Expert: Dianne M. Buxton - 11/10/2008

Question
My daughter will be entering high school next year and has been accepted into National Ballet School of Canada's summer program/audition for year round. The school was highly recommended to us for its well-rounded program that integrates dancing and strong academics.  The cost, however, may be prohibitive for us (> $30,000 per academic year) if she is accepted into the year round program.  Do you know of other programs in North America that operate under the same model and with the same caliber of training?

Answer
Hello MK.
There are many full time ballet schools in North America now. While the National ballet School of Canada and the New York City Schools have the stellar reputations, they all produce world class professional ballet dancers.

There are too many for me to list here. Go to dancespirit, balletteacher and dancemagazine.com(s) and check their school listings. To view the websites would be a quick way for you to check their admissions, tuitions etc.

Also check your neighborhood business clubs (Rotary etc.) because some of them provide scholarship money for their local gifted students.

I hope this helps. Congratulations to your daughter, and to you too, such a supportive mom.

All the best, Dianne