I visited Studio Ligaya for one of their line dancing social events! We found their events on…read moreEventbrite and were immediately intrigued. Included in your ticket is roughly 4 hours of good vibes, dancing, socializing, and lots of great food! There was lumpia, pancit, barbecue chicken and bistec. Everything was so delicious!! There is also pizza for the children. It's a family friendly affair! :) When it was time to start some line dances, the instructors were so funny and kind. They were also very encouraging and easily explained the steps. My favorite saying of the night was "there is no missteps, just an accidental solo." And that kind of welcoming and sweet energy is what I loved so much about this studio! The owner, Tiffany Joy was an amazing host and her enthusiasm was infectious. I loved when the lights would turn down and we'd have mini dance parties in between line dances. It was such a fun time! There was also a cute photobooth experience, complete with props to capture the moment! You're able to text the photos to your phone; it was so easy to use. My only wish is that it wasn't so far from where I live - our group made the trek from Brooklyn! But honestly, it was so worth the trip and I can't wait to go back!

For the past 6 weeks, my son has been taking Zumbini classes led by The Studio Ligaya's owner,…read moreTiffany Joy, through a program run in collaboration with his school. Tiffany first came to do a demo at his school and my son asked me to sign him up for the after school program. He has been happy each time we pick him up, and the school sends us videos of him dancing along with Tiffany and his classmates. Earlier this week I was able to take a regular Zumba class led by Tiffany at her studio and it was incredible. Tiffany is warm and energetic, truly a burst of feel good energy. Her studio is clean and calming, with a club/concert vibe in the main Zumba room. Today, I attended by son's last day of Zumba and though the classes are very different, Tiffany shows up genuine, warm and encouraging in both! She finds ways to engage both her adult and children dancers and she does so flawlessly. It was so much fun talking to my son about our Zumba classes, it opened up conversation about Zumba that wasn't there when it was just him taking the classes. One of Tiffany's missions is to connect families and communities and I think she does a great job of executing this task.

The greedy money grubbing daughter took over this place and now they treat every child like they…read moreare cash. Every child is supposed to get a full recital dance regardless of their skill level but at this school they pretend they are too good for that. They will admit to this in their reply. They will say my daughter is a beautiful dancer (yes) but she was not good enough to get a recital dance (no). They don't actually care how well your daughter dances, they care how much money the parents spend. This is not a great school it is a snobby school. I was the worst dancer at my ballet school and I was better than all the dancers at this place. When I took a class at Metuchen dance the teacher said WOW. My daughter danced at Metuchen dance center for 4 years. This is not a lie. I also took a class there for a year. I know this place well. This year they did a ballet. My daughter was in the hobbit dance, or so I thought. Just before the recital my daughter noticed that she and 2 other kids were standing still for most of the dance, while the rest of her class were dancing. It gets worse. At the actual performance she and these 2 girls were at the far far back of the stage, by the back curtain. They were separated from the rest of their class by a huge distance. They weren't in the second row, they were way way back there. They were background decoration. The rest of her large class were dancing at the front of the stage and for a much much longer time. When I complained about how upset we were that my daughter had to stand still and watch the rest of her class dance her dance, a teacher and the head of the studio insisted that all the dancers were dancing for the same amount of time. It's not possible to lie about objective facts. Everybody can see the video and everybody can count. The rest of the class danced for much longer than my daughter. Then Miss Kerri actually told me that my daughter was lying about being upset about this, because she knew the dance was done a month ago. How awful can you be? Don't give your money to these people. They will treat your child like trash and they will not apologize.

My fiancé and I are getting married in 2 weeks and after trying out our first dance routine in our…read moreliving room we realized we needed some help. I emailed Metuchen Dance Centre a few days ago and received a prompt response. We set up an appointment with Alessandra and with very little notice she helped us out with a beautiful routine that we are now excited to perform in front of our friends and family. I highly recommend this business as well as our instructor who had a great energy that helped me get past my "two left feet"!

Would you like to learn to dance or upgrade your current dancing and feel like part of a warm…read morewelcoming fun loving family while doing so? Then rush right over to Arthur Murray Highland Park NJ and make it happen! This is my eleventh year with them and I still have not run out of things to learn and great experiences in the studios and at parties. Lola K

Great instructors and a fantastic program for learning all different dance styles. My wife and I…read morehave really enjoyed learning new styles and going to the parties to practice them. There are a lot of great options for group classes as well so you can reinforce what you are learning in private lessons. Can't say enough good things about the staff too. They are fantastic!

Theater was clean and well kept. The theater space itself isn't huge but sound for our kids' show…read morewas just fine, and seats didn't feel crowded nor did the kids seem to have visibility issues in adult chairs even when adults were seated in front of them. Staff were organized and friendly. I had my purse searched upon entry; all bags were looked at. My ticket was purchased through Vivid Seats, and apparently they didn't provide me a legit theater-issued QR so I had to visit the box office. They were friendly and promptly issued me printed tickets. Lobby was a con because it's just small and cramped. This old building probably didn't have to house as much food and merch purchasing back in its day but the multiple concession lines were blocking people from just getting to the theater and accessing their seats. They have tons of low quality junk food for sale. The huge group sitting next to us had chicken fingers, fries, a ketchup smell that wouldn't go away... it was honestly ridiculous the food they allow in people's laps just to turn profits. I was surprised these people were buying full huge meals (that had to cost $40+ each for junk) at 3:30pm to hold it in their laps for a 1.75h kids' show. Whatever. Point is, if you haven't eaten and want to pay $40 for crap that will linger in your body, you will not go hungry here. Clean bathrooms were the right size to allow a packed house to process themselves in the 20min intermission timeframe. This includes the ladies room, which always takes longer, and it was for a kids' show, which adds even more time. I recommend pairing your visit with the Rutgers Zimmerli Art Museum if you have time. They are open until 6pm most nights.

