Excellent Nutcracker dancers, but amazingly inconsiderate management of their in-house video crew. Because they wanted to record from the center of the row, I was forced to watch the entire production with a video screen a mere 18 inches from my face. When I told the video person they needed to at least move over a seat to remove it from my line of sight, I was told that would not be possible, even -- AMAZINGLY -- though there were TWO vacant seats to the right. I was told my comments were unkind. This, too, is amazing since compromising my experience to satisfy their desire to be center-row is the very epitomy of "unkind." This posture is, however, consistent with comments below that pertain to their arrogance. These guys need to do better and improve their attitude. read more

Cary Ballet Conservatory - Video Screen in my Line of Sight - Performing Arts Near Me - Cary, North Carolina

Hands-down the best ballet conservatory in the Raleigh/Cary area. I have a dancer in the professional training program who has really enjoyed everything the studio has to offer. Administration is very helpful and quick to reply to questions. (I saw some negative reviews from the studio that appear to be several years old, so maybe there has been some turnover at the front office.) Our experience has been nothing but positive since arising! read more

On the negative, the staff is arrogant and largely inflammatory. I asked about the billing cycle and was given the run around by 2 staff members. It seems simple math is beyond their grasp. One staff member said billing is based on the number of classes for a partial trimester. The other staff member, the manager, an extremely arrogant individual, gave the run around on billing and finally said that the partial trimester billing is based on a full month of the three month trimester. The billing policy should be clearly stated on their web site and paperwork. Since it is not, and given the multiple answers to billing a partial trimester, it seems the correct billing amount is the maximum that Cary Ballet can squeeze out of the parent. So, one star for lack of clarity and extreme arrogance. On the positive side, my daughter lovers her class and instructor. She is always excited to attend the next session. The school outside the administration is favorable. So, 5 stars for instruction and the facility. read more

Very organized and well ran studio. The level of dance here is amazing. My daughter is one of the youngest, yet she is inspired by the older dancers and artistic environment. There are different levels offered, more dance styles offered than ballet, and the recitals are amazing. read more

This school is horrible. My daughter attended ballet classes on Saturday mornings. The teachers are just kids and they are not good. At the end of the course there is a recital (of course you will have to pay a lot of money for the costumes, photos, etc.). If your kid is not going to attend the recital she/he will be just standing up on the class watching the other kids. THIS IS NOT FAIR, and the teachers doesn't care!! I talked to the teachers about this and simply they DO NOT CARE if the feelings of some kids are hurt, or if the parents are paying for ballet classes and they are just seeing the other kids. To be honest, this school is the worst and I do not recommend it. Maybe if parents like me would go to the BBB to reclaim our rights, the school would be better. read more

If I could give them a negative star, I would. My son was enrolled in a jazz/ tap/ ballet combo class this summer. Five weeks into the class, his teacher has missed twice. Both times, he is shuttled into a pre- ballet class that is 15 minutes shorter than the class I pay for. Another week his teacher was late and tried to end class early. There are no apologies or even acknowledgement of the issue from management. I left a message and no one returned my call. Finally, after an email threatening to unenroll, the manager called me. She had weak excuses for her poor management. This place is not a charity but treats its customers like they are unnecessary. We are looking for a new school now. read more

Please don't waste your $$ on this studio. I was very disappointed on how unstructured the pre-ballet classes were run. The students were not expected to pay attention and many times the students were running around the room as a free-for-all. I expect this behavior at the beginning of the season from students that may have never been in a ballet class before but not 2 weeks prior to the end-of-the-year recital. Also as a side note, during the rehearsal last week the director was texting on her cell phone with her back turned to the Winter Bunnies (pre-ballet) rehearsal. She gave no feedback to the teacher nor to the students. There were no markings on the stage to help these 5-6 yr-olds know where to stand during formation changes. Very disappointed. We will not be returning to this studio. read more

I am in the process of taking Cary Ballets summer intensive session 2. I have to say that this is one of the best conservatory/school I have ever been to. The levels that you are put in fit each and every student that is taking their classes and summer intensives. The teachers and guest artists make sure that each student is given the opportunity to reach their full potential. The teachers are very skilled in what they do. These teachers have trained at a variety of schools all over the world. They make sure that the training you receive is based on the training they were given. They will help you improve on your technique for as long as you are there in the hopes you will carry it on with you. The teachers themselves are kind and they care about your success. They are tough at some points but not to the point that you feel bad about yourself and what you do. They want you to succeed and they what you to do it correctly. The actual conservatory is a very welcoming place to be in: they provide a dance shop for you to purchase some of the supplies you may need. They even have a cafeteria which has a fridge and microwave! The other dancers are very friendly and understand if it is your first time and you might be nervous. I would definitely recommend this conservatory/school to anyone that would be interested in ballet and jazz. read more

