It's difficult to find adult dance instruction in Austin geared towards the older dancer, but…read moreSynergy's Silver Swan ballet program does just that. Theoretically, one should be at least 55+ to enroll, but exceptions can be made! The instructor, Maureen Slabaugh, is certified by the Royal Academy of Dance to teach under their Silver Swans model and does an outstanding job of making the class work for both absolute beginners as well as dancers with some level of experience. Currently classes are offered two days a week. I enrolled two years ago and really wonder why I didn't find out about Silver Swans years ago!! I hadn't taken a ballet class in at least 25 years and I simply love it! Highly recommend.

I've been taking adult ballet (Silver Swans class) for 2 years and it has been a fantastic…read moreexperience all around. Maureen is a phenomenal teacher - encouraging and nonjudgmental when you need it, excellent with technical details and technique when you need it. It's not just a good workout, it's also REALLY good for our brains! Every class has something a little extra challenging to work our memory and keep us on our toes. The classes are structured like the ballet classes of my childhood - first the barre, then the center. Maureen is great at giving options for newcomers and experienced students, and making sure everyone is both comfortable and challenged. She is also really good at helping people modify if they are injured or need to take additional care. Synergy itself is staffed with cheerful friendly people and it's always a pleasure to be there.

First off let me start by stating I am absolutely obsessed with the owner Mrs Tab! She is so sweet…read moreand helpful every step of the way! My 4 year old had Ms. KitKat and my 7 year old had Mrs. Bain and I am so thankful for their patience and kindness towards my girls. Learning ballet at any age can be a challenge but they made it so fun and disciplined! The girls also took hip hop and that was a joy to watch them learn and grow in dance! Thank you so much for all the love and support you have given my girls! Best dance place they have in central texas hand down, huge recommendation!!

I'm only giving them a 2 star because my daughter liked her instructor…read more We did a 2 year old class. They would start a few minutes late and end a few minutes EVERY TIME. The owner and her adult daughters frequently bicker in the lobby. The owner and others gossip about other parents. My most recent time, my daughter had to use the restroom. When I took her back there, there was no toilet paper, soap, or paper towels. A male teenager up front said that they are going through it too fast so they won't be providing it and the owner gave me a toilet paper roll to bring back there but then said I had to bring it back. I then had to take my kid out to the car to use hand sanitizer. LOL. It's so sad, it's comical. I would use caution when deciding on this place.

The overall experience I have gotten from the staff to the Parents is amazing. They are all so…read morekind, and the instructors are great. I have only been coming for a little over a Month now and am so glad our family decided to attend Dance here. The Pre Ballet class is what my daughter is in and they are extremely patient with the children. Will recommend this establishment to others! Great experience so Far!

We moved to temple three years ago and with two dancers we did a lot of research to find the…read moreperfect fit. We have found our family in Lisa's. Both of my daughters are in company in tap, jazz, hip hop, contemporary and musical theater, they have both done amazing in solo performances in overalls not just groups. They both are also en pointe in the advanced classes through the ballet conservatory. My youngest had the lead last ballet performance. Finding a place that mastered tap, jazz and ballet was tough to find but we did. My eldest daughter now works there as an assistant/teacher and loves it! Lisa along with her daughter Rachel care deeply about our kids and it shows. Love the studio.

Great dance studio and really nice teachers. Lobby had room for all the parents. I just wish they…read morehad bigger windows to watch the kids dance.

If I could give zero stars I would! Today I received the worst customer service ever by a retired…read morewoman named Gina at the front desk, who should not be working anymore period. I am a first time mom and had questions about pricing and dance classes and this lady was so condescending in how she treated me. She was a huge smart ass and unbelievably rude. It was a huge deterrent to gaining my business. I don't know what kind of business they are running but this was extremely unprofessional. Awful, just awful. Look elsewhere and save yourself the trouble.

My soon to be 6-year-old has just completed her 2nd year at Dancers Workshop. They are an…read moreincredible organization, and my daughter has thrived under their direction. She absolutely adores her teacher, Ms. Naomi, and wants to be in all of her classes. We've done the ballet/tap combo class for two years and added the jazz/hip hop combo class this year, and my daughter always comes out of the class with the brightest smile. Watching these kiddos do the shuffle step in their tiny tap shoes or hot steppin' while Gettin' Jiggy With It is the embodiment of joy in human form! 10 out of 10, would recommend!