Great night at THE State Theatre! I won tickets for a Ladies Night concert with Raheem DeVaughn and…read moreEric Benét, orchestra level, row P, seats 109/110. Perfect view of the stage, but I don't think it really matters much where you are seated due to the design of the auditorium. The opener was a rising singer/songwriter named Aniyyah, born and raised in New Jersey. Aniyyah's DJ had some technical issues loading her music at the start of her set, but wow, she has a voice on her. She, along with Raheem DeVaughn and Eric made for a fantastic show. They are all extremely talented vocalists, but Raheem DeVaughn without a doubt stole the show with his stage presence. Eric Benét however truly surprised me. His voice is absolutely incredible live. The State Theatre did a major renovation back in 2020 and the interior was previously renovated in 2004. It's as if we have a piece of Broadway right in the middle of New Brunswick, New Jersey. I felt like I stepped right into the 1920s with their vintage design and architecture. The acoustics inside the theatre are phenomenal. I'm not sure if it was my seating, but the sound was so crisp and well balanced. I can understand why any artist would choose this theatre as their preferred venue to perform in. One important note is their designated passageway to the closest parking deck which would otherwise be a long walk in the freezing cold. We were able to use the enclosed heated hallway as a shortcut which leads directly from the garage to the State Theatre located on Livingston Ave. We almost walked right past the entrance to the passageway, so I wanted to make sure I shared it with anyone who has read this far into my review : ) It's been many years since I've come to see a show here, and I had an enjoyable experience. I look forward to checking out any of their other events in the near future.

Ziran martial arts is the best place you can find near the Edison area if you are interested in…read moretraditional Chinese kungfu, or probably martial arts in general. Ziran emphasizes equally on the two aspects of taichi----- (1) Taichi principals and Qigongs, (2) combat applications. Most of the teachers in traditional inner-style kungfu have the problem of being unrealistic and imaginary(I personally experienced several ones). But this is not true for Sifu Seth. His skills are clearly examined in real application, and are well-balanced between effectiveness and intellectual value. From my understanding, his attitude is critical in a health way. They also provide weapon training which I personally found very interesting. Stickly sword/staff/stick/saber of Taichi is not all. Again, techniques of main-stream taichi got examined here. What remains sound are kept in the teaching. Members of Ziran martial arts developed an casual and welcoming atmosphere. It is quite different with some karate clubs who emphasize excessively and unnecessarily on traditional etiquette. People here are bros, they usually jokes and laughs all the time. I trained only for two months with them as I have limited time around Edison. Knowing that I will be gone quite soon, they actually treated me with more attentions and made sure that I learned as much as I could before I left. I believe this unrestricted manner is consistent with the idea of Taoism which behind all the Taichi skills. Learning Taichi is both physically and intellectually beneficial. Anyone joins Ziran can easily feel what I am saying in two weeks.

I have taken twelve years of kenpo karate, about three years of aikido, and have dabbled in Krav…read moreMaga, so when I moved to the area, I mostly was looking for any studio to continue my practice so that I wouldn't get rusty and get some exercise. I found Ziran Martial Arts after some googling, and decided to give the studio a try. After nearly a year of practicing there, I am ready to write my review. The long and short of it is, this has potentially been the best decision I have made in my adult life. I can only speak for the adult classes, but from what I have seen from recitals and seminars, the kids classes are equally good. For adults, there is Tai Chi, Kung Fu, sparring, joint manipulation and throws, sword forms and swordsmanship training, and meditation. Sifu Davis helps you work through which of these are most interesting to you--do you care about the meditative aspects, or the martial aspects, or something in the middle--and from there you attend whatever classes you want. One of the incredible things if you attend all the classes, there are many principles and applications that fit together. I have learned so much more about body mechanics and the principles behind what I had been doing in the past than I even knew existed. I thought the only thing that I cared about in martial arts were the direct applications of what I could use to defend myself if I were ever attacked. What I have discovered instead is there is an entire science of body principles that I have been using through muscle memory that I now have the opportunity to actually learn. I especially appreciate what is taught here, because the mechanics are designed to preserve your body and your ability to continue practicing well into your 50's, 60's, and 70's--one of the things that I never considered as a child because I didn't have to was whether or not the martial arts I was doing was putting a strain on my knees or other joints. I am very grateful that I am learning things that I can use to protect myself that are not going to hurt me in the long run now, before I have done damage to my body. There is also a fantastic community amongst the students. After attending classes for a year, I know nearly everyone by name. Everyone is incredibly friendly and supportive of one another. There is a large age range amongst the adults, which means there are people from all walks of life. We work together on forms during classes, and you can always ask another student or one of the assistant instructors to show you a part of the form. Sparring is always friendly, not competitive, and no one brings any sort of anger or attitude into class. When doing joint manipulations and throws, I have always trusted my partner to go slowly and give feedback about whether or not things are working, and respond to feedback. There are other graduate students and professors. I have been given advice about everything from schoolwork and life to how to better take care of kittens that I recently adopted. People offer to drive someone who biked over back home after class when it unexpectedly starts to rain. The studio sometimes does weekend seminars on special topics, and there are barbecues after the seminar. There's a yearly winter holiday party. There are a number of tournaments that people have the option to participate in, or to go to support participants. The community and the friends that I have gained through practicing at this studio is irreplaceable to me. All in all, I could not recommend this studio highly enough. I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to practice here. Anyone who is looking for the entire range of traditional Tai Chi principles and forms to direct and incredibly practical applications should come and give this studio a try.