My 8 year old daughter attends ATDW and I cannot say enough good things about the studio, the…read moreteachers or the owners. ATDW and the owners Michelle and Jerome could not be more different from the typical LI dance school. If you're looking for a studio where your child can learn from real experts (not just graduated former students), be groomed like professionals, be surrounded with positive & supportive influence and make great friends (both kids and fellow parents) - this is the place.
For a brief background, my daughter started ballet classes at 3 years old at another school. We liked the school but the variation of classes beyond ballet was limited and most attention was given to competition dancers. If you weren't on the competition team or being groomed for it, you were not a priority. I've since heard from many friends that this is the case across many Long Island dance schools where the focus is on competition or the end of year recital performances. This is NOT the case at ATDW. This past fall my daughter attended an open house where she quickly fell in love with the studio, enrolled in 4 classes and has never looked back!
To say my daughter's experience moving to ATDW has been transformational would be an understatement. Before moving to ATDW, she liked to dance but felt very insecure about her body, being very tall for her age and a bigger build. She was also struggling with some bullies in school and we were dealing with the typical elementary-school afternoon battles over homework, snacks, screens, etc. The changes we've seen in my daughter since moving to ATDW go well beyond her dance capabilities.
The kindness and encouragement she has experienced from Michelle, Jerome, Miss Wendy, Miss Olivia and Miss Allie have given her a true passion for all things dance and performance. Her passion and love for attending ATDW have given her a shocking level of motivation for an 8 year old. Knowing she needs to leave for ATDW, she is motivated to do her homework right after school and she has a positive, active understanding of how to be healthy and take care of her body so she can feel better dancing. Her sense of self confidence has exploded in ways that have extended well beyond after-school dance - in her reading, her grades, her friendships and in-school activities.
Perhaps most importantly, my daughter has met and made friends with kind and wonderful children whose parents clearly share the same values we do: kindness over competition, the value and joy of performance, respect, responsibility and confidence. The dancers and families that are part of ATDW feel like a community, particularly for students who take more than one class. Passing each other in the hallways before/after, they make friends with older/younger kids they aren't even in class with. The older dancers are positive and supportive role models for the younger dancers. The amount of joy they all have seeing each other is so sweet and at points comical... they hug each other like they haven't seen each other in weeks.
ATDW is truly my daughter's favorite place now. She ended the 22-23 season enrolled in 5 classes and participating in the production of Alice in Wonderland. Looking forward to next season, she's now asking to add more. She can't get enough. We are so thankful for this studio and for the community of dancers and parents that Michelle and Jerome have created. Thank you, ATDW!
