Last year, My kid took dance classes here. Instructors are very nice and they know what works with…read morekids and what doesn't. They join kids as if like they are one of them and teach, which is why kids love to go these classes. The stage performance at the end was just awesome. As much as we love to see our kids cute moves on the stage, it just boosted my kids self confidence a lot. We are very thankful for having Miss Vaishnavi as the instructor. Patiently she taught all the steps and made them practice until they get it right. I highly recommend this place.

Highly recommended dance classes. My 5 year old daughter loved going there. We really enjoyed her…read moredance performance at the end of the session. Great effort by MDC and her instructor Ms. Vaishnavi.

My husband and I started looking for a first dance instructor about 2 months before our wedding…read moredate. We considered a few options in our area but we decided to meet with Lesley because of her experiences, pricing, and the fact that she is an in-person instructor (which is so important for learning dance!) From the first class to our final fourth class, Lesley was amazing. She tuned the choreography to our level of comfort and knew which parts to make more advanced based on our ability level. I will add a video of our dance to this review, it came out so so so beautiful! If you're considering having your first dance choreographed, I highly recommend Lesley. She is an amazing instructor with great attitude and patience.

Leslie helped us choreograph our first dance for our wedding. I had never done any dancing like…read morethis before and I didn't want to feel like everyone was staring at me while I was stumbling around. Leslie did a great job in helping us with something that would be very simple and easy to learn, that we could be confident in performing on the day of. She helped us practice it and get our confidence up! Her pricing was very flexible that we were able to schedule the right amount of practice time that we needed, and not pay for anything that we didn't need. She was lovely to work with and we learned a lot!

The Ma*Shuqa method is nothing short of magic…read more Ma*Shuqa is the kind of dance instructor you wish for. When I started a little over a year ago, I had no dance experience but was curious and looking for something, although I wasn't sure what. I found a mentor and a whole community. Mashuqa's mentorship is comprehensive. She has experience and wisdom beyond measure, but she combines it with truly seeing the individual student. Her instruction, the Ma*Shuqa method, is ideal for beginners and professionals. Over the last year, I have begun appreciating how layers of well-researched ideas (complete with handouts) come together to provide experience-targeted understanding. I am proud to mention that I am her student in the dance community, and have often been told how lucky I am to live near enough to take classes from her. She regularly shares stories from her International travels to highlight learning concepts and brings out new music from her recently published reviews. In Ma*Shuqa's Diva Retreat (an annual event), I was privileged to study with two professional dancers, even though I had only been training for 5 months. This highlighted how Ma*Shuqa's method reaches across belly dance styles and speaks to the individual. Ma*Shuqa fosters an environment that is respectful, supportive, and fun but encourages growth and potential. The idea of ever dancing to live music was terrifying, but after instruction with Ma*Shuqa, I feel confident with movements and expressions beyond the limits of choreography. I also recognize the cultural depth of Belly dance, learning the unique techniques and styles related to different regions and musical signatures. This information is supported in class and with the Oasis Circle, a social event highlighting musicians, respected dance and cultural speakers, well-being, dance adornment, and camaraderie. My belly dance journey has been challenging, as I am not a naturally graceful person. But I look forward to my weekly sessions at Ma*Shuqa's Hidden Oasis dance studio and have never felt judged by her or other dancers. It feels like a redwood canopied sanctuary where I can ignore the busyness of my life to focus on myself and my personal growth. Evolving from a beginner to a performance-ready dancer has been a guided journey complete with costume selection and descriptions, sewing suggestions, makeup tips, more safety pins and costume tape than I ever imagined, and the perfect amount of encouragement to keep me on my growing edge. I have also seen Ma*Shuqa backstage helping other dancers with safety pins, costume adjustments, and pep talks in a way that supports and values each person in their dance journey. The uniqueness of the individual is important in Ma*Shuqa's method, as personal style, movement vocabulary, musicality, deep rhythm and lyrical understanding combine into highly competent improvisational expression. And there is the added benefit by chronicling your journey because the video and pictures by Carl Sermon Photography are available at most performances. While my performance pictures look great, I got guidance on improving my professional photos with Ma*Shuqa's guidance at a workshop she and Carl put on together. If you are curious about dance, this is a safe place to try it out. If you are trying to get in touch with your body, this is a place to explore movement and flow. If you have danced a little, but want to learn more, this is a place of wisdom. If you are a dancer who wishes to break out of choreography, this is a place to learn to express yourself. If you got stuck with tricky rhythms (I am looking at you...9/8 rhythm) this is where you can learn these secrets. If you are a professional dancer and you want to shake things up, polish movements, or develop a truly personal signature, this is where to find the mystery element you have been seeking (and a whole handbook if you come to the Diva Retreat). There is nothing short of magic going on at Ma*Shuqa's studio. I would know. I hope you find your magic here too.

Ma'Shuqa truly represents the dancer of elegance. I love her charming character and passion for…read morebellydance. I have been learning bellydancing on and off for about 1 year. With Ma'Shuqa's instructions, I was able to have some breakthroughs with certain moves that I've been struggling with. I love how she uses positive mindset to power up your body's flow and rhythm. The way she teaches the fundamental movements is very easy to comprehend and it applies to dancers of all levels. Ma'Shuqa is a great master teacher with abundance of experiences in bellydancing. I love learning from her and am so happy that I have found her while visiting the Bay area for one month. I will definitely take her classes every time I come in town. Also, Ma'Shuqa's dance studio is absolutely amazing and beautiful! I feel so happy every time I go there.

