Do NOT recommend! Tried this studio per the recommendation of a friend. Sherry (manager)was rude,…read moreunorganized, did not return messages, and was in no way customer oriented. The instructor was fabulous however, I felt a lot of time was spent finding music at the beginning of each class. I felt this should have been done ahead of time. Some classes were spent stretching the entire time. My girls did really enjoy her instruction. My girls auditioned and made parts in the school musical and as a result were forced to miss classes for a few weeks for mandatory practice. I went in to discuss this matter with Sherry and apologized for the inconvenience. I thought she would be excited and understanding as the girls made major dance/ singing roles in the play. An employee from Innovations called our school to check to see if this was indeed true and told the musical instructor that she was upset. The musical instructor was stunned that they would call the school! This was communicated to my husband who is also a teacher at the school. I felt like this was absolutely NOT appropriate. I was still paying for missed classes and this was merely a beginner class (girls were forced to enroll in a beginner class since it was their first class at the studio). We had attended Greater Dance of York in conjunction with Skyline Gymnastics and Gymnastics of York. Our family had wonderful experiences for years at these various studios and we were just looking for something less intensive as my girls play several club sports. Go to Greater Dance of York if you are looking for a great dance experience. The management was wonderful, all instructors worked well with the kids, and the facility looks like a dance studio. Innovations literally looks like it could fall down at any given moment. As a manager myself, I would suggest that Sherry should not be dealing with customers and Karen should be the face of the studio. Everyone seems to be intimidated by Sherry. Good luck in your decision!

The new studio is beautiful! The owners are great and the teachers really care about their students.read more

Our son went to theater camp ( Into the Woods Jr.) It was pricy compared to other local theaters,…read morebut he enjoyed it and felt like he learned more than anywhere else. He made new friends and the show was phenomenal. The end production was better than the other camps he attended.

My daughter has been dancing here for almost 6 years. We love it. The ladies who do the programs…read morefor the younger dancers are amazing. They are upbeat, enthusiastic and endlessly patient with little ones. The ladies who work the desk are warm, helpful, and always willing to go the extra mile. It has been great to see young ladies who 6 years ago were students; now come back to teach and choreograph. And most of all, anyone who has ever seen either their June show or their professional quality Nutcracker knows that their dancers are amazingly talented and dedicated. We hope to dance here for years to come.

Best dance school in the area~we have been there for 9 years and have loved it for our 3 children…read more Many options whether you are wanting a little dance or a lot there is something for everyone!! Everyone is always welcomed no matter their dance level or experience. How else could this studio be the performance company of The Strand Capital?

Both of my daughters have gone to Light of Life for now 13 years and 10 years and hands down it's…read morethe best technique and quality of dance in the area. If you're sick of sexualized dances, costumes and music, you should look into Light of Life. The girls are taught to worship the Lord through dance and honor him with how they do so. They have powerful performances that are original stories, biblical stories as well as shows like Narnia, Nutcracker, etc. They have beautiful ballet technique that is solid and disciplined and also excel in contemporary, lyrical, hiphop, jazz and tap. The cost is also reasonable as they strive to make dance affordable and reasonable for families. There is no competition fees or travel. When the girls get older and are able to audition for company, they have conference opportunities. Go see a performance and visit their website for more info. lightoflifepa.com

It Takes a Village…read more Forty acre village comprised of a farm, historic buildings, artifacts and some amazing craftspeople. We didn't really know what to expect coming here but were completely blown away by what we found. The Good: *Firstly, the craftspeople that were here during our visit were all simply amazing but special big ups to the Tinsmith and Blacksmith as they were both a pure joy to talk to. They both possess so much great knowledge and skill in their crafts. It was truly amazing to talk to people like this. *One of the better gift shops we've encountered, as it has wares produced by the craftspeople, as well as locally-made Amish wares and even packets of heritage seeds. *Great historic antique-filled buildings to wander around at your leisure. *Be sure to watch the short film about the history of this place at the Visitor Center. *We were here for almost four hours and still didn't see everything! The Meh: *Some of the trails are a bit suspect, so keep an eye on any old folks you bring along. The Ugly: *The farm part of this place could use a little love, but I'm just being nitpicky. TLDR: Great place for lovers of history, but definitely make sure you take full advantage of the craftspeople that are there that day. They're def the heart and soul of this museum. Without them, this would be a 3.5* experience.

