I really enjoyed the performance of Booms Day that I attended at The Ruth Page Center for the Arts…read more The performance itself was high-energy and the smaller size of the theatre meant there isn't a bad seat in the house. Seating is first-come, first-served; however, it was not difficult to nab seats that were close to the stage. I enjoyed looking at the nostalgia photos and some of the other artwork displayed around the space during the intermission as well.

I love this theater! It's small and quaint. The staff is so nice and the location is great -…read morelocated in the heart of the Gold Coast. This little neighborhood theater offers big performances. Because of the theater size, all seats are fantastic. Don't think you're just going to get little shows that no one cares about. I have seen big numbers and small. They have all been very impressive. I always look forward to an evening at The Ruth Page Center For The Arts!

My daughter just completed her first ballet class with Extensions Dance Company. It was wonderful…read more She learned a lot and was inspired to learn and grow in dance. The company did a wonderful job transitioning to online courses during the pandemic. They even pulled off an amazing Zoom recital that our families could enjoy.

This is an amazing place. My daughter has been taking classes here for three years and is part of…read moretheir Company. The founders have created an incredible community that is compassionate, supportive, and warm yet rigorous and demanding. The kids and parents are all well grounded. This is not your typical "Dance Mom's" place. The environment is fun and approachable yet serous dance happens here.

I have found Glenwood Dance Studio to be a much needed component in not only the Far Northside…read moreChicago area, but in the arts community in general. Started by a group of dance students with no extensive professional experience, GDS has managed to cultivate and grow pretty much exactly what a good dance studio should be: a welcoming space with a variety of classes taught by capable and professional instructors. GDS is an adults-only studio which can be nice for students who are in a different headspace than their younger contemporaries. This also means that class times are purposefully created to be accommodating to most's usual 9-5 weekday schedule. There's also plenty to do on the weekends, so you have the option to dance every day if you want to. The bulk of the students tend to be beginners and non-professionals so this can help provide those who have no professional/performative aspirations a less-stressful environment in which to learn. Shy and new dancers don't worry - you're not the only one. However, despite this, GDS is also very welcoming and able to accommodate dance professionals and has had students from various Chicago-land companies come through. The studio is quite small - fairly wide though only roughly 3-4 panels deep, but for the most part (of course depending on enrollment) the teachers do their best to keep it a safe and effective learning experience - even for long-limbed dancers over 6'! I've attended classes at GDS for about seven years now and though I of course take classes elsewhere every now and then, I am happy to call it my dance home.

Glenwood Dance Studio truly is an amazing place! I took my first dance class of my life in March…read more2023 and I can absolutely say I am a happier and healthier person because of it! This is a safe space full of friendly knowledgable instructors and a warm welcoming community! I have loved every class I've taken! Truly Glenwood Dance Studio has changed my life!

If you're looking for a relaxed, fun, dancing environment this is it! They hold Friday night…read moredances every-other week in the upper floor of a park district building. It sounds stranger than it really is. It's a very nice quality and very large wooden dance floor, and best of all the people are very friendly. The median age is probably mid/late-40s. No alcohol but there are snacks. The beginner lesson starts at 7:30PM, the intermediate at 8:15PM, and open dancing at 9PM (lessons only $4 for both beg/int; open dance only $10 ($6 if become a member)). You DO NOT NEED A PARTNER as partners rotate during the lessons. This helps you learn to dance much more quickly than sticking with one person. Music covers most of the ballroom genres as well as country. It's a lot of fun and great exercise! About the only thing they could do to improve things is to dim the lights during the open dancing portion.

Attended the adult contemporary class last week. The front desk staff is friendly. However, the…read moreadult class can feel cliquey and unwelcoming. The choreography is definitely not suitable for absolute beginners, even though they advertise it as such. If you're considering giving it a try, I wouldn't recommend going alone.

I had so much fun at the adult ballet class for beginners! Old dogs can learn new tricks (:read more