At the theater recital to pick up photos we purchased at CBC, they missed the group photo.One faculty volunteer had our contact written down and let the photo studio send the group pic to our home address. Human error. No complaint so far. The group photo arrived, it was a wrong group photo. I called CBC, one staff told me I need to return the wrong photo at CBC first,then they could help. Here I was..on Sat morning, drove to CBC, waited a while, finally the staff came over . I told her I was to drop the wrong photo. She said she did not want to keep the wrong photo. I said earlier one CBC staff instructed me to do so on the phone. She denied it( maybe it was not her) She said the photo studio took pics under CBC's courtesy, but CBC has nothing to do with the studio. I asked we had been your customer for 4 years, are we under your coutesy? The answer was still they could not offer the help to contact the photo studio. Unlucky customers such as me paid the money got the wrong product had to spend personal time to solve the mess. Like previous review, the staff have contradicted suggestions to customers when there is a problem. The result is waste customer's time without any solution. Secondly, the staff are arrogant, not willing to help at all, making the customer think they just want your money. I am very disappointed. read more

It's been said that the longest journey begins with a single step. In the high stakes world of ballet, nothing can be closer to the truth. Each day, thousands of students pour through the doors of studios across the country while anxious parents follow behind encouraging their children to pursue their dreams. Although North Carolina isn't a state synonymous with top tier training, the Arts abound. In the small town of Cary lies a gem...a relatively undiscovered and overlooked program where many audition, but few are chosen. Big city distractions are stripped away and serious training takes center stage. Under the tutelage of Mariaelena Ruiz (formerly of The Rock & 2016 Outstanding Teacher at the ADC International Ballet Competition) and a dedicated and accomplished faculty, young dancers participate in a well rounded training regimen. Technical skills are honed and the emotional needs of students are met in a nurturing environment. Our daughter was fortunate enough to receive an invitation to attend Cary Ballet's Professional Training Program and our family relocated this past September. In a short period of time we have observed refined technique, improvement in areas of relative weakness and exuberance each and every day. For less serious minded students, CBC offers classes in ballet, jazz, contemporary, etc.. Performance opportunities are available throughout the year for all. We could not be happier with our decision and encourage other families to become a part of Cary Ballet. read more

Our daughter attended Cary Ballet Conservatory for the last 4.5 years and this summer, they have made some changes to the ballet program. At the same time, this summer my daughter started losing her passion and self confidence in ballet. We realized as a family that it was time for a change because she has a gift and was getting lost in the bigger classes and new vision. We decided to attend another school for ballet and stay at CBC for the jazz program. We saw in our contract that as long as she attends one Rec Ballet Class that she was able to attend the Pro Jazz classes. She auditioned for the CBC Jazz Company and was accepted. There is nowhere in her contract with CBC's Jazz Company or with the Conservatory that we are not allowed to dance at two different studios so we tried some other studios out and found one we liked. This was a very difficult decision for her that we kept private because she worried her teachers she loved wouldn't understand and it was a private family decision. Unfortunately, we didn't know until after we made the transition that the owner at CBC would not agree with our decision. She removed my daughter from the Jazz Company without any warning or without legal cause hours before rehearsal after attending company rehearsals for almost 2 months. I have tried to contact the owner and she will not return my messages or address the issue. We have supported, advertised, sacrificed for, given our resources, time, and a huge amount of energy into the Conservatory and put the Conservatory out there as the best thing for dancers in the Triangle area but after watching what has happened over the last couple of months, we are extremely disappointed in the way they've treated our daughter and our family this fall. We will never forget what many of her teachers have done for her, they loved, valued and poured into her as a dancer but we are not ok with this behavior. I have since found out that she is allowing other dancers to attend two different schools but we were not allowed to be in the company because she has issues with the owner of the new school we chose. There is something that happened in that relationship before we started at CBC that we were not aware of and the owner has said that people should just know. We did not know. I find this behavior to be unprofessional and even more disappointing because my daughter is 13 and has worked hard to get to where she is. I would not recommend Cary Ballet Conservatory. read more