Going on 20 years, McDonald Dance offers lessons in pre-ballet (ages 3-7), ballet (ages 7-adult),…read morejazz and hip-hop, modern dance and musical theater. The newest offering is a yoga/Pilates class for adults. My daughter has taken lessons here for 4 years, and all her instructors have impressed me with their professionalism and ability to work with younger kids. (I like them all, but here's my tip: go with Pat Doyle if you can. She is simply wonderful; my daughter took her storybook theater class last summer and loved her!). The facility has four spacious dance studios with sprung-wood floors. Weekends are always the craziest times; the narrow hallways are forever congested. The changing room is chaotic and too small to contain all the students; I try to avoid it. In the past year, McDonald Dance opened a small dancewear boutique, which is handy if you need leotards, tights, hair accessories and the like. The tuition for a 17-week semester (once a week classes) ranges from $130-$235. The end of the year culminates in a school-wide recital performance, at Barrington High School, in May. There are a number of dance camps and classes offered for summer.

I used to be a dancer and this is one of the first places I tried and was madly disappointed. I…read morethought the teachers were disrespectful and rude. They didn't care about their students and was only there for the pay check.

Perfect place for kids to learn to play and compete . Very professional coaches and excellent…read moretraining

All of the staff is extremely kind and they give kids individual attention as much as possible. If…read moreyour kid is really wanting to learn new things the coaches do a great job at teaching them. The coaches are very diligent with safety and making sure all kids are safe and comfortable, many are saying that it is not a clean enviroment. The gym is clean, its simply just an old building. Theres so many different areas in the gym including rope swings, and a rockwall in the foam pit. I went here when I was younger and I absolutely loved it. Theres large viewing areas in the lobby for the parents to watch their kids throuhg windows on the first and second floors. Kurt was very diligent with giving me corrections and taught me so much about gymnastics. I am forever greatful for American Academy and all that they taught me!

This business advertises by putting post cards in car windows. Not just in public parking lots, but…read moreon cars in privately owned property and in driveways of homes. It is illegal, and essentially polluting.

Convenient location and large parking lot. However, no…read moreaccommodations for beginner students, rude teachers, no sign with the name of the school on the building. Instead there are a bunch of pictures and trophies. Is it a dance school/studio or a souvenir shop!?

My daughter is an extraordinarily ambitious 6 year old with an innate passion for music and dance…read more She loves nothing more but to learn and to participate. Yet she was denied that chance, regularly, twice per week for over six months while I sent her to this terrible place, patiently waiting for this unacceptable pattern of "seclusion" to change. I was told my daughter was "new", that she could not yet participate fully in the upcoming recital that is why she was kept in the back... Not just in the back row dancing. She was either sitting biting her nails or told to move over and just stood there!!! Yet this whole time, they happily took our tuition money which was exactly the same as any of the other girls' who were actually dancing. But money is the LEAST important of all of this. My heart breaks when I think about how long I let this borderline abusive pattern of seclusion continue right under my nose... yet my husband and I were repeatedly told that she was late to start and that things would change after the summer recital... Well, six months later, the "recital" came and went (needless to say, my daughter was not even invited to watch the performance, let alone be a part of it - and quite frankly I would have never taken her to watch all the other girls dance while she was left out). But the final straw came when I saw tears in my little girls eyes once before going to class because all she ever heard from this self-proclaimed ballet "teacher" was "no". When I asked her if she didn't like dancing anymore, she said "no, I love it, but the teacher always tells me I can't". It is one thing to be strict, firm and focused on teaching. It is another to take a child's passion and willingness to learn and stick them in the back threatening their confidence and innate love for dance. SHAME ON YOU "Academy of Ballet & Arts"!!! Your diplomas hanging on the wall and your letters of achievement from Juilliard are good for nothing if you discourage even but one child from wanting to learn... and that you DID. My heart aches that I let my daughter endure this kind of unacceptable treatment from an adult "instructor" for so long. PARENTS STAY AWAY!!!