The students' level here is quite mediocre, which makes the learning environment less effective. I would not recommend this school.

My daughter loves EBT! The teachers really get to know the kids and nuture their love for dance, while working on fundamentals and offering new challenges to keep them strong and healthy. There's a focus on including everyone in productions and everyone is really positive. read more

Emerald Ballet Theater is a wonderful place to dance. The school, under new management, has truly become an encouraging and nurturing dance studio! Their current teaching team gives every dancer the opportunity to grow in their craft regardless of their age or level of expertise, all within a respectful and caring environment. Dancers also have the opportunity to participate in community outreach performances and ballet productions which bring the beauty of ballet to many different audiences in the Seattle/Eastside area. My daughters have flourished and their love of ballet has grown under the training of Ms. Erin, Ms. Genna. Ms. Elisa and Ms. Lori. Teachers like Ms. Tomoko also make ballet class fun for little ones! If you are looking for a dance studio that cares about each dancer's heart as much as they care about their technique and where dancers thrive as they grow into confident artists, then this is the place for you! read more

My daughter has loved growing as a dancer and human at Emerald Ballet Theatre. Her teachers are knowledgeable, intentional with their instruction, and kind. They have helped her develop both her technique and artistry in ballet. It brings me so much joy as a parent to see her love for ballet flourish in a supportive community and see her developing skills that will help her beyond the ballet studio. read more

It used to be a good school. On the recent class I was bullied by one of the girls and Mr Roman has done nothing with that. The school supports not fair behaviors where one person can come last to the class and push others "claiming that their spot" saying that "we have hazing here". Very disappointed. The owner and admin did not do about hog the situation either. I highly recommend to avoid this school, unless you want an emotional abuse or trauma to your child. Update: the owner of the school reached to me via email asking to delete my google review immediately and blaming everything on me instead of apologizing. read more

My daughter just started coming here after her first free trial class and she loves it! She looks forward to coming each week and Miss Chantall seems to be very patient with the preschool group. Unfortunately the class is held in the back room so you can't really sit and watch them but the girls come out of class happy most of the time so it seems like it's going ok! There are about 10 preschoolers with one young ballerina helper (elementary-middle school age?) and one older one (high-school age) plus Miss Chantall herself. The waiting room is very small but does have toys available if you have another child waiting with you! It runs about $20/class but I guess that's the price you pay for extracurriculars these days! read more

We left PNB to come to Emerald Ballet Theatre because my daughter found EBT more fun, we felt the atmosphere was more warm and welcoming (they don't bar you from class if you are late, you can leave class to go to the restroom, parents can watch classes), the parents/instructors were more friendly and down to earth, and she can perform in a full-scale professional ballet at least twice a year. They also have allowed her to participate in choreography. She started there in 3rd grade and now she's Ballet V (high school). The instructors have taught her discipline, etiquette, responsibility (all sew their own pointe shoes) and the merits of hard work, as well as developed her into a beautiful, strong dancer. The other dancers are her best friends and they are such a NICE group of girls and guys. The instructors have a super healthy approach to dance and don't dwell on body type. They brought the girls en pointe slowly over time, and with great individual attention, so we felt it was safe and healthy. They bring in amazing dance professionals from all over the world for their summer program. When our EBT dancers went to the YAGP finals in NYC, the instructors at American Ballet Theatre, Ballet Hispanico, etc. constantly used them as examples because they are so well trained. It is unfortunate that the way the studios are set up dancers must walk through another studio to get to the restroom/dressing rooms, but my daughter says it has taught her to ignore distractions while dancing. My other daughter has ADD and difficulty with group lessons, and they were fantastic in working with her. We're die-hard EBT fans, because they truly nurture dancing hearts! read more

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We love this place! Their flower fairy camp is a hit! Their weekly 3-5 year old classes are wonderful. My daughter cries when we have to miss a class. Mrs. Erin is her Wednesday instructor and couldn't be a more kind, patient and loving instructor. All of the kids run into class and come back with the happiest of smiles! We love Mrs. Erin! In the summer we have attended their flower diary camp and the instructor who puts this on is in her element. She has creative art projects for the kids daily, she sets up the dance room like it's the most magical place and when I come to pick up my daughter she never wants to leave! We still have our fairy wings from two and half years ago. We have attended one.of their performances last year and were blown away by the level of professionalism, talent, instruction, dedication, costumes by the young ballet students and by their instructors. It was an amazing show that my whole family enjoyed! read more