This studio has been such a magical place for our dancer! She has confidence, has fun, and learns…read moreevery time she comes to the studio mostly due to the amazing teachers and the environment they create. Ms. Lori and Ms. Kristi have been a source of positivity and guidance since the day she started two years ago, and we are beyond thankful for them both!! Thank you DW for a great experience!

A welcoming environment for adult dancers of all levels. My journey began ambitiously with a Level…read more2 Beginner Ballet class, which proved to be quite challenging for someone who hasn't seriously done ballet since high school. Recognizing the need to build a solid foundation, I transitioned to Basic Level and Beginner 1 classes. After about six months of dedicated practice, I experienced significant improvement, making each session more enjoyable and rewarding. While I still aspire to join the Beginner Level 2 class, I plan to continue refining my skills, possibly through private lessons, before taking that step. I tried hip-hop for the first time with friends, in a month-long series culminating in a showcase. but I've also done drop in beginner, hip-hop and cardio hip-hop classes. I made some friends here, it is often the same faces that are loyal to certain types of classes and teachers. I love the Austin Dance scene. During International Dance Week, they offered $10 classes in various styles, including West African dance accompanied by live drumming--a vibrant and immersive experience. Additionally, their annual Memorial Day sale provides excellent opportunities for discounted classes and workshops. I think if it is your first time coming, you can do a class for five dollars or get two classes for $28. they have a small parking lot, but they also do offer to our parking in the Google building next-door for three dollars. It's more convenient if you have cash.

Unless you live downtown, getting there and parking for a class is a bit annoying. There are…read moreworkarounds, though. I don't care. The Pilates (reformer and mat) options here are worth any kind of trouble. I've studied reformer Pilates with three other instructors over the years and Vlada Sheber, master instructor and Pilates Program Director for Ballet Austin, made aching parts of me feel invigorated and ready to move. She gets what happens when you have a tinge of arthritis here, there or osteoporosis. I'm addicted already. I didn't need help in these ways, but she is also trained in teaching people after surgery, breast cancer patients, and more. Private or group classes? Check. Pilates for physical therapy? Check. There are several instructors with different areas of specialties, and they are beginning a new-to- reformer group class this week.

Dance Institute is an outstanding place to send your kids who are interested in dance! I moved my…read moredaughter to DI b/c of its ballet program. Having danced for many years, I was looking for a studio who would take ballet seriously. Ballet is the foundation for all dance genres and without proper instruction, a student will not master the proper technique to perform at his/her best. My daughter has improved tremendously under the instruction of Linda Holland. Her love for dance has exploded and now she dances with the Dance Institute Performance Academy, one of DI's award-winning competitive dance teams. DI also has a hip hop dance team called Street Heat. Its many talented hip hop dancers have also competed extremely well. The facilities and resources available at DI are not found elsewhere in Austin. If you are looking for a great studio to grow your child's passion for dance, Dance Institute is the place! Check it out!

