Our experience with Five 678 Studio of Dance--particularly the Dream Dance Company--has been…read morefrustrating, disheartening, and deeply disappointing. While the studio presents a polished image on social media, the reality behind the scenes is one of disorganization, ineffective operations, and a toxic culture far from the nurturing environment it claims to offer. Ownership/creative director is not receptive to feedback and fails to show the professionalism expected of a business serving children and families. Communication is riddled with errors--emails frequently contain misspellings and grammatical mistakes, and essential information is often shared without clarity. This lack of precision carries over into physical products as well. Studio-branded swag, often produced or approved by the director, has been delivered with typos like "stuidio," delayed with no updates, or never received at all--despite full payment. Billing is another ongoing concern. Families are routinely mischarged for small items, with errors excused as simple oversights and rarely corrected unless challenged. Costume pricing is also questionable. Items sourced from fast-fashion retailers like Fashion Nova are marked up significantly, sometimes with vendor tags still attached. Leaving original labels visible while upcharging parents shows a lack of respect for families investing their time and money into the program. A particularly troubling example of poor operations was the studio closure during the height of competition season. Following a scheduled one-week spring break, the studio added another full week of unplanned closure to facilitate a move. Families were asked to help with the relocation while dancers were told to "practice at home." No makeup classes were offered, and no tuition adjustment was made despite the disruption to training and instruction during a critical period. Instructionally, the studio falls short. Dancers receive limited rehearsal time, and there is little focus on proper technique, stretching, or injury prevention. Injuries are common and are often dismissed without adequate support. On competition days, instructors are frequently disengaged--eating or socializing instead of coaching. While other studios rehearse and prepare their dancers, Five 678's students are left waiting, unprepared and anxious. There is no indication of continuing education for instructors, resulting in inconsistent and outdated teaching. More concerning are repeated reports of the owner making inappropriate or upsetting remarks to dancers, followed by instructions not to tell their parents. This creates an emotionally unsafe environment that damages the trust between families and the studio. The culture is toxic and exclusionary. Staff behavior often reflects favoritism, gossip, and cliques. Staff without dance backgrounds have been overheard critiquing dancers' abilities--behavior that is both unprofessional and damaging to young girls' confidence and well-being. The ownership/creative director plays a central role in this atmosphere. She has been observed belittling dancers in front of others, and when families raise concerns or consider leaving, they are sometimes met with guilt tactics such as, "You're hurting a Black-owned business," or told the studio "prefers quality over quantity." These comments are manipulative and inappropriate, especially when directed at children and paying families. Even some staff appear to recognize the dysfunction but remain silent out of fear of retaliation. Several have quietly pursued opportunities elsewhere while keeping their plans private, likely to avoid becoming targets of the same divisive behavior directed at others who've spoken up. What should be a positive, growth-oriented space has become a source of stress and discouragement for many families. Until the ownership/creative director takes meaningful steps to address operational shortcomings and foster a healthier culture, Five 678 Studio of Dance cannot be recommended as a professional or supportive environment for young dancers - especially girls.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Director and staff at Five678…read more My granddaughter came from a very difficult situation and was initially traumatized by the idea of participating in any outside activities--let alone leaving the house. I discovered Five678 online, read the reviews, and thought, "You know what, let me see for myself." As someone who was once a ballet dancer overseas and an AAU Basketball mom, I understand how parents can sometimes feel frustrated, so I knew it was best to experience things firsthand. Fast forward four years--starting with Ballet, then Jazz and Tap, Ballet again, and now Hip Hop--my granddaughter has blossomed! She is now confident, thriving, and exploring diverse genres of dance. I truly hope and pray that the school continues to be blessed, overcoming any challenges with the same grace and respect it has always shown. Thank you for everything you do. I appreciate you deeply, and if there is ever anything you need, please do not hesitate to reach out. I will help in any way I can.

One of the finest studios with classy dancers and instructors. Paula is a fantastic and caring…read moreprofessional with experience unparalleled in our DC area. She has the heart of a mother and spirit of a lion! Very talented dancers and performers. Also, there are many opportunities to get students exposed to people in the industry.

This is our daughter's third year at the Paula Brown Performing Arts Center (PBPAC), and she has…read moretruly blossomed under the leadership of Ms. Paula Brown. Ms. Paula Brown reminds me of the persona of her mentor Mrs. Debbie Allen, because she is tenacious in her drive for perfection, but compassionate toward her students. For example, she knows when they are not giving their best and will push them--even for simple things like remembering to dress in uniform or keeping after their belongings. My daughter has taken jazz, contemporary, and Horton classes, but her favorite is classical ballet. In addition to class, my daughter has been able to participate in fashion shows for Lord & Taylor, a dance competition and annual trips to see the Alvin Ailey Dance Company perform at the Kennedy Center. The end of year recital is a very professional production at the Bowie Performing Arts Center, with beautiful costumes and moving music. In addition, parents are friendly and committed. It is well worth the time and money to send your daughter to PBPAC!