We like the small troop feeling of Emerald Ballet. Parents are required to volunteer their time during productions or pay to opt out. Through volunteering I felt like a valued part of the learning process. It was hard work as well as fun to be a part of the stage productions. We also like the teachers, other parents and hard working office manager Christy. Grace had Miss Erin last year and loved her. As an early childhood educator myself, I appreciate Erin's gentle developmentally appropriate curriculum and style. Gino had Miss Sarah in the boy's rehearsal class and we admired her passion and persistence with the energetic boy group. This year, I am so pleased that Gino will have a male ballet instructor who will teach technique for 1 hour. The boys rehearsal last year was 30 minutes long and they learned dance choreography but no ballet technique. The reason I give Emerald Ballet only three stars is because the studio layout is very uncomfortable and somewhat detracts from the experience. In order to use the bathroom or escort a child to the bathroom, a person has to take off their shoes, cut through and interrupt classes. Also, there is only a tiny little hallway viewing area into one studio where parents have to squeeze in to see their child. Really, only 4 adults can fit comfortably there, but there are usually 10 kids in class. This means that some parents miss out on viewing the practices or that bodies are pressed together like sardines. Additionally, there are 2 other studios with no viewing room at all. These two studios are interlinked so that to get to the back room (and bathroom) you have to cut through the front room and interrupt classes. Additionally, another downside are the demanding performances. There are quite a few additional weekend practices as the kids gear up for the performance. I felt like there could have been better ways of scheduling so that the really young kids didn't have to stay up so late or stay so long at these practices. The performances themselves are long and gruelling and feel unorganized when you are backstage. Students are not, however, required to take part in the performances. Also, Emerald Ballet is constantly doing fundraisers and pumping parents for $. I understand that the group is non-profit so I overlook this mildly annoying factoid. One more thing, parents are not allowed to take pictures during the performances as Emerald Ballet has the rights. Parents have to rely on one photographer to capture an image of their child among gads of other kids. I have not been lucky in the last two performances: I received not one picture from the Nutcracker and only a couple of shots in the "Seasons" performance. The performance photos that I did get did not focus in on my child but had her in the side-lines. This is something that I really find upsetting after all the money that I pay and time that I volunteer in order to have my child in the production. Our family is also required to buy tickets to the performances and none of us can take pictures. We feel like we should be able to take our own pictures so that we can perserve these important memories. One suggestion that I have is that the ballet reserve a section in the audience for people who want to take pictures. For more reviews from a family perspective, see our website: hsssreview.com read more

This studio is amazing. My cousins all go here and have learned real dance vs all the fake dance competition factories that sell trophies. They are good for beginning or young children to experienced or teens. I would definitely recommend this studio fort family and friends in this area. read more

This review is for the ballet summer camp program. I would not recommend young little ballerinas enroll in the Princess dance camp. The instructors are not very warm and friendly and did not seem to do anything to get these little girls excited/engaged in the class. Each day at drop off I would see several ballerinas crying or hanging on to their moms not wanting to attend the class and yet the teachers never offered any form of support to engage the kids. Not one teacher introduced herself to me the entire week and seemed even unreceptive to a smile or a simple "hello" upon drop off or pickup. I am sure this dance studio is just fine for a little bit older of a dancer and absolutely more serious of a program but there are far too many dance camps out there for little girls that seem much more stimulating and just plain fun. read more

Our daughter (8 yo) has been at Emerald Ballet since September 2009. She has always enjoyed her classes and teachers. I like the fact that every child gets the opportunity of being part of their annual performance show - no audition - depending on their skills, they might be given opportunities for special parts. We took Miss Viktoria's recommendation to follow stretching class, and this has allowed our daughter to improve tremendously. So far, we are very happy with this studio. read more

EBT was a nightmare for us. My 12 yr. old daughter wanted to attend EBT after seeing their Nutcracker. She'd previously attended PNB for 5 yrs. and IBT for a year, but she wanted to be in the EBT Nutcracker, so I enrolled her in the fall of 2013. Roman and Tatiana are outstanding teachers, the best I've ever witnessed. (My masters degree is in elementary education, and I danced until I was 17, when I was sidelined by scoliosis.) On the other hand, the director and other teachers are some of the worst teachers, I've ever witnessed, screamers, who publicly humilate children. When I contacted a social worker following a series of events during the Nutcracker, they reported EBT to CPS and advised me to do the same. At EBT, daughter was usually ignored, unless she was publicly humiliated. For example, during a rehearsal for Nutcracker, the director grabbed my daughter's wrist and said, "This is exactly what I don't want!" My daughter had no idea what the director meant; she just sobbed in the car all the way home. When we got home, I called the director. After being put on hold several times and repeatedly interrupted as the director spoke Russian -- which I don't speak -- it turns out that my daughter's infraction was wearing a hair elastic on her wrist. When I asked the director if she needed to grab my daughter's wrist; hold her up as a public example without explaining the problem, while yelling, she said, "Oh, I talk to everybody that way," and hung up the phone. Nevertheless, I kept my daughter at EBT because she wanted to be in their Nutcracker so badly. However, she was only able to participate in one out of four performances before EBT engaged what I perceive as extortion, for which I'm in the process of initiating a lawsuit. On December 7, 2013, I dropped my daughter off at the Northshore Performing Arts Center at 9:00 am for a dress rehearsal for an afternoon performance as directed. I planned to pick her up at 5:00 pm because that's when I'd been told to come the next weekend to clean-up per my volunteer hours. The Northshore Performing Arts Center is part of a large public high school. When I drove up to pick my daughter up, she was waiting outside in below freeaing temperatures with one of the dance teachers. (This was during a cold snap, when temperatures had been well below freezing for a week.) They'd been waiting for me for over two hours. Thinking they must have tried to contact me, but something must have gone wrong, I was extrememly apologetic. (I'd had my cell phone on my person the entire day.) Neverthess, the teacher continued to guilt trip me, sayiing her husband had taken her own children home hours ago; here it was Christmas and she was separated from her family. There'd been no way to contact me. They kept the theatre open for an extra hour, just for my daughter, so I'd have to pay the extra theatre rental.(I couldn't understand why they couldn't wait at the public high school next door, which is part of the Performing Arts Center and was holding a public event that evening. Moreover, I'd have to pay the teacher $80 an hour for watching my daughter because that's what a private lesson cost. As we drove off, my daughter started sobbing. I checked my cell phone to check if there weren't a message I hadn't gotten, but no. I asked my daughter if anyone had tried to call me. She said, "No," there was no way to reach me because my daughter didn't have her own cell phone. Why couldn't they call me by the theatre's land line or the teacher's cell phone? They hadn't even made the attempt. I called our emergency contact to see if EBT had called them. No. As my daughter talked through her sobs, she related how she'd been humiliated during the two hour wait. The director and had been talking me down, within in front of my daughter as though she weren't there. A volunteer witnessing this and feeling sorry for my daughter had given her a couple of Nutcracker T-shirts, which the teachers grabbed from her hands. In spite of her treatment -- and mine -- my daughter still wanted to be in the Nutcracker for which she'd worked and dreamed so hard, and for which I'd already paid a substantial fee for her to take part in, but I just couldn't afford the additional "extortion" fees or tolerate the way my daughter had been forced to stand outside waiting for an hour in the dark in sub freezing temperatures. My daughter was devastated. Merry Christmas! Still, EBT refused to refund the monies due us, so I'm in the process of initiating a lawsuit for those fees and damages. read more

