2 daughters have danced here since age 3. One danced more recreationally and focused on sports and…read moreone joined the dance company. What I have loved is that Dance Connection supports kids and families at whatever level they are in their dance journey. The studio has been part of Palo Alto for 40 years. I know parents of dancers who danced here! My dancer has tuned her area of deepest interest but loves all genres - tap, musical theatre, lyrical, jazz and hip hop. While she does not focus on ballet, the studio has an amazing program for ballerinas at the most senior level. My daughter builds a strong foundation and body through ballet classes, which supports all of her dancing. She has grown in confidence, discipline, and teamwork.

A terrible first dance class experience for my child, and a waste of time / money for us…read more We signed up for a trial class for the 3-5 combination dance. First of all, we weren't told the regular teacher would be replaced by a substitute. The substitute was inexperienced and didn't engage my child, who was attending for the first time. We walked up to the teacher before the class and told her that we are here for a trial so she knew that we are new. Yet, the teacher ignored my child the entire time, even when it was clear that my child was struggling to understand what was going on. She made 0 efforts to help her fit in; my child was left alone standing at the corner the entire time. Zero teaching, zero caring. Will definitely not come back.

I have tried the Thursday Beginner Ballet and Strength and Stretch classes here. Both are taught by…read moreMacKenzie and she is incredibly patient, kind, and sweet! I do think the Beginner Ballet sessions are on the short side (they are only 45 mins) and as a result are better suited for people looking to refine their technique than complete beginners who need to build foundations. Strength and Stretch is also probably best suited to experienced dancers, as the class has students doing crunches for consecutive minutes with no breaks and going into straddles, side splits, and advanced yoga poses with very little preparation and no modifications (this class is also only 45 mins, so warm up and cool down are quite brief). I would rate my experience as a novice to dance as 3 stars, but more experienced dancers may get more benefit from these particular classes, and it seems the ballroom classes are much more popular and well reviewed. This is a convenient location right off Foothill Expressway with ample parking in the back. There are classes in other dance styles (especially ballroom) almost every day of the week, so I may try those another time.

About 8 months ago, I resumed ballroom dancing after a long hiatus and started taking group classes…read moreat Arete Dance Center. This place is great! Not only are the teachers very good, but they also create a very welcoming environment. Most of the group classes are small enough that students can get some individual attention. At the outset, I had no intention of taking private lessons, but one thing led to another and now I'm also taking a weekly private lesson.

My 3 year old daughter loves this class! Teachers are patient, kind and engaging. We come every…read moreweek, and if we have to miss a class it's really easy to make up classes.

Unfortunately, we had to cancel due to scheduling issues, but I also observed that the 18-month to…read more3-year age range felt challenging for us as we hit our 1-year anniversary of being at Tutu School & my toddler was closer to 3. There's a big developmental jump between new walkers and 2-3-year-olds and while our teacher did a wonderful job trying to engage everyone In our class, the younger children understandably needed more support, which made it harder for the older toddlers to stay engaged. I'm hoping maybe smaller or more age-specific grouping in the future, if possible, would help create a calmer, more focused environment for the kids. Also, the routines started to feel a bit repetitive for the older toddlers, which I suppose is understandable, but there was less enthusiasm to participate with my almost 3 year old as our class became a majority of younger babies.

I can't say enough positive things about Studio650. The instructors, the owner and the entire staff…read moreare incredible. My daughter has been dancing here since she was two and we have seen so much growth both in her dance abilities and her as a person. The entire team is wonderful, so supportive and kind. I'm so grateful for all the studio has done for my daughter... highly recommend!!!

When we moved to MP, we were looking for a dance community for my daughters that was inviting,…read morenurturing, put kids first, was skills-based and provided a foundation to build confidence and a pure love for dance. We tried a few places but nothing compared to the warmth and talent of the awesome teachers and company coaches of Studio650 (formerly CDBN). Six years later, I would never change our decision and my girls are thriving and happy on their company teams and have made the best friends. Most of all, we feel blessed that the girls have so many teammates to look up to and who look out for one another. The team and parent-coach camaraderie is amazing. A true gem in the cut-throat Menlo Park/Palo Alto area.

The schoolmaster Lu laoshi is a very rude and ill-bred teacher. She takes the insult to her…read morestudents as a form of strictness. If you want your kids lose confidence, be humiliated, you can sent your kids to the school. I just give you an example, she asked some students to take off their ballet skirts, and show their hip to the other students.The reason is she want other students know how fat they are. Even in China, there are no teachers treat students like this! If a teacher does this action , the parents will prosecute her. She also said your mom is very fat, do you want like your Mom? She not only disrespected the students, but also disrespected the students' parents. In addition, she discriminated against Chinese Children even though she is a Chinese! So ridiculous!

