The instructors are nice and care about the kids. My child had fun.
Cons:
The recital is NOT worth the money if your child is 6 or younger. Emphasis is placed on the older students, and they dance almost the entire time. We waited over an hour to see our child who danced for less than a minute. Her hours and hours of class netted hopping across the stage and kneeling in the corner.
I originally rated this school a 1 star and now updating it after a nice message from the school.
Good luck

What an incredibly special place. As I like to say the teachers are helping me raise my daughter. We are in our 7^th year at the Conservatory and could not be happier or more impressed. Mrs. Redick and her staff are not only teaching my daughter the art of ballet but are teaching her poise, discipline and., good manners. Mrs. Redick demands excellence (and excellence is defined as doing your best). In this time and age it is such a special place in the world. I look forward to many more years there and highly recommend it.

What is there to say about the Conservatory? The mother-​daughter Reddicks run the studio and have been our home-​away-​from-​home for nearly 6 years. My 7 year old daughter has been taking classes here since she was 18 months old.
Mrs. Reddick definitely expects excellence from the girls. They go into extra innings a lot of times when she’s leading the class. I don’t consider this a bad thing. Miss Alexia’s informal, loving vibe makes puts the children at ease and makes parents feel like family; there’s a certain family-​style feel to the place; you’re half tempted to pick up the phone when it rings or help a new student and her parent get shoes off the shelf.
As a mom of a young child, I love how the Conservatory goes out of their way to involve younger children. They have junior performances and include the little ones in special ways that make them feel very much like ‘dancers’.
Then there’s the method. I must say that, bearing in my my child’s age, I’ve seen an improvement in her skill and agility. She has a good time, while still getting a thorough education in the art. There is a certain grace, poise and confidence that she is developing, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, until I noticed one day that she was trying to emulate Mrs. Reddick’s posture and graceful presence.
This summer my daughter popped into a ballet studio for a day camp when we were vacationing out of town. At the end of the day, the teacher made it a point to find me and tell me how poised my daughter was, and how good her training had obviously been.
Thank you, Conservatory!

My opinion of the Conservatory Ballet has grown in the past few years and now that I’m a parent, I’m pleased with what I’m seeing as my young daughter is taking creative movement («Pixie Ballet») classes here. The older teens who teach her classes are well prepared and while there have been more front office snafus than I’d like to see, the school has been overall nurturing and kind. I’ve gotten the overall impression that the Conservatory is a school that is teaching solid habits and is proud of all of its graduates — no matter what they go on to do after graduation.