Not impressed. My daughter has been in ballet for many years and she took their Summer Intensive this year. The instructors are lax (don't require the etiquette of classical ballet) as you see kids running in and out of class and talking etc.. The most appalling thing was that my 10 year old was told she could go en Pointe while there (event though she had never had any pre-pointe instruction). They put her in shoes and said go for it. Those of you who know ballet realize this is unheard of and also dangerous for a young dancer. I will say that the instructors were friendly and welcoming and my daughter had a fun time. However, she is serious about long term dancing and so we moved her to Pacific Northwest Ballet. The difference is unbelievable. AND she is doing a full year of pre-pointe before they will even consider recommending pointe shoes... read more

My 9 year old daughter is in her second year of training at Emerald Ballet after studying ballet at several other studios. We could not be more pleased with every aspect of this wonderful studio. Having studied ballet seriously myself for 7 years, I feel I have some knowledge with which to evaluate ballet instruction. My daughter has studied with several different instructors at EBA and every one of them has been superb. They are extremely knowledgeable, undeniably qualified and emphasize proper technique with each individual student constantly. The teachers encourage excellence and challenge each of the students as appropriate for his/her ability, but they are also each very approachable, warm, kind and very well liked by the students. EBA is accepting of all body types and abilities, and even welcomes dancers with disabilities. The EBA families are amazingly kind and welcoming - it has been a breath of fresh air to be a part of this wonderful "family" after some of our negative experiences elsewhere. The dancers truly encourage and support one another. The two productions that all dancers participate in annually are beautifully and tastefully done - amazing choreography, exquisite costuming, even the opportunity to dance to a live orchestra and local musicians. The communication between the instructors, the administration and families is excellent and so well organized. Bottom line - I feel my daughter is getting the finest instruction possible, in a positive, nurturing, accepting - and fun! - environment. read more

EBT is an outstanding, professional, community and family oriented ballet academy. The instructors are very positive, friendly, and well educated with a wide variety of experiences and performances from around the world, many are ballet masters, who have what it takes to mentor and guide dancers of all ages to be exceptional dancers. The teaching philosophy, techniques and attention to students is brilliant, impressive and competitive within the dance industry. The teachers inspire students to be their best in a very positive attentive way and you can see the results which are happy dancers who are proud to be part of EBT. I have had the pleasure of watching many students over the years at EBT develop into strong talented dancers and am in awe when I see students dance every Spring and Winter in spectacular performances. Students have the opportunity to compete in New York. EBT provides opportunities for all children, teens and adults with an interest in and/or passion for ballet, modern dance, and other genres. EBT is a welcoming supportive family friendly community with opportunities for students and parents to get involved. My girls have been attending EBT for several years and love their teachers and classes as well as the opportunity to perform in two ballets per year. My daughters started as little dancers in preballet classes and now are flexible, strong and confident. One of my daughters has autism and at EBT, the teachers have inspired her to be her best working with her abilities and she dances in performances. She loves EBT and is very happy to be a part of the "family". My other daughter started at age 3 and has blossomed into a graceful and beautiful dancer with advanced skills and abilities. We keep coming back because the girls love dancing at EBT and I have fun volunteering, socializing and being part of such a wonderful, friendly and accepting group of professionals and families. The experience we have had at EBT will be in my family's hearts forever. Thank you EBT :-). read more