Friendly staff and volunteers!! Lots of beautiful outdoor spaces and free parking. History is on…read moredisplay here

I visited Historic Rock Ford on Sunday and learned so much. The house was built around 1794 for…read moreGeneral Edward Hand, an adjutant general to George Washington during the American Revolutionary War. Rock Ford is a Georgian-style mansion, where General Hand lived with his wife and children until his death in 1802. His wife passed away in 1805 and only briefly remained in the Hand family before becoming a home for tenant farmers for the next 150-ish years. The house was saved from destruction by the Junior League in 1958 and then renovated and restored to what it looks like now. I learned all this and more from our guide Priscilla, who was wonderful. She told us about the man, the family, and the house, as well as the enslaved people and indentured servants who are a part of the home's history, too. The tour lasted a little over an hour, so I didn't have time to find the John J. Snyder, Jr. Gallery of Early Lancaster County Decorative Arts, which is also on the property. The house was beautiful, and the information I learned from Priscilla about General Hand and his house was very interesting. If you're interested in history and historic homes, the Historic Rock Ford is worth a visit!

One of many historic buildings in the area is Rock Ford, a brick mansion with a large garden. They…read morehost tours throughout the week, which is the only way to see the inside. There are a parking lot and a visitor center with a kind staff person behind the desk. They also have restrooms inside the center.

I visited the 1719 Museum this past Saturday and really enjoyed the experience…read more The guided tour starts with a short film about the property that provides some great context for the rest of the tour. Then you leave the visitor center and walk over to the first structure of tour, which is a full-sized reproduction of a Native American longhouse. Longhouses (large multi-generational family homes made of logs, saplings, and tree bark) were once ubiquitous in Pennsylvania, including along the Susquehanna River. At the time the Hans Herr home was built, south-central Pennsylvania was home to several Indigenous tribes, including the Shenks Ferry, Conoy, Lenape, Mohawk, Nanticoke, Seneca, Shawnee, and Susquehannock peoples. The 1719 Museum collaborated with the Circle Legacy Center and members of the local indigenous community to build the longhouse reproduction in order to share the history of and honor Pennsylvania's native communities and educate visitors to the area. With your guide, you walk into the longhouse, where you sit down while the guide explains quite extensively about the Native communities in the area, the longhouse and its architecture, and the relationships between the indigenous people and the Mennonite people who made homes in the area. After the longhouse, the guide walks you over to the Hans Herr House. It was built in 1719 and is a 2-story, rectangular sandstone Germanic-style dwelling. It is the oldest dwelling in Lancaster County and the oldest Mennonite meetinghouse in America. The guide walks you through various rooms in the house and shares information about the Herr family as well as the larger Mennonite community in early Pennsylvania history. Our guide was Cindy, and she was incredible. I learned so much about the Native, Indigenous and Mennonite communities of 18th century Pennsylvania (and - in the case of the Native peoples - a much earlier history of their lives in Pennsylvania). She really educated us on a broad range of topics, while keeping the tour fun (I love fun education)! She made my tour extra special. If you're spending some time exploring Lancaster Counter, the 1719 Museum should definitely make your itinerary! In one place, you can learn a little bit about Pennsylvania's Native and Mennonite communities, and it's just a special place!

