Reviews of Ballet Royale Minnesota (Dance School)

Remington Foust

Ballet Royale is a charming dance school. I love the dance education and welcoming staff.

Lori Moore

My daughter started at Ballet Royale MN during a summer intensive when she was a young teenager. She came from another studio that emphasized many styles of dance & performance arts but truly wanted to pursue the dream of a professional ballet career. The first day of the August intensive she walked out & stated Ballet Royale was where she needed to train. She knew she had found the best place for her. The instructors are not only former professional dancers with the education & multiple certifications for ballet training, but they have a foundational understanding of anatomy & psychology. They have consistently worked with her to not only improve her technical ability but counseled & encouraged her through some emotional & psychological phases that could have derailed her progress & ended her dreams of a professional career. As a parent, I have been impressed by Rick & Denise Vogt. They have an open door policy & are more than willing to help a non-dancing parent understand the progression of dance training, both the physical growth as well as the psychological & emotional impact that placement & casting decisions may have on a young dancer. They take a conservative approach to advancement through the levels, ensuring that the student is both physically & emotionally ready to move up or participate in the Twin Cities Ballet Company professional productions. That being said, they will not wait to advance a student if they are truly ready for the transition. My daughter has progressed through several levels in a year, rather than being held back to move on with her current class. This individualized approach has been a special blessing, as my daughter came to BRMN at an older age than most of the students at her level. She has grown & improved rapidly through this unique approach. My beautiful daughter is graduating from high school this spring and has been well prepared to take the next step into the professional ballet world. As a student at the American Ballet Theater summer intensive in 2018, her training was noticed & complimented by several of the ABT staff. There can be no greater praise to a ballet school than to have a student asked repeatedly where they have been trained by the teaching staff of one of the best professional ballet companies in the world. Rick & Denise Vogt, as well as the rest of the staff at BRMN are as excited for her move on into the professional ballet world as I am. I count them as friends & mentors.

Nate Hadro

Expensive, but what ballet place isn't.

Jennifer McDow

If I could give a zero I would. When we moved to Lakeville, I attempted to contact the owner Denise multiple times. We went into the building. There was no one to talk to. No front desk person, no point of contact. We called multiple times and every time I left I message I specified that I would be available during the daytime as I work nights and she only called during the evening hours. While I was at work. Played phone tag. Finally when I did get her on the phone to ask questions and suggestions about my daughter possibly attending her ballet studio, so was rude and very pretentious. I thought maybe she was just having a bad day but then I attended the Nutcracker this past weekend with my daughter who is in Girl Scouts and again she was very pretentious and rude to the girls when they were given an opportunity to ask questions. And again when they were allowed to take pictures with the dancers. I will no longer entertain them or any events they put on. They are so disrespectful.

Alita Osterberg

My daughter and I love Ballet Royale! The teachers and directors always put the well being of the dancer first. They make a point (pun intended) to know their dancers, and even their parents' names. Rick and Denise are wonderful and their love and dedication to their students is much appreciated from this dance mom!

Signe McKie

We have been very happy with the level of technical instruction, artistic direction, and positive environment. Ballet Royale is a place any and all dancers will reach their fullest potential. Each dancer is given opportunities to excel and be the best they can be. The staff are open and honest. You won’t find a ballet studio like Ballet Royale - truly amazing.

Katie Lane Sutherland

This ballet school is a south of the river gem. I am very grateful to the staff, Denise a Rick for the lessons they teach my daughter.

Mama Resists

If your child wants to do ballet and ballet only, and you are south of the river, this is really the only option. And the instruction is fine, but the owners are somewhat difficult. They have in-studio shows that are very cramped, often they won't allow filming or pictures of in-studio shows or the end of year recital/dress rehearsal. They sometimes follow through with sending the links to the videos they made, but the problem is that sometimes the video doesn't show YOUR kid, or it's all one huge show and the relatives only want to see one dance and it's hard for them to navigate the technology Ballet Royale uses. Which is a bummer for relatives who wanted to see your child dance. Then there is definite favoritism and the same students (from little ones all the way up to the older ones) getting better roles or more roles or put as "cast A" when they try out for twin cities ballet productions. It's also, almost embarassing how entitled Rick in particular is about asking parents to volunteer to help (even asking parents to help take things down at the end of the recital this past year). They charge a lot for their dance lessons and then are very entitled about parents volunteering for them at Ballet ROyale. Parents feel pressure to do so, too, b/c the more involved you are, the more favorited your child is. Overall, it's good instruction and I bite my tongue and tolerate it here only b/c my dau wants to do ballet only. Denise does kill some enthusiasm for dance though, with her inability to control her favoritism. One of her "favorite" little darlings is a bully to other kids and takes away from their dance experience and a couple families left. Also when Denise uses her favoritism to guide her casting for twin cities ballet...it just kills it for the other girls. It's a bummer to watch it happen...tcb is a non profit dance place in the burbs, not the Joffrey.