San Francisco Ballet — Local services in San Francisco

The adult ballet program is not for working professionals and I wholeheartedly recommend you go to the 3 other major dance studios in SF (Academy of Ballet, Alonzo King, ODC Dance) that have cheaper prices, more time availabilities, and more flexibility in arrival times. They are not accommodating to working people's schedules. They only have 6 PM classes on the weekdays and they refuse to let you in people after 6:10. Even if you commute over an hour to get there, if you arrive at 6:12 they won't let you in, even if you told them you stretched beforehand (happened to me). Plus, the school location is a 10-15 minute walk from the subway so it's not very convenient to get to if you don't have a car. Even if you have a car, the area is a bit sketchy and it's hard to find parking.

Yes every studio has a cut off time, but they're usually understandable and lenient and let you go in anyway, as long as you stretch a little bit beforehand, which is totally reasonable. It's because other studios "get it", if you're working full-time, sometimes work comes up and you arrive a little bit later than usual. And unlike Alonzo King Dance Center which lets you cancel up to 30 minutes beforehand for a full refund (great for unexpected work situations), the SF ballet has a 24 hour policy, which does not accommodate last minute work schedule changes.

I love ballet and I'm so glad I'm picking it up again as an adult. However, I'm going to the Academy of Ballet, ODC Dance, or Alonzo King for my ballet classes as those studios are way more flexible about when you arrive to class (within reason of course), have more class availability times, and just as high-quality teachers for adult ballet students. Plus the other studios have cheaper...

Changes from the new artistic director have not been economically advantageous for the company. She overbooked too many extra performances of full length ballets for the last two seasons and blocked the balcony section. Only about 60 to 70% of the available seats were sold. Furthermore, she will not have the subscriber packages available to purchase for the upcoming season till July. This is a financial loss for the company since they can invest the money once they receive it. Helgi had subscription packages available at the end of each season in May. He never had more than 2 extra performances (non subscription ) in a season for any full-length ballets. Even worse, Tamara booked extra performances two consecutive seasons even though attendance was low the first season she had planned. On a positive note,she does select a wide variety of choreographers and music to draw in a a diverse audience but she isn't market wise when it comes to scheduling. For the upcoming season, she has removed the free ticket exchange after Jan 5th unless you buy the full series. Also the entire balcony and orchestra front side is blocked to 4 series subscribers. I once worked for the ballet and offering free ticket exchange was a motivating factor for the subscribers. Without it, there will be a big decrease in...

When I had my first class here, the instructor, Cecilia Beam, tried humiliating me in front of the whole class, and I had to leave within 10min.

I arrived early and got ready, but the moment she saw me, she asked me to stand in the corner of the classroom facing the wall, and asked another of her students who arrived late to take the spot I had. When I asked her if I could keep my original spot so I could see myself in the mirror, she humiliated me in front of the whole class, with comments like “what is even there to see?” while laughing and encouraging others students in the class to laugh at me. I was very shocked at what happened, and had to leave within 10min of the class.

Unless you are already one of her favorites, you should reconsider before joining an adult class here. Cecilia Beam is not going to welcome you, and you risk getting humiliated in front of 20-30 other people for no good reason.

Apparently this is not just me and there’s a pattern...