I've attended various group belly dance classes but never stuck around. Somehow I found Petra, I…read morebelieve on Craigslist. What I liked about her classes was that it has a small feel to the class, she's very warm, and the classes are on the cheaper side (she gives deals if you buy in bulk too). When I arrived, it was in a house studio in downtown San Jose. Plenty of street parking - don't mind how the neighborhood looks. The studio is very nicely decorated with a chest of hip scarves and coin belts, heaters, bathroom, and lots of mirrors. Unlike other belly dance classes, you don't have to start buying your own equipment - Petra has the scarves and cymbals already. She truly knows what she is doing and moves so fluidly. The whole atmosphere: teacher, room, decor, music, people... it flies you on a magic carpet into the world of belly dancing. Right now I'm the most basic beginner with no coordination whatsoever - all gangles (gangly and angles). It makes me very shy, but I still try! Someday I will get good enough to be inducted into Petra's troupe! I highly recommend this place - it's a small group of FUN girls, GREAT music to get you moving, and we email each other events and discussions. Highly recommended.

What a great group! These are actual, down to earth people in this class. No barbie dolls, no…read moredrama, and a teacher with a key background in yoga and bodywork. Class always starts with smiles and stretches. Class has always been engaging and as a semi-pro, I can testify. Lessons are loosely structured enough to allow generous amounts of time drilling moves that are unfamiliar or exploring new combos. This is standard ATS with some house of Inanna flair. I find Petra and Stacy to be both genuine and open, I'm always challenged and encouraged and their feedback is always productive.

My husband and I reached out to DanceBasic for dance lessons for our first dance. Jenn responded…read morethe next day and helped us schedule lessons. She worked with us to choreograph a dance to our first dance song and tailored it according to what we were comfortable with along with our dance skills (none). She was incredibly friendly and flexible with scheduling our lessons when we weren't able to make it on the initial proposed dates. Working with her made us less nervous and she was very encouraging even though dancing was new to us. As we practiced more, Jenn incorporated more elements if she felt that we could handle it and I'm really glad she was so encouraging and helpful because we would have just ended up swaying on the dancefloor to the beat, which would have been fine but not as impressive. Even though we kept our dance rather simple, we had so many guests compliment us on our dance and tell us how elegant and professional it looked. I loved working with Jenn and would absolutely encourage anyone looking for a wonderful and unforgettable first dance to work with her!

Jennifer is amazing, patience and easy to work with. Highly recommended. Thank you, Jenniferread more

My child loved it very stressful when it came to show time …read more Costume were good for the nutcracker but in the spring weren't that good they were too short for my daughter and Very itchy.my child is very sad she has to leave after being there for 3 years the teachers are nice and loving I remember the first time she walked out of class with a big smile on her face she thought she was going to hate it but she loved it in Stead yes I do recommend this ballet school at least try out the summer intensive and if you don't like it then ballet isn't your cup of tea

This used to be a good school with highly qualified teachers. The quality of teachers and the…read moreschool has diminished over the past couple of years. Some of the teachers are quite nice but have little to no experience teaching and most of them have never danced professionally. Many of them are just high level students who have been promoted to the studio company. It is simply not a pre-professional school any more. The director and other teachers yell at students often. Substitutes are common, so much so, that at times it is difficult to ascertain who the actual teacher of the class is. Communication is very poor. Other reviewers who cited the lack of performance opportunity are correct. Most of the students are given 30 seconds or so of performance time with enormous amounts of rehearsal time required. The tuition continues to rise and the quality and hours of training continue to decline. It is too bad, because it was a good pre-professional program. Unfortunately, most of the teachers with performance or teaching experience have left. Everyone who remains, including the director, are focused on other projects. No one seems to be invested in making this a great or even good quality pre-professional program.

Started off with my kids classes with Akshay and Swati. They graduated from this school and wait it…read morewont stop there.... I joined adults class with Swati and there's no stopping.. I love love love all of Swati's choreos and she herself is an amazing dancer..... And what to say about Akshay... He is just too good in all ways. He is amazing amazing dancer, teacher and a wonderful person.... Learnt a lot and made lots of new frnds for life. This is just not a school but a place where you feel at home.,.. Definitely try it out and you will love it. I love it too. Best wishes Nikki

Many reasons why Starzz Dance is the best place to learn dance-…read more1. They are a perfect combination of professionalism and personal attention. 2. Its a safe place for all age groups and varying levels of dancers to explore different styles without hesitation 3. Class timings are pretty flexible depending on the majority of the group. So no more excuses for not trying out dancing!!!! My journey with Starzz has been fulfilling and transformational on many levels. Got a lot of opportunities,to name a few- Starzz Annual Dance show, Avadhoot Gupte bay area concert, Ganesh Festival, Diwali shows etc. The instructors are very talented and their focus is on helping each and every individual to achieve their own goals, whether it be just learning for fun or participating in competitions.

An amazing ballroom dancing studio, great community and the coach, highly recommend inquiring about…read moreit!

Robin our teacher was amazing! Not only was she knowledgeable, she was also super supportive and…read morenice. We practiced our wedding dance in 5 classes and did great! Super highly recommend!