This is our third dance studio. We love this place! There is such a nice community vibe. My…read moredaughter loves her class. The teachers seem great. And it feels very professional. Less pressure for recitals and expensive costumes. Great communication with the newsletter and Mrs. Chong in the office

I'll start off by sharing a positive experience I had at The Studio Seattle, which was getting to…read morelearn from Hailey Henderson. Hailey is as excellent of an instructor as she is an actor. She clearly loves teaching and is incredibly knowledgeable about acting theory and applications. Hailey has high expectations for her learners and is also deeply compassionate, a perfect combination for creating an effective learning environment. I am immensely grateful to have been able to learn with her. Hailey is the primary instructor for The Studio Seattle, whereas Andrew Tsao is the artistic director and founder. Andrew was going to cover the last several weeks of classes in my Acting Foundations 2 class series, and prior to this he co-taught a class with Hailey. In this class, Andrew had us participate in exercises where we would be improvising interactions with a scene partner. These scenes were meant to be highly realistic- we were playing ourselves and had similar relationships to each other as we do in real life. Our objectives and given circumstances were given to us individually, without our scene partner's (or the class's) knowledge. In one scene, Andrew had one of our male classmates play the role of a sexual predator towards not one, but two of our classmates. When his scene partner responded to his unwanted advances authentically, by attempting to distract the perpetrator and leave, Andrew told her that she was responding incorrectly and that should/would in fact "fight". He also told her that her "avoidance" would be a hindrance to her as an actor. In another scene, part of the given circumstances was that one of my classmates had had an abortion. I followed up with Andrew expressing my concern that not one, but two extremely sensitive topics, particularly for women, were chosen for these exercises. I stated that that the nature of the exercises required us to be ourselves, thereby increasing the level of sensitivity and creating a high potentiality for trauma/re-traumatization. I acknowledged that while actors do work with difficult content, we get to choose and consent to this, which was not an option in this situation (since we did not know our scene partner's backgrounds or objectives). I stated my expectation that content will be more thoughtfully chosen for these exercises moving forward and that learners be made more fully aware of their options. Andrew's initial response acknowledged that he could have been more thoughtful in ensuring everyone was aware that they could opt out of the exercises. He did not address my concerns over the nature of the content itself, other than implying that more experienced actors would have been fine with the content (I have since heard from multiple other acting instructors that this is not at all the case). I responded by saying that I appreciated his effort to improve transparency around opting out of exercises moving forward. I again stated my concern over the content itself, particularly as it relates to women, and expressed skepticism that more experienced actors would have been fine with the content. Overall, I felt like my concerns were dismissed. Andrew responded by disinviting me to continue attending classes at The Studio Seattle. Based on my experience, I'm of the opinion that Andrew Tsao is not interested in feedback as it relates to the safety of his students, particularly women. For this reason, I would caution any woman/female person against taking classes at The Studio Seattle.

I have completed Foundations 1 & 2 at The Studio Seattle and cannot speak highly enough about this…read moreprogram and instructors. Alana's deep understanding of theory and process offers the groundwork to feel comfortable and prepared for the deeper work in Foundations 2, while Aaron has a magical way of balancing thoughtful and respectful lessons with a humility and irreverence that creates a joyful space to learn and try new things. Thank you, Andrew for creating a welcoming, enriching, and intensive space in Seattle.

The SRJO is an outstanding community resource that keeps the art of big band jazz alive and well in…read moreSeattle. The group includes many of the best players in our region, and they play authentic versions of well and little known big band standards and classics from the golden era of big band jazz. One of their strengths is that they have members who obsessively listen to original recordings of music for which no charts exist and write out, note for note, what every band member was playing. This requires the highest level of ear training and is incredibly detail oriented and time consuming work. But the playoff is authenticity in their performances. The SRJO often features first rate touring musicians in their performances. They typically perform in the upstairs, more intimate theater in Benaroya Hall and at the Kirkland performance center. There's not a bad seat in either house. If you love live music, big band jazz, or if you have a child playing in jazz band at one of our local middle or high schools, you owe it to yourself to check out the SRJO. You won't be disappointed.

I had Shayla design a new logo for my business as well as new business cards with the new logo on…read moreit. They both turned out amazing! Her prices are fair and her turn around time was fast and she is super friendly. I had given her a very broad idea of what I wanted in my new logo and she was able to come up with something I loved that reflected the new focus of my business. 100% recommend for all your design needs!

