Attitude. The dance director had