Nobody puts Baby in a corner…read more Really, that's all you need to know. That and... come on guys, do you want to be Johnny's cousin manning the record player (excuse me, Ipod) again, or would you rather be Johnny singing "She's Like the Wind"? Er...ok that came out totally wrong. This is the Dance Institute, a beautiful brand new school built from the ground up specifically for the purpose of teaching you to shake your maracas or for your children's pointe preparation for Julliard. You might not think this is too special, what with dance schools all over the place, and Austin still not widely considered a bastion of dancing, despite the fact that Ballet Austin is the 4th largest ballet company in the U.S. But typically dance schools are constructed in preexisting spaces, and they do the best they can. This place is, well, bangin', from the design standpoint. Some pro dance folks have shown up here from out of town already to give workshops, and say it is one of the most killer dance spaces they have ever been in. Open, airy, that sort of thing. So if you care about that, voila! A very nice space to learn in. The Dance Institute's logo incorporates a couple doing a hot salsa or ballroom type number, and it is the partner dances that DI is primarily designed for (at least in terms of sheer physical space and adult classes), if you ask me. Their space is huge though, so really they can teach anything they want in there. In addition to the ballroom dance classes that start you on your way to Dancing With The Stars type stuff, and social dancing classes like salsa or two step, they also teach pilates and yoga. I am not familiar with their fitness classes, so I cannot comment on them, but they do have them. They also have regular social events (with byo beverages, last time Monichacha O and I attended) which are preceded by mini lessons in a variety of social dances that you can choose to pay for, or not, if you are already skilled in that sort of thing. On my 5 year journey to learn how to do some ballroom dancing here in Austin, I have taken lessons from many people, and at most of the schools in town. As I have improved, this has led me to become a picky picky bastard about my teachers. DI has several of the finest in partner dancing that Austin has to offer. And imho, Austin does not offer a whole lot of fine partner-dancing teachers (though I believe their number is slowly increasing). Teachers I like at DI: my faves there are Sabrina, Kat, and Denis. I do tend to favor the Latin dances, though, so these are the folks I have had experience with who I like, who do latin. Sabrina, the Ballroom Director, has had years of dance training, and uses a lot of crafty plain language descriptions to help you figure out why you can't seem to do a box step after 50 attempts Edison. Kat was a professional ballet dancer and not only teaches the ballet program for kids (I do not think there is an adult ballet program there now) but is a superb salsa dancer and instructor as well. Often she will get folks to go out to salsa dance at local clubs in town. Denis is a former U.S. 10 dance champion (this means that he and his partner competed against other people in ALL the dances they do on dancing with the stars, really really well) from Russia, yet despite being from a country that churns out seriously hardcore ballroom pros sorta like Bela Karolyi makes gymnastics champions, he is quite nice and caters to your ability without making you run through the snow like Stallone in Rocky IV. Additionally, you can take private lessons from all their folks rather than group classes, and they do lessons for couples getting ready for dancing at their weddings. Ok, so why not the 5 star? 1. they are located in BFE for a big chunk of Austin - you can see from google maps that Sitio Del Rio is near 2222 and 620. If you don't live close by, you are going to be burning a lot of gas to become Johnny Castle or Baby. 2. they are probably the priciest in town, though with the current state of the economy, perhaps they've got some deals going. 3. The number of truly intermediate to advanced dancers that are available at this point in time, in Austin, who frequent their classes there (or anywhere in town), to do Latin Ballroom, is still pretty low. This probably doesn't apply to most folks in the universe, but it does to me, so. The Dance Institute is pretty sweet. If they were closer to the heart of Austin, I'd say there is no good reason you shouldn't give it a shot to get your dirty (or Fred Astaire & Ginger Rodgers' style) dancing on.

I can't believe I forgot to write a review of this guy's class. Guess I was trying to forget the…read moreawful treatment and lack of professionalism I received from the instructor. Tony was incredibly rude toward me when I attended my first dance session with him. The other students were more helpful and polite than the instructor himself. I'm not the most coordinated person. I'll admit that and appreciate any person's patience when teaching me a sport or activity that requires a decent amount of coordination. I believe I was learning Polka or foxtrot at his class, but I was struggling with getting the coordination down since I was a first-timer. Tony was going about making sure that the students were on the right track. He looked frustrated that I wasn't getting it, and finally started to berate me. He asked me: "Why don't you understand how to do it correctly? Can you not understand English?" I was stunned and furious to say the least. He wrote me off as a foreigner unable to understand English based on looks instead of being patient like a teacher should be. I'm a native English speaker and was born in the US, unlike him, but saying something hurtful so casually like that wouldn't be acceptable even if the person wasn't a native English speaker. I've heard that South America had horrendous racial tensions, so I could see that Tony brought its racism with him when he came to the United States. If you're not an Anglo or Hispanic person, and don't have any experience with dancing, then expect Tony to say something rude when you don't understand his dance lessons on your first try. I excused myself and went to cry in the bathroom for a few minutes for the poor treatment. Then discreetly left the building. Lo and behold, the man had the gall to follow me to my car! He even positioned himself so that I couldn't slam my door without hitting him. He started advertising his other classes, and gave half-hearted encouragement since I was a beginner. As far as I'm concerned, the "encouragement" was too little to late when he burned a bridge by criticizing my English listening skills. I won't try learning how to dance again thanks to this man even if it's for my own wedding.

Tony has been a great dance teacher. I have been taking group lessons and private lessons for…read moresalsa for one month now and I have learned a lot of new steps and the technique of how to do the steps properly. He is very detailed in explaining how to do the moves in the most efficient way, starting from the very basics. The Sunday class where he teaches salsa, swing and country two step and Argentine tango is so much fun! I also like the Wednesday Batchata and Kizomba class. One of the best parts is when we go out dancing after class as a group to practice. I feel much more confident when I go out dancing then when I did before I started. I appreciate that Tony is patient and kind with all the students, no matter their dance level. Sometimes the more difficult or advanced moves take a lot of repetition, but he never makes us feel rushed. I have learned a lot in class -- even more than just dancing! And I recommend Tony's classes to anyone with an interest in learning partner dance.