Dancing should be about having fun. Maryann's makes dancing fun for kids of all ages. The staff is…read moresweet and understanding. I will continue to bring my children until they adults and they can bring themselves.

I have been at Riley's going on our sixth year and love it!! I now have my two sons and my daughter…read morein this school. It has been a great pleasure watching my children grow as dancers and also as individuals. This school is very professional and does a great job making you feel part of an extended family. I have so many new friends and always feel welcome and comfortable. I can only say great things about the staff. They know what they are doing and have been a family of dancers and a school for over 75 years. I have always recommended this school to family and friends. The recital is a true show in the sense of Broadway and my family comes from all over to enjoy this spectacular event. I am one proud dance dad!! As for a previous comment I saw regarding the rules; it is clear every year what is expected of our children and ourselves every year when we register. It is in writing and you sign it. I think for you to say how horrible your experience was and then say you went back to register again shows that you see the quality of the school. My kids are always fed before the show and during intermission and have never been told they cannot eat. Your child is with you and is not left with the staff of the school. So if you brought your sick husband to auditorium full of people ad could not find a baby sitter for your youngest is sad and is your responsibility as an adult and parent. I also have never had an issue with my family seeing my children during the show. You are over exaggerating everything.

My daughter has been enrolled at Riley's school of dance for eight years. It is more than a dance…read morestudio, the staff there have become our friends. My daughter loves her classes and has made many friends. In my opinion, they prepare the best recital around. Riley's has shown my daughter to also care about the surrounding community, with the work they do for the local loaves and fishes. As far as the first review, I have signed the rules every year, when you make another decision you meed to own it. My daughter actually was sick at a recital when she was 7.. She vomited multiple times. They were more than helpful with the situation, allowed her to have food and drink to help the situation. We also had the option to leave if she needed to. However, my daughter did not want to, so we made the best of it. The next day she was not feeling better and we weren't able to attend to recital. The staff at Riley's wanted to make sure Catherine was feeling better. They were never mean or inappropriate. The staff and co-directors have always been respectful and wonderful.

Visiting family here from Austin Texas and needed something for the kiddo to do while here. Took…read morehim here, he had a blast. I mention Austin because we have this place called the Thinkery which I can compare this with. The Thinkery is relatively new, super expensive, and very pretentious. Whereas this is much older, and while some parts are missing/broken, it had charm, character, was well priced and was accessible to all. My fav part was the large climbing structure. Would visit again when in the area.

Who would have thought that there was such a hidden gem in Holyoke. I absolutely love this place…read more At first I was a little hesitant about coming here based on the limited pictures and reviews. I am not going to lie, I don't spend much time in the Holyoke area, so I was a little skeptical when I was driving past all these abandoned buildings. The parking isn't bad and a few quarters take you a long way here. I know people are little dubious about the street parking, but I have never had an issue, aside from a few of the parking meters being inoperable. There are also two garages that are across the street from the facility and the pricing for that is also fair. Remember bring change!!! I had to learn that the hard way. When I went into the building, I amazed. It is such a cute little facility. It is two stories, but the top level is more of a sitting area. You pay to get into the facility downstairs. There are elevators if you are wondering. The staircase is the way I like to go down because there is an artsy little metal dog that is there and my son always wants to check it out. Before you enter there is a little area where you can hang your coats. People normally leave diaper bags and lunches there. I always pack a little snack for my guy and leave it there. The restroom is also in this area. No food and water is actually allowed in the museum, unless you are heading to the back for a scheduled birthday party. The prices to get in are super cheap. I paid at the cash register and the cashier stamped our hands. After that we were free to roam. There are numerous play stations in this museum. They have an astonishing climbing area, a water works area, a building room, a mini construction site, an airflow center, bubble makers, shadow room, ambulance, fire truck, costumes, grocery store, theatre, a small slide, a toddler area... We can literally spend hours here. My son enjoyed himself so much that I decided to get a family pass, we have been here about every other week since my first trip here. I even booked his party this summer here. I can't wait for all his friends to play with him here. Mom and dad are getting a little sick of climbing through the playscape with him. LOL. Honestly, this is a great place for your kid to exert their energy. I wish I came here sooner, it would have been a more active winter. I recommend all parents to bring their little people here.

