Housing & Meals
Housing
Chautauqua Institution provides residence hall lodging for approximately 300 full-time students and artists enrolled in the art, music, dance, and theater programs, as well as visitors of Chautauqua via our CHQ on a Budget Program during Weeks 1-2 and 8-9. Our dormitories are all in a central location, just a short walk from the School of Art, Dance, and Music facilities. Bellinger Hall, made up of two buildings (North and South), is the largest dormitory and the location of the dining hall, where all dormitory residents receive meals, regardless of where they are housed. Students are housed together based on their age, gender and program. School of Dance students reside in the Bellinger South building, which is adjacent to the dance studios and connected to the dining hall. Bellinger Hall is a substance-free building, and students under 18 years old must follow additional dormitory and curfew rules. Dorm rooms are mainly all double occupancy, with a few triple occupancies. Each room includes a bed, desk and closet for each student, and each room shares a bathroom with one other room. Chautauqua employs a full-time, experienced Residence Staff of Resident Assistants (RA’s) that manage the student residential experience from move-in to check-out. Several of our RA’s are former students who love giving back to the current student experience. There is always an RA on duty 24 hours a day, available in–person or by a call or text to the RA Duty phone. Additionally, a full-time Registered Nurse resides in Bellinger Hall for first aid and holds regular office hours.
Meal Plan
All students who live in the residence halls will automatically be enrolled in our full meal plan. This plan includes breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. There is no option to opt-out of the meal plan.
There are no cooking or food storage facilities in the dormitory. If you have questions on our food service or its offerings, please contact us and we’ll do our best to help you. You may bring a mini-fridge to keep in your room.
Cost & Deposit
Total Program Costs for 2024
(includes tuition, room and meals)
As of October 31, 2023. Subject to change.
Pre-Professional: $6,350
Festival: $5,470
Workshop: $1,685
Mini-Intensive: $550 (includes tuition only)
Deposit
Two deposits are required within seven days of admission into one of Chautauqua’s programs. Upon admission to the program, a placeholder or tuition deposit of $500 guarantees the student’s scholarship award, if any, and a place in the program. A security deposit of $100 is required of all students, including those on full scholarships. This deposit guarantees a student’s housing and is used to defray the cost of damage to dormitories or loss or damage of other property.
Cost Breakdown
TUITION
Pre-Professional: $3,085
Festival: $2,650
Workshop: $1,200
Includes full instruction costs, access to our on-site PT, fitness center membership (for ages 14 and up only) and gate pass which gives the student access to all of Chautauqua’s programming except for opera and theater.
RESIDENCE HALL
Pre-Professional: $750
Festival: $660
Workshop: $110
MEAL PLAN
Pre-Professional: $2,100
Festival: $1,800
Workshop: $300
Breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week served cafeteria-style in the residence hall. All residential students are automatically enrolled in the meal plan.
Dress Code
Dance Dress Code for All Dancers
- No sweat clothes or legwarmers are allowed in dance class
- No plastic of any kind is to be worn in class
- Hair should be securely fastened in a bun, no loose ends
- No jewelry in class
- Cell phones are not permitted inside the studios
- Water bottles only in the studios
- Any color leotard on Saturdays
Female
Ballet: solid black camisole leotard (Wear Moi WM212 or similar), white or black chiffon skirt for pointe class, pink/flesh colored tights with feet, pink/flesh colored ballet shoes and pointe shoes (bring quite a few pairs, you will go through them)
Modern: solid black leotard/unitard, footless black tights
Character: solid black leotard, flesh tights, character shoes, full circle character skirt
Musical Theater: Jazz Shoes
Performances: Nude, spaghetti strap leotard, Capezio Brief pink/flesh Dance Bottoms (Style TB111)
Festival & Pre-Professional only: practice tutu
Male
Ballet: white t-shirt, black tights, white tights, black ballet shoes (bring a couple of pairs), white ballet shoes, white socks
Modern: white t-shirt, black bike shorts or footless black tights
Character: white t-shirt, black or white pants, white socks, black ballet shoes
Musical Theater: Jazz Shoes
**Please be aware that you should bring anything you might need with you to Chautauqua (shoes, tights, etc) as there is not a place on the grounds, or close by, where dance attire can be purchased.
All Dancers
Yoga mat, stage make-up (foundation, blush, eyeliner, powder, false eyelashes only if accustomed to wearing them, etc.).
Workshop Females
Black Camisole Leotard – Wear Moi WM212 or similar
Pink/Flesh Colored Tights
Pink/Flesh Ballet Slippers & Pointe Shoes
Black Wrap Skirt
Black Character Skirt
Character Shoes
Jazz Shoes
Workshop Males
White T-Shirt
Black or White Tights
Black or White Ballet Shoes
White Socks
Jazz Shoes
Schedule
Sample Schedule
*note that exact schedules vary day to day
Festival Dancers
9–10:30 a.m. | Ballet Technique
10:45 a.m.–12:45 p.m. | Rehearsal/Pointe/Variations
1 p.m. | Lunch
2–3 p.m. | Rehearsal/Contemporary Variations (male/female together)
3–5 p.m. | Rehearsal
5:30 p.m. | Dinner
6:30–8 p.m. | Evening Class (Ballet, Contemporary Ballet, Partnering, Broadway, Master Class with Visiting Artists)
Why CHQ?
Why Chautauqua?
- Learn from professional company members
- Dancers take three to four intensive classes per day
- Share the complete Arts experience by living with students in other disciplines – expand your appreciation for music, opera, visual arts, theater
- Perform in our brand new, state of the art 4,000-seat Amphitheater with a live orchestra
- Classes with well-known teachers who also choreograph just for Chautauqua students
- Nurturing environment
- Dramatic lakeside setting
- Dorms adjacent to the dance studios
- Small, intimate class size
- Dance talents are appreciated by a thriving community of residents and visitors who come to take advantage of Chautauqua’s unique environment
- Choreographic Workshop, in collaboration with the Music School Festival Orchestra – designed to foster the students’ own choreographic talents. New works performed in studios and the Amphitheater
- Special weekly topics of interest to dancers