Ballet Arts Ensemble, founded in 1982, offers dance education and performance opportunities in…read moreballet in Kalamazoo. They perform "The Nutcracker" yearly at Chenery Auditorium around the Christmas holiday as well as other productions throughout the community.

Black Arts Festival was held here today and was such a fabulous showcase of local and regional…read moretalent! It was the first festival I've attended in a long time and the staff did a fabulous job making sure everyone's comfort level is being catered to regarding masking and social distancing. I would love to see Kalamazoo go back to hosting at least a couple festivals per month throughout the summer. They always do an incredible job with our local Pride Festival, which did not take place this year due to the huge spike in Covid cases in the region in the spring. My favorite festival was always Taste of Kalamazoo, which I desperately hope will come back at some point. Greek fest was another treasure tradition that folded a few years back. It will be interesting to see how the space evolves as the new complex across the street and gets poised to open up.

Yoga festival〜！！I had been here for several event before！！It's good place to do event！！read more

This is Kalamazoo's premier ballet studio, along with the Ballet Arts Ensemble, and the oldest in…read morethe state. The instructors are incredibly talented and genuinely care about their dancers. The whole community is so warm and welcoming. It really feels like one big family. Such a gem!

We went to see The nutcracker this year at the first baptist church performed by Tye Chua dance…read more The owners are very friendly and nice. They warmly welcomed us and gave us suggestions on the seatings. The nutcracker performance was so cute and great. We loved and enjoyed the show very well. The lady from Will call was also very nice too. Tip: student tickets are $10 flat when you buy at Will call but must be paid with cash or check!

Our family loves Excel! My daughter has been dancing at Excel for three years and it has been a…read moregreat experience. My daughter has been lucky enough to have the owner, the awesome Ms Katie, as her teacher for two years. I highly recommend this studio.

I am very disappointed with Excel. The teachers there are not ready to handle children under the…read moreage 10yo. The words of encouragement as very rare from owner. She is very general with most of her cliental unless your one of her favorites. At that point she will like all Facebook post and say kind words to your children . The staff and owner are not very cultural based . The amount of work that they require to be done during a time when everything is up in the air is ridiculous . Why is it so important and stressful to have send a video for a team? Why not wait a couple weeks? When do you decide not to recital ? It is bad enough no one can travel for 6 weeks but then to put off vacations until beginning of July for recital is not a smart choice. Most of the young ones don't need to have this kind of stress. Send positivity to everyone individually. I except that from you since you except money from me.

My daughter has been taking lessons here for the past year and the quality of instruction is top…read morenotch. Her skills and confidence have grown immensely in just a year's time. (She's in her 7th year of ballet, but we added Ballet Kalamazoo to provide more of a challenge to her.) The atmosphere of the studio is very balanced. Serious dancers, but not a place where every part of your life has to revolve around the studio.

The newest classical ballet company in Kalamazoo, Ballet Kalamazoo opened in 2016…read more They are kicking off the sign-up period for fall classes with a Moana-inspired open house on Aug. 16 with "tropical tutus, leis and dancing." I'm looking forward to checking it out. They've got a pretty cool ballerina blog, also, available at www.balletkalamazoo.com.

Déjà Vu used to have a name, but now it's just overpriced drinks, bored dancers, and dead energy…read more You walk in expecting a show and get hit with empty vibes and staff acting like they're too good to engage. Nothing but flashing lights and forced smiles. If you're looking for fun, this ain't the move. Save your time and your money and go to angles or The Las Vegas gentleman's club in Battle Creek but it feels like the real party left a long time ago and they forgot that Déjà Vu used to have a name, but now it's just overpriced drinks, bored dancers, and dead energy. You walk in expecting a show and get hit with empty vibes and staff acting like they're too good to engage. Nothing but flashing lights and forced smiles. If you're looking for fun, this ain't the move. Save your time and your money -- it feels like the real party left a long time ago... and they forgot to tell the crow

Dances went from 25 to 40 bucks. ATM charges 30 bucks. They took the stage out of little darlings…read more Great dancers!

I am deeply disappointed by my recent experience at the Civic Auditorium. What was once a…read morerespected, community-focused venue has unfortunately declined--largely due to the behavior of its staff and ushers. The staff were rude and unprofessional, and shockingly unaccommodating toward children. This was especially upsetting given that we were attending a production specifically geared toward families and kids, Annie. Instead of being welcoming or patient, the usher we encountered was dismissive and unfriendly, making it very clear that children and teens are not truly welcome here. This venue is no longer family-friendly, despite advertising family-oriented productions. If you're bringing kids or teens, be prepared for an environment that feels rigid, uninviting, and uncomfortable. What makes this even more disappointing is my long history with the Civic. My family has donated large sums of money (we could have bought a couple homes with the amount we've donated) over the past 30 years because we believed in its mission and its role in the community. Sadly, after this experience, we will no longer be supporting it. The Civic is simply not what it once was. If you're looking for a welcoming, inclusive place to enjoy theater with your family, I strongly recommend looking elsewhere. Do not take your family to the Civic!

The ciivic theatre is a great place to support the local arts. The venue is decent size and the…read moreseating is great for a perfect view of the stage. The plays are well done. If you haven't been, go! The tickets are reasonable.

My wife and I went to see the Chicago show here and had a fantastic time. The seats were…read morecomfortable and the staff were all friendly and helpful. Overall we had a great time.

I've spent the last several years seeing shows at DeVos Performance Hall in Grand Rapids and I have…read moreto say I think we're a bit spoiled. They've done some renovations which have made the experience there better. Miller Auditorium could definitely use some polishing! It's a bit drab inside and feels like a high school auditorium to me. We recently attended Cats the musical there and enjoyed the performance, but there's room for improvement at the theatre. The main lobby/concourse area is super crowded and packed. Everything is on top of each other - bathroom lines, concession counter lines, coat check lines, merchandise counter lines, and box office lines - all squished into one narrow space. It has terrible flow and makes for a cramped experience. The women's restroom line was very long even when they announced the other bathroom upstairs. The restroom also has a big carpeted lounge area that seems like wasted space. There were also zero security measures in place - they weren't even checking tickets at the main entrance doors (they did check them right before you entered the actual auditorium). No metal detectors or checking of bags - something I'm just so used to at DeVos. It would be more secure and feel a bit safer to me with those measures in place. Our seats were off to the aisle side of the orchestra level. We had a pretty decent viewpoint, but I was very distracted by the ushers who were playing phone police and intercepting anyone taking photos or videos during the performance. That's totally understandable, but it was annoying when one of them rushed down our row in front of us to the middle of the section right during one of the quiet ballads. I think there should be a clearer announcement at the beginning of the performance, rather than being disruptive to other guests during the show. I would come back in the future if there's a show that I really want to see that's not in GR, but it's not the best theatre experience I've had.