If you're new to dancing and looking to learn a choreo routine in a non competitive environment,…read morethis is the place for you. Check out their Instagram page for photos.
What I love: the friendly environment, the community aspect, and meeting new people wanting to learn to dance and also encouraging you when you need it.
What I don't love: the space is a bit small, lacking air circulation, class times, learning the routines can be challenging for someone with no dance experience.
Read below for full review
I found Diva Dance on Instagram as a sponsored post and joined as a founding member last year when they opened. I have never taken any dance classes before and thought this was the perfect time to learn something new. Shannon, the owner, is super nice and friendly and the dance instructors are welcoming as well.
The studio space is not owned by Diva Dance, but each location will have the name of the dance studio they will be at and they will have a Diva Dance CE up front to check you in. The space is a bit small and does not have mirrors at the end of the room, so arrive about 5 minutes before class so you can find a spot in the studio that you're comfortable. Some prefer the side with no mirrors or a specific area of the room. Since studio does not provide efficient fans and is not an open space, it can also get pretty warm due. Wear what you would feel comfortable working out in and bring some water and small towel.
The classes are an hour long and include a community question, warmup, time to learn the routine, split into groups to perform, and a cool down. Although the class time is an hour long, you get about 40 minutes to learn the routine. Each instructor has their own style of dance and how they teach a routine, so you may find it easier learning from one instructor over another, like if you easily pick up pop moves, but find it harder learning lyrical. The dance moves will be repeated in other routines, so if you don't pick it up on the first time, you'll see it again in another routine. They do record the performances on a phone or iPad and post on social, if you're shy, you can hang out on the side or ask them to skip over you during filming.
Each month a calendar is released showing what songs you can learn a routine to, so you're learning a fresh routine each time. Some of the routines will have a theme, like lyrical, heels, or poms. They also have workshops and monthly community events to get to know each other outside of class. Most of the classes start at 8:15pm and Saturdays are 12:15pm. Each location has a different schedule though.
Nikki is my favorite instructor, her energy lights up the room! As the room is small and depending on where you standing, it can be hard to see the instructors. In her classes, she moves around the room when teaching and can see when dancers are struggling to pick up the choreo. You can feel the joy and passion she has for dance! Please note, her classes are also the most challenging.
