International Ballet of Florida — Local services in Sarasota

Before I write my answer to the negative remarks listed, I want people to know that Darya and Sergiy are absolutely amazing teachers with great attention to detail to all of their students and there performances are nothing short of spectacular and original. You should by all means bring your child in and try them out before you believe anything negative that is being written. I feel very blessed and honored to have had them teaching my daughter! Now about the negative statements made toward Darya and Sergiy.

The Vaganova method is clearly the exact method taught in Russia at the School of Russian Ballet Darya and Sergiy teach exactly what I have seen on You Tube and what they spent years learning. You have no idea what they went through studying and training in this method. Seriously, did you get your feelings hurt or have a bad experience? They trained long and hard for years and years if you knew anything about their family or history you would know these things.

Darya and Sergiy are very talented; the time, effort and devotion they have for their students is nothing short of amazing to me. They are very detail oriented as I have watched them correct my child and others many times and compared my daughter’s training with the videos from the “old school method of Vaganova and current day”.

You have no idea what you are talking about. You say there is not much in the way of discipline, I was always taught discipline begins at home, they are NOT babysitters. I have yes, seen many disruptive children and then I looked at the parents….. As far as billing, you are way off base there. My family was going through a financial hard ship which required surgery for me, Darya was not on the phone hounding me for tuition. She was kind, patient and understanding as we made our payments. Darya and Sergiy bring out the best in EVERY student I have seen, even my son who had some trouble focusing before he came to the school with his sister; Darya’s patience and love toward him helped him to be able to concentrate and as a result he is more self confident! My daughter has gone to competitions recently and won due to their teaching and paying great attention to “detail and her form.” She too is also more confident and loved them beyond words. It is very hard for our family due to my back injuries and extended recovery to have to make the decision not to return this year, they will be missed terribly. You are obviously bored with nothing else to do, so sad. I have a great idea!! You come and try to juggle ALL the hats that Darya and Sergiy wear at that school and walk away as sane as they are before you speak ill of them.

Regards,

The...

I'm so sorry to have to leave a review this poor, I bought tickets for the Nutcracker, I had seen the Moscow Nutcracker a few years earlier and thought it was a fantastic bargain and a lovely production, I thought this might be something like that, I was really disappointed this was more like a school play, The sets were flat & dark, the dolls box made of cardboard or something that looked like cardboard, the costumes were nothing like I anticipated, Drosselmeyer was running around in black tennis shoes and the Nutcracker had some sort of Halloween mask on,(very strange looking) over all the entire production seemed more like a program designed for the parents, as they were snapping photos & taking videos. The venue while possessing a beautiful lobby had terrible seating it felt like you you do when your sandwiched in an over crowded airplane we were packed in like sardines practically sitting on top of each other, having back problems this was all unbearable . I can not apologize enough to the young dancers who worked so hard to bring this to the stage, it's not their fault, While I fully support the Arts I will not leave a dishonest review I believe the problem is with the Managers, or producers or whoever is in charge of the production, I simply cannot recommend this to anyone who is expecting a professional program. I sincerely hope that this helps people who are investing in tickets. And that it's an inspiration to improve future programs again I'm disheartened and sad to even leave a review like this. For the record I am in no way affiliated with this company never have been & I'm not a parent or relation of a child who dances in this company. I was simply a patron I am not disgruntled or anything like that I am just giving an honest review of my experience. I cannot recommend this program to anyone paying for a ticket expecting a professional type of program, now if you're looking for a high school production this is more along those lines this is honestly what I saw, I paid for $120 worth of tickets ( as I had bought one as a Christmas gift for my friend) and we both left at intermission very disappointed because we had looked so forward to it. Someone else may see it differently but this was the experience my friend and I had,...

We followed Darya and Sergei from their prior location as teachers when they opened their studio in 2010. They are amazing! They teach Vaganova in true form, and while having high expectations from their students, they are also kind, loving, and full of laughter. Their rates are reasonable, costume rental fees lower than elsewhere. They have expelled occasional students due to inappropriate behavior, so there may be a few disgruntled families. In the interest of maintaining a class act and a safe, positive environment, they are willing to lose the income or even a great dancer if behavior is unpleasant or risky for others. I have seen my daughter, and all those who remain and put in effort, blossom into beautiful dancers.In addition, they learn character and acting/performing skills. If you want to see objective, transforming results in return for your investment of time and money, this is absolutely the place. Serious dancing, with enough time to continue your studies...best of both worlds! We are so fortunate to have them. If you want to see proof, come to any one of the shows...you will find true quality. It...