Giving 2 stars instead of 1 because I actually enjoyed the class I was taking there (stretching…read morewith Linnea) and would have kept going had the administrative staff not treated me like crap. Aloft uses an online platform called VAMP for students to sign up for classes, manage payments, and more. I used to email them to let them know when I would be absent but then noticed on the dashboard that there is a "Manage Absences" button on the online account dashboard. In an effort to be respectful of their time I began using it to log my planned absences instead. I felt bad for having wasted the administrative staff's time before I had made this discovery of a seemingly more streamlined way to record my absences. But after a few months of using the "Manage Absences" button on my account dashboard, I noticed I hadn't received any makeup credits. This amounted to about ~$120 in class credits I should have received, but didn't. I emailed Sarah Tapper, the person who handles this stuff, and she responded with the lifeless and cold bedside manner of an animated machine, not offering any help whatsoever and instead just recited company policies to me without offering any solutions or even partial credit. (I've included all of the emails with this review but Yelp puts them out of order which makes it hard to follow, so I've numbered them to try to make it easier.) She basically told me that despite my efforts to be respectful of her time, Aloft was keeping my ~$120. Any other business would see that what I did by using a button that was clearly labeled "Manage Absences" to *MANAGE* my *ABSENCES* is an easy mistake to make and would have credited me back for the absences I logged but also informed me that going forward I was to do things following their weird old-fashioned protocol that makes you feel like you're back in the dial-up days of the internet, which I'll outline below: At Aloft, you are not to log planned absences in the streamlined account dashboard. That would be too simple and modern. INSTEAD, you have to email back and forth with Sarah Tapper about any planned absences AND log them into the account dashboard. (According to Sarah, logging absences in the account dashboard helps instructors know who will show up and emailing Sarah ahead of time is what gets you the credits, which seems like it just creates a lot more unnecessary work for everyone). It's like this place is run by the same people running the DMV or something. Like they've been doing things the same way since they first opened over a decade ago and are holding their own customers at fault for daring to assume they would be utilizing the very platform they have for literally everything else (registering for classes, managing payments, you name it) to also be able to manage absences and get credit for makeups. Why do things the hard way when you can just cut out all this extra work and make things simple for everyone? And why was I treated with the same understanding and compassion as a protagonist in a Kafka story? I was literally just trying to be respectful of Sarah's time and was instead met with zero compassion. In initial emails with her I was very respectful and understanding and offered to do things in Aloft's weird roundabout way going forward, but would like my previous planned absences credited back to me. She just responded with company policies and not lifting a single finger to help me with my ~$120 that was now just spinning down the drain. So then I got upset and informed her that I would be writing reviews about this experience to warn others as well as reporting them to the BBB because they had taken my money and weren't giving it back despite my logging my absences (albeit not in *exactly* the way they wanted them to be logged). I never called anyone names -- but I did express my frustration about the complete lack of understanding and absolute unwillingness to bend even a little bit for a good customer who had referred others to their business and had been going there for half a year and intended to keep going. It's not like there's an elaborate enigmatic code that Sarah would have to crack that absolutely prevents them from helping me--they just didn't WANT to help me, despite the fact that I only got into this situation because *I* was trying to help *them* out! Finally, the owner decided to get involved and did in fact refund most of my ~$120 back to me but said that it was best if I didn't attend classes there going forward and I agree. I don't appreciate how I was treated--punished for the crime of mistakenly trying to do something nice for someone.

Two years ago, I took a huge risk to move all the way from South Florida to Chicago to do Aloft's…read moreProfessional Training Program and can honestly say it was my best decision. Aloft has been like a second home to me. The coaches are always welcoming and encouraging and always pushing you to succeed. The training space it's self is one of the few places i've been too where everyone is friendly and you don't feel judged. I have been able to make life long friendships here. I highly recommend Aloft to everyone regardless of abilities and if you're not interested in training, Aloft always puts on amazing shows.

Wonderfully attentive, thoughtful, accommodating folks here. Our five year-old daughter really…read moreenjoyed learning violin and we appreciate how helpful all the staff were in getting her to feel welcome and comfortable! HIGHLY recommend. Professional, friendly, accessible. Thumbs way up!

My fiancé and I really enjoyed our classes here. We signed up for the 4 week beginner salsa class…read more Alex, the building owner and lead instructor, and his co-instructor (whose name is somehow escaping me) were the nicest and most welcoming people. The progress we made in just 4 lessons was truly amazing. My fiancé did NOT like dancing nor the idea of dance classes (especially salsa) before we signed up but even he enjoyed it and was happy we did it. The studio was also very understanding and accommodating when we had to postpone our final dance class several weeks due to some personal circumstances. The prices are extremely reasonable. If you are looking for a good beginner dance class before your wedding, would highly recommend. Street parking in the area can be hit or miss but we never had to drive around the block more than a few times to find a spot nearby.

Our experience with Alex at Dance Connection was amazing! We took lessons with Alex for our…read morewedding's first dance, and we are so happy we did. We attended six classes over eight weeks or so, which for us, worked out great. My dance skills are limited at best, but Alex put us at ease right away - he asked about the song we chose, our experience, and anything specific we had in mind for the dance. We deferred to the expert, and he choreographed a beautiful dance for us. He also gave us opportunities to provide feedback or revisit parts of the dance. It really made us feel comfortable and excited about the finished product leading up to our wedding - the peace of mind was invaluable. Alex is a patient, kind and understanding teacher. Highly recommend. My wife and I will definitely be back. Thank you, Alex!