Seattle Frontrunners has worked with Shayla twice - she designed our newest club logo and a…read moreseparate logo for our largest fundraiser of the year. Shayla is wonderful to work with, both because of her design acumen and her ability to work with people with very different (and competing) perspectives. She has my absolutely highest endorsement! At the outset, she produced concepts that were distinct and original (10 in our last project!), and tweaked them effectively based on feedback she received from our committee. Each time, she came with multiple iterations of each design so we could see how it might look on various platforms. Shayla explained her thought process thoroughly, but in a way that was digestible for non-designers (like me). Even though I'm positive she was "watering down" her language to ensure someone like me understood her, she never made me feel silly or "less than," which I appreciated. In both projects, there are multiple designs we could have chosen and been thrilled with. With Shayla, it was never "what's the one design that's good or right for us," but instead, "each of these designs are awesome - what direction do we want to go in?" That was what we wanted for our organization and the visual possibilities also led to productive conversations about who we are and where we're going. In our first project, we had a ton of voices weighing in (15+ people) and Shayla was gracious and responsive to every person's input. I was wowed by how in subsequent iterations, she referenced specific feedback from most of the people who provided it. I couldn't remember most of the feedback myself! Lastly, Shayla is funny, thoughtful, warm, and friendly. She was really a pleasure to work with. I anticipate we will return to her in a few years when it's time for the next iteration of our logos. President, Seattle Frontrunners

This review is a long time coming for me. I took my first jazz night school class in 2019 shortly…read moreafter moving to Seattle. It's by far been the best thing I've done for my musical journey, ever. The progress in my playing I've made from participating in ensembles is truly amazing. It just works because you're thrown in the real deal right away (at a level that's good for you but still challenging.) By "the real deal" I mean playing music with people, working on challenging but approachable songs, & getting real time feedback from fellow musicians as well as pros (the teacher for one's ensemble.) Jazz Night School gave me the confidence to begin building community and playing with groups outside of classes too. Now I play with a few groups around town & have a lot of gigging experience. Even though I have met enough people to keep me pretty busy outside of JNS I still continue to take classes because they constantly push me to be a better player & I learn so much each session. Looking back at each session when it's done is always stunning because I feel like I've come so far since the beginning even though it was only 10 weeks. On a last sidenote, it's a fantastic deal especially for drummers like me because you have free access to studio time (drum sets provided by the school.) The cost of renting a studio in Seattle almost pays for the class cost if you take advantage of free studio time too. All that being said, I couldn't recommend this fantastic non-profit organization & welcoming community of serious musicians enough!

Amazing that there are so few reviews as JNS has been going for 10 years now. There are a couple…read morethat Yelp screened out for some reason that seem sincere to me... I'm a middle aged music "hobbyist" that takes seriously improving my craft. I've been coming to JNS on and off over the last 5 years or so. I'm passionate about learning music and becoming a better musician, and I also work full time, so going to Cornish or Berklee or some other full time program is just not realistic. Also, I come from a rock background, and don't really know a lot about jazz (at least, I didn't when I started), but music is music and there are a lot of commonalties and fundamentals that cross styles. The courses and workshops have helped me take my playing to whole new levels in both rock and jazz idioms. First, major kudos to Erik Hansen - the visionary behind the school. He was educated at Berklee, *really* knows his stuff, and is wildly passionate about music and teaching. His enthusiasm is contagious. And he takes a genuine interest in the growth and success of the students. He's done an extraordinary amount of work to make JNS worthwhile for students. I've taken a number of classes with Erik and I've learned a lot in each one. Second, the other teaching staff are also passionate about teaching and learning, and helping each student improve. I've taken theory and performance courses, and the teachers would help me take the learning as deep as I wanted or was able to go. All have been remarkably supportive. Third, from time to time there are one-day workshops presented by talented musicians. Notably, saxophonist Anton Schwartz and trumpeter Jared Hall are regulars. Thought I play guitar, without exception I've come away from each workshop I've attended with some ideas that have made a real difference to my playing or how I think about and approach music. I like that I can pick and choose how much coursework I can integrate into my schedule and I'm not beholden to some N-year program or schedule. The cost for classes and workshops is reasonable, and the value is high. I feel fortunate that I discovered JNS, and I enthusiastically recommend it to anyone who is serious about improving their musicianship.

Okay, I have a little positive bias towards this group since I'm the one that taught the founding…read moremembers for 11 of the first years they have been playing. They, in my opinion are the best taiko group in the Northwest. I would give them 5 stars, but they don't perform at enough shows to get the exposure. Plus as I had been telling them for years to not rush the tempo, and they still love to speed up the rhythm. Anyway, their shows are exciting with original pieces that they wrote and included great choreography. As I said above they don't play as much as I think they should, but they do have careers. If you do get to see them, you won't be disappointed.

Ken and everyone did a great job showing us around today. loved seeing all of the boats and…read morememorabilia. so much history here. They treat each guest to a custom tour based on interest level and prior knowledge. Great time!

I had an amazing wedding event during Chinese Lunar New year. They performed during cocktail hour-…read moreeveryone was thrilled and delighted . Well worth the $

This is an Amazing Dragon/Lion Dance team! I am Strongly Recommend Mak Fai Dragon/Lion team to…read moreanyone who wants a big highlight for your event. They did an excellent performance on my mom's birthday party. The guests were so delighted to watch their performance. Their coordinator/manager is professional, kind, knowledgeable, and responsible who helps to meet my needs for my mom's party. I am so thankful for that assistance because my mom is so happy with their performance. So Thank you, Mak Fai Kimg Fu team!