Fred Villari's technique is friendly to the kids and graceful for the adults. I bring one of my…read morechildren here and she is progressing wonderfully. She isn't being pushed through the belts just because we are paying either. The staff is friendly and professional the only regret is not being able to take some classes myself. Love these guys!

I have 3 grand daughters that go here and all of them enjoy learning and love showing off the new…read moredances they learn , every year my wife and I can not wait til it's recital time to see all of the progress not only our granddaughters do but other students that we have been able to see grow and progress in the arts

This is one of the nicest community music centers in the North East. I work and teach at several,…read moreand this is my favorite. The teachers are great, Jason and Jennifer (Staff) are awesome, the parents and kids are all enthusiastic learners and they offer just about every style of music and musical instrument you could want to learn there. Keep up the good work! The only drawback, and this is what I hear from my students, is the price. $49/hour per lesson for a 34 week commitment is a hard line to toe when you're on a budget...especially if you have several children in a family looking for lessons.

Well the website is out dated and incomplete! Definitely…read moremakes me hesitant about this business. I was looking for something to do today with my children. The pictures they chose for the website do not appropriately or accurately represent the cultural diversity within our communities in the surrounding towns. Hmmmmmm.....outdated and incomplete when everyone uses their phones to look up cool places to go planned or on the go.....sad....

The Academy of Music is a lovely, historic and intimate venue. There is so much history here, there…read moreare so many stories--I think my favorite is Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton attending a James Bond film here. The truth is, I attended a show here by accident. It was the weekend of The Back Porch music festival and I intended to see the show of Maine musician Griffin William Sherry. It was super difficult to get anyone on the phone, but I finally did, and was told that Griffin would be among the musicians playing at the Friday night show at the Academy of Music, which was also going to be a tribute to Willie Nelson! How exciting! So I hung up the phone, bought tickets, booked a room at Hotel Northampton, and then drove down from Maine on a Friday after work. It was a beautiful venue, and a marvelous show, performed by a who's who of western Mass musicians. The only downside was that Griffin William Sherry did *not* play in the Willie Nelson tribute. His show was at The Parlor Room, at the same time as the Willie Nelson Tribute, so we missed it. Very disappointing *and* although I wish the person I spoke to on the phone gave accurate information, we saw a pretty amazing show at a lovely venue, so four stars.

I loved the historical and classic vibe of the Theatre. The upper section gave me a bit of vertigo…read morebut it's a pretty common set up. It was big but still felt intimate. Great location - so many awesome bars and restaurants in the area (shout out to Packards and The Tunnel Bar). Parking was easy to find (and free since it was Sunday!). Minus one star because the traffic flow wasn't super well organized - you have to wait in line for drinks where people are shuffling around to find their seat section. It also did not feel accessible for those with mobility issues. Not sure if they have an elevator (didn't see signage) but the basement was a bit of a haul down the stairs (especially coming from the upper level).

I got a Groupon for Zumba classes at Dance Amore - I had resisted Zumba though others love it, but…read moreI figured I'd give this a shot - it was a great deal. I'll try to keep this as objective as possible not try to judge Zumba itself too much. Pros: You sweat a lot, you can be as simple or advanced as you want, it's not terribly expensive and the instructor was very nice. If you don't like guys in your class you're in luck. Cons: You sweat because there is no air conditioning and it's in a gymnastics gym (like an airplane hangar) and it's hot as hell. There is one big fan but if you stand near that, you're near the huge window that looks out into the gymnastics area's parental waiting area. So, you have an audience. I was the only guy. That sucks if you're a guy. I was generally too embarrassed to do much more than the footwork (the choreography is clearly geared to women) and even more embarrassed to glance back and see gym kids and parents starting blankly at us. As an instructor she was OK - her moves were clear (there's no vocal instructions in Zumba) but she seemed, well, a bit tired. Maybe she was, I don't know. I ended up leaving the class early. Bottom line - try a class first but give it a shot. You might love it. No one laughed at me, so maybe my embarrassment is all on me, but it's just not my thing. My experience was a two star experience but didn't want to rate so low that others might not want to try it at least.

I went for Zumba this morning. Guest fee was $6 for a walk-in class, very reasonable. The studio…read morewas small but cute. I love the painting on the walls. The instructor was very clear and easy to follow. I burned 510 calories in 57 minutes and enjoyed the class. It wasn't quite as energetic a class as my studio at home, but it was definitely a good workout and fun too.