My daughter has attended New Century Dance for around 4 years and this review will be a mixture of…read moreboth her experiences as a student and mine as a parent. 1) Classes are increasingly going back to in-person and although all students wear masks (and will be provided with one if not), there is no social distancing protocol - Students will be very close together at times - During an online dance competition, students did not wear masks while recording all pieces - Even when the county is in purple tier, advanced students will be expected to go to in-person (especially for competitive team classes) - As of recently, it is required to get COVID tested if student want to be in person - Upon entry Lu Lao Shi (the main teacher) will take student's and faculty's temperature - Equipment is sanitized and hand sanitizer is available 2) There is a lack of planning and communication between the school and parents - Often Lu Lao Shi will expect parents to drive students to school on demand or expect students to show up to new classes with very little notice - Competition dates will not be announced until a few months before - Families are expected to put dance first and everything else second (i.e. missing recitals, events, and tests for a dance event) 3) Lu Lao Shi often demeans her students and lowers their self esteem - I have witnessed Lu Lao Shi telling students as young as 7 that they are fat and should eat less - Students are expected to fit in the body type of professional dancers and students who don't are shamed in front of the whole class - Teens with developing bodies are told to lose up to 10-15 pounds and threatened that if they didn't they would not be able to have private lessons 4) Lu Lao Shi speaks in mainly mandarin and most of the students are of Chinese heritage - Lu Lao Shi can speak English but typically uses very little and only for her non-mandarin speaking students - Ms. Jocelyn Lu, Ms. Asia Bui, and most of the other teachers can speak english fluently and is their primary language in class 5) Class time is wasted with long lectures (regularly 30+ minutes and waste valuable class time) - This is only in Lu Lao Shi's classes, where when I have sat in on my daughter's online lessons noticed that she would talk continuously about things unrelated to the class - These spiels can be centered around specific students and their flaws and Lu Lao Shi embarrasses them (sometimes to the point of tears) - Technique classes will start 5 minutes late and end 10 minutes late on a regular basis 6) Students are accelerated due to their race, body type, or height - As touched upon before, many students are put into a more advanced class or being given more opportunities because of things they cannot control - Older students attend most classes based on height and students of the same age but of differing height don't get the same opportunities to improve - Students with the more ideal "ballet body" will be given solos and will be given more attention compared to everyone else - Most of the Non-Chinese or biracial students will be "showcased" to show the "diversity" on the school's social media and will also get more attention 7) Students with better financial support and who can afford multiple sets of dance clothes/hair supplies will be preferred and Lu Lao Shi will expect all students to be that way - I've witnessed a student with only one pair of leotard or tights get mocked by Lu Lao Shi in front of the class - Advanced students are also expected to be able to spend $100+ on new pointe shoes every 2-3 months 8) Most of the teachers are encouraging, supportive and helpful - Lu Lao Shi has good intentions and as mentioned in previous reviews, truly does want to push students as much as she can. However, since she was brought up in a professional and outdated environment, many of her views and teaching methods harm students more than help - Ms. Jocelyn Lu is trained in both classical Chinese dance and ballet and is a patient teacher who helps students grow their technique. Often times I find my daughter learns more from Ms. Lu than Lu Lao Shi herself. Unfortunately, Ms. Lu only teaches the competitive team dance classes and not the usual technique classes. - Ms. Asia Bui, a professional ballet dancer with the Sarasota Ballet, was only a regular teacher for about 3 months before teaching exclusively adult classes. In this short time, her teaching style was much more laid-back than Lu Lao Shi but also helped my daughter with her basic ballet technique. All in all, the studio has helped my daughter grow as a dancer, but also helped contribute to her low self confidence and her self consciousness (comparing herself with other dancers in her class). The first step towards making this studio better would definitely start with Lu Lao Shi fixing some of the things noted on this review.

My daughter had a time during the summer camp program. Made good friends and learned painting and…read morecrafting skills.

Friend recommended CalColor Academy and now I get why :) Super Fun and Educational, the teachers…read moreare so patient and really Caring for Child's Growth. My niece came out of class buzzing, showing off her watercolor piece like a little pro! We're already planning the next session!!

This is a small dance studio that takes pride in the experience of all the dancers of all ages…read more LADA is owner-operated and is self-described as the "next generation" of San Juan Dance. It really is like a dance family where the kids get much more than dance lessons; they get a positive role model and mentoring and a community of dancers and their families. They offer a variety of classes and they have a competition dance team. They're located in the heart of downtown Los Altos.

My family take several classes here (piano and violin). All teachers are very professional, either…read morehave Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in Performance or are have extensive teaching experiences. The owner hold a high standard of choosing teachers and also a teacher/performer herself. Ms.Qi is a very experienced violin teacher, her sharpness of observing student's places to improve and break down to the manageable pieces is quite impressive for this hard instrument. My kid improved a lot even in a few months. The piano teacher Lywon is also really good at teaching. They are capable of teaching from beginner level to professional level, and adjust the communication/teaching according to the level of the student which is really make this place a gem.

My daughter is taking several classes here for years. Their classes are online before but recently…read morethey have in-person classes. The teachers are very professional. They are pretty nice for beginners and young kids. My daughter have tried piano, violin, percussion and voice classes. We found we could take many music training in one studio which is so convenient. We love this studio! Highly recommend!