The Portland Ballet

"We were so excited to be a part of TPB with my six year old. But it was clear shortly after enrolling how unnecessarily inflexible they were with attendance and a few other things, you can read their rule books when you sign up. I wasn’t allowed to enter the building with my daughter, there was a narrow pickup drop off window as well. All that we probably could have put up with except that they insisted my 6 year old get a COVID vaccine in order to dance. I explained our exemption status with state of Oregon and they didn’t care, even though they had previously stated they would honor them. It was the last straw for us."

"I’m not sure if I’ve ever submitted a review before, but after careful consideration, I thought this might be helpful to other parents. If your child is younger than 5 years, I do not recommend The Portland Ballet (TPB). Even though they have Creative Ballet classes for this age group, you should seriously consider if this company might do more harm than good to your young child. We enrolled our daughter in TPB’s Creative Ballet this fall. We weren’t allowed to observe the classes, so we didn’t have direct knowledge of our child’s performance in class. The instructor never approached us with any information about the class activities. After a few weeks, a substitute teacher was conducting the class and he told me that my daughter was “amazing”. This was the first feedback I ever received. The class ended after a month, and the parents were invited to observe the final session. During this class, I saw my daughter follow instructions, but she also laughed, talked with another student, and sometimes did her own thing. After the class, I approached the instructor and asked if this was the typical behavior of my child. She told me yes and communicated that at this age being easily distracted is common. She also stated that my daughter wasn’t the only one. Her final words to me were, “When she focuses, she’s pretty good. She’s fine; maybe remind her that she’s in class to learn.” A week later, we received an email stating, “After communicating our concerns with you regarding your daughter’s behavior in Creative Ballet class, we regret to inform you that the TPB faculty feels that our Creative Ballet program is not a good fit for her.” We were shocked. We were completely caught off guard. We thought maybe they had confused our daughter with someone else. When I called, the registrar was adamant that the instructor had talked with me several times, and we were fully aware of the issues in class. When I stated that I had only received feedback twice (one coming from the substitute instructor), she insinuated that I was lying, but said she would investigate further. Even though she was never in any classes, she spoke from a matter-of-fact perspective, and at times was condescending and disrespectful. She made it very clear that the decision was final and my daughter was expelled from the class. When we communicated to our daughter that she would no longer be attending The Portland Ballet, she cried. She pleaded with me to talk with the school and tell them that she loved being there. I told her that it wasn’t my decision and I couldn’t change it. TPB handled this very poorly and they made no attempt to communicate or problem solve with us. Our family has been hurt by this. My daughter tells everyone (including strangers), “I used to be in ballerina school, but they shut me out.” It breaks my heart every time I hear this. My daughter isn’t even 5 years old, and she’s learned that the world isn’t fair and she’s trying to manage her feelings of rejection. The Portland Ballet has scarred our little girl and it was unnecessary."

"We came in on a Sunday morning to try out the litte kid class because several of my daughters friends are in that class. The ladies at the front said that we couldn’t try the class that day unless we paid for the entire season. With my daughter all ready to go, I didn’t want to just walk out and leave. So I paid $90 for the season. Throughout the class, many of the little girls came out crying and asking their parent to leave, which I found so weird. My daughter has never quit something we have registered her for...she loves activities (soccer, dance, gymnastics, etc). The next Sunday when I asked her to get ready for ballet, she said she didn’t want to go back to that class. I found that hard to believe because several of her good friends were going to be there. She was adamant and started crying because she didn’t want to go back to try once more. We will never go back and chose to lose the $90. I’m not surprised that no one reached out to ask us if everything was ok or if we were coming back. Looking back, I can see why they don’t do trial classes...they take the $90 and don’t care whether you come back or not."

"My career track dancer is getting so much out of TPB's training. She has been accepted to all the Ballet Summer Intensive's that she has wanted to go to. It's truly preparing her for working in a ballet company, and the staff are all wonderful role models. This is a non-profit school which means no hidden agenda; Never a push for expensive private lessons, just honest to goodness feedback. My daughter said that TPB's Summer Intensive is most comparable to The San Francisco Ballet's Summer Intensive. She has been dancing here for 7 years already, and plans to stay until she gets a trainee position at a company."

"My grand daughter has taken ballet lessons at another place but felt like she wasn't getting what she wanted out of her classes. She loves The Portland Ballet and has been extremely happy with her instruction and feels she is getting what she wanted out of her ballet lessons. I am thrilled as I am still taking dance myself.... had I had the opportunity to study dance as a child I might have been a serious dancer!!"