I get the sense that this studio is still trying to find their footing, despite being told by the instructor that they opened in April. I signed up for an Allongee Vinyasa class through ClassPass, which I took this morning with Jillian. This was my first time at the studio, so Jillian walked my cousin and I around, and I was surprised to see that while there was a finished room on the ground level, there was a completely under construction basement level that she claims will be done soon to create better facilities (that said, she also commented that the construction has been going on for a while, and it looked like there was a LOT left to do with unfinished flooring covered in paper, concrete walls, hanging wires, etc.). She showed us a couple of showers and said one of them works, but there was no door or shower curtain, nor was there a private changing area of any sort, so I'm surprised to hear that people actually use it.
As for the class itself, there were only 4 of us, and rather than having us face the mirror, she had us face out toward the window in a staggered fashion. I felt like I had a hard time seeing her and I didn't always know what moves she was asking us to do based on her commentary, so I found myself consistently coming out of my poses to look up at her and try to distinguish what I was supposed to be doing. I also thought it was interesting that Jillian never left her mat to check our form, provide corrections, etc. Rather she stayed on her mat the whole time, primarily with closed eyes, so it actually made me chuckle when she'd say things like "nice ladies" or "good work" because it was clear that she couldn't actually see what we were doing at all!
I'll also say that based on the ClassPass description, I was expecting something out of the ordinary. It was described as including "classic bodyLOGIC core strength work on the mat, our unique bodyLOGIC barre work and a lengthy repertoire of our new bodyLOGIC stretching sequences." But really, it was just plain old yoga. We never used the barre and I didn't think we did any special core exercises or out of the ordinary stretches. Given that my cousin paid $23 to attend a class, it felt overpriced and poorly described for what we actually received.
If you live in Old City and are just looking for a neighborhood yoga studio, I would say give this place a shot. But I live in Center City West and came all the way down for this class, which I wouldn't do again. I'd also be careful with those ClassPass descriptions, as you may not actually be attending what you think you are!
P-S: One final note. The instructor had her gorgeous husky with her, and when my cousin and I walked into the studio he charged right at us. Thankfully he's very friendly and I love dogs, but if you're afraid of dogs or simply don't like the idea of a dog hanging around where you're about to work out, be forewarned. He routinely came up to us for licks and pets, and even sat on the mat with one of the girls for a while. Jillian even started the class with him in the room and only locked him out when he wouldn't sit still. :) read more