Why is the Hans Herr House significant and who the hell was Hans Herr?…read more The house itself is significant as it is the last remaining structure that is still standing from the original group of Mennonites who came to the Lancaster County area to escape religious persecution from their native Switzerland. The house is also significant in that it is the oldest structure in Lancaster County and likely the oldest remaining Mennonite meetinghouse in the Western Hemisphere. The original group traveled from Switzerland to Germany to escape religious persecution then after a governmental regime change they were forced from Germany to England where they met with William Penn who allowed them to colonize a portion of what is current day Lancaster County or when they arrived in 1711, the extreme most western frontier of Pennsylvania. One interesting piece of information is that the house did not belong to Hans Herr as it was built by his son Christian which is why his initials are over the doorway along with the inscribing mark of 1719. On the tour you are told why the name remained(s) Hans Herr House versus Christian Herr House but honestly I forget why. Maybe something just deferential from Christian towards his father or because of his father's status with the original group that came to the area or maybe everyone just liked the flow of the name more so it's based on tradition? The tour itself is around 40-45 minutes and it starts in the building which houses the gift shop and you are given a brief overview of the Anabaptist faith, the Mennonites who are direct descendants of the faith and a map which shows the route the initial settlers took from Switzerland to Pennsylvania. After that you are taken over to the house where you see the three rooms which make up the first floor (kitchen, bedroom and all purpose dining room-meeting room-family room) and the second floor which is where the eight children slept and finally the basement which is accessed from a side entrance outside of the house. You learn that the key to the home's design is that they didn't believe in wasting any space so every inch served a purpose such as not having hallways so as soon as you walk in the front door you're right in the kitchen. One thing worth noting, if you are someone who is hardcore hung up on only visiting historical places if they have lots of original items then this place might not be for you. There is not a whole lot original to the house that you can see with the exception of a piece of the ceiling insulation on the first floor (rye straw + manure + ??), the wooden crossbeam over the kitchen fireplace and the steps which go from the second floor to the third floor attic (obviously you can't use them). Past that I think most everything else was changed out in the 19th century when the house was still used as a residence or in the early 70's when the initial renovation occurred to make things into a tourist destination. If you want more original take a look at the bibles on display in the gift shop which are original to Hans and Christian. I wouldn't call the Hans Herr House a must see, but it's interesting enough and the tour is the right length to keep everyone interested along with being located close enough to most of Lancaster County's tourist elements. If you go: The 1719 Hans Herr House is open April 1 through November 30, Monday-Saturday, 9:00 AM-4:00 PM. Forty-five minute Herr House tours are offered at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. This is not the tour information for their reproduction Native American Longhouse. That tour is offered at 10 a.m., 12 noon and 2 p.m and has an entirely different focus. Prices are currently Adults: $8, Children 7-12: $4 and Children 6 and under: free with a slight discount if you choose to tour both structures. There are also several special events that happen throughout the year and that information is available on their website.

My last stop on my weekend trip to Lancaster County this past weekend was at the National Watch and…read moreClock Museum in Columbia. I love a quirky, specific museum, and this museum was no exception. The museum is operated by the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors and was founded in 1977. Its collection includes over 12,000 clocks and watches, with about 3,000 of them on display in the museum. The museum is large enough that they hand you a map when you walk in! To be honest, I don't know the first thing about the mechanics or history of watches and clocks - although I know much more after my visit to the museum - but I really enjoyed my stop at the museum! The museum might be a little dated (especially the "Learning Center," but there were signs saying they were working to upgrade that area soon), but they had some interesting and beautiful pieces, but whether you're a collector of watches and clocks or don't know the first them about them, the museum is worth a stop! I'd be happy to return for another visit with friends or family!

Rock Out with Your Clock Out…read more The National Watch and Clock Museum houses the largest collection of timepieces in the country, with over 12,000 individual pieces. The Good: * Large, plentiful, free parking lot * Fairly inexpensive to visit at $15/adult and $10/child, plus there are additional discounts for families, vets, and senior citizens. * Research library available. * If you're into clocks, watches, and other types of timepieces, then boy howdy, is this the place for you. Lots to see and do. * Live demonstration (check schedule) The Meh: * If you're really not into timepieces then this probably isn't the place for you, but it's still an interesting place to learn history. The Ugly: * I wouldn't recommend bringing younger kids, as it's not within their attention span to enjoy these kinds of things, but I suppose it depends on the kid. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Conclusion: Fun place to check out if you're visiting Lancaster County, and especially if the weather outside isn't great.