My 11yo daughter switched here six months ago and we both have been very pleased with Just Dance…read more The ballet instruction is excellent and to very high standards. The owner Ms Sally has been very good about letting us into Cecchetti so that we could enhance our ballet studies. Now my daughter wants to do both ballet and Cecchetti here! I also appreciate the lower cost structure of Just Dance classes. This is a studio for committed dancers with a supportive but skilled group of ballet dancers.

Our daughter has been attending Just Dance for over 2 years and she LOVES Ms. Sally and Ms…read more Samantha as her instructors. Their energy and attitudes about dance are absolutely fabulous. Most importantly, Sally teaches the girls how to be strong inside and out and builds their self-confidence. She is their mentor as well as their dance teacher. Another important thing about Ms. Sally is the quality of her ballet instruction - she gives proper corrections frequently to all of the students (in a non-criticizing way), and the kids love the personal attention. The advanced classes are just right for challenging the serious dancers. Sally also teaches the Cecchetti method, which helped our daughter's dance ability grow by leaps and bounds. The training our kids get is extremely valuable. Several of Sally's students have successfully auditioned for programs at ABT, Joffrey, and TWSB, and have won scholarships from DanceMasters of VA. Our daughter also takes tap and jazz and loves every minute of it. The students and parents at the studio are very friendly, too. Sally puts on the best dance recital in the area each year (professionally executed) and the joy the kids have when they perform makes the parents burst with pride! Sally and Samantha really help the kids understand that dance is an art form meant to entertain an audience. I'd also have to say the music during dance classes is terrific (I love the Cecchetti music!) and they have a cool rock-n-ballet cd.

We had the BEST time in our private lesson with Amina. She taught our group of beginners how to…read moredance. After just 1 1/2 hours we were able to do a spirited routine together. What a thrill! She's a fabulous teacher with such positive energy. Thanks for a memorable evening!

Excellent teaching skills. Classes are small so a lot of opportunities to watch you and correct…read moreyour movements if needed.

RhyDem Fitness is so much fun. Monday evenings and Saturday mornings are packed with high energy…read moredance and aerobics moves. The music is Caribbean influenced : soca dancehall and hip-hop. Dee, the instructor is great and takes the the time to break down any difficult moves. The workout is challenging but its also a lot of fun.

This is the best dance fitness workout in Southern Maryland! I met Dee when she was an instructor…read moreat Kazaxe in Springfield, VA. She brought her high-energy; creative choreo; and warm, welcoming spirit to Waldorf and I am so excited!! The latest in Reggae, Soca, and R&B get us through the workout while Dee leads and cheers us on. I love her, I love the spirit of RhyDem, and I love the environment she creates each and every class!

I took a class with Diva Dance through Class Pass. The instructor was welcoming and explained the…read morechoreography really well. She did a good job of moving to different parts of the room to demonstrate the steps because the room was a little narrow and long so sometimes hard to see her with people in the way. I hadn't danced in a while so this class was good as a refresher If you are absolutely new to dance, the class might have been harder to follow. That being said, there were people of all levels in the class and it was really fun. Our choreo was to 50 cent " In Da Club". I plan to try another class and recommend this if you want to have a lot of fun and dance!

I LOVE divadance!! I danced for fun throughout college, and was missing it after moving a few…read moremonths ago to DC post-graduation. I found DivaDance in a random Google search of dance classes in the area, and my expectations have been absolutely surpassed in every sense. DivaDance is such a wonderful community, and every class is such a comfortable and judgement free zone (which is important when you are throwing it down and shamelessly trying new moves & choreo). DivaDance has been amazing for my work-life balance, and for pushing my homebody self to step away from my computer, get moving / trick my body into exercising, and meet new people!! As a side note, DivaDance classes always feature really amazing & wonderful women, as a woman in STEM I don't see a small number in my daily life, so dance has always been my favorite way to meet more diverse sets of people, and DivaDance has certainly been a great source of this in my life since they value empowerment and confidence.

Before our wedding, we took dance lessons here with Maria. We didn't have any previous dancing…read moreexperience and wanted to learn something simple for our first dance. We signed up for the 5 dance package. It very easy to select times for our dance lesson that worked for us and our schedule. We really enjoyed our lessons with Maria. She did a great job demonstrating the steps and breaking down each step so we knew exactly how to move. Each class, we would revisit the previous lessons and learn more advanced moves. We went through lots of reps and practiced a lot to the music. By the end of our sessions, we felt extremely confident and our first dance went really well! Our wedding guests were so impressed with our turns and dip. Definitely recommend coming here!

We booked a dance lesson with Maria at Dance Studio Lioudmila to practice our first dance for our…read moreApril 2024 wedding. Neither me or my husband dance and we were nervous for our first dance and our dance lesson. From the moment we stepped into the studio, Maria made both of us very comfortable. She broke down all of the dance steps into small parts to build our confidence and had us put them all together once we mastered them. We left the dance lesson feeling much more confident in our skills and continued to practice at home according to her suggestions. On our wedding day, we were able to enjoy our first dance as a married couple and feel confident in our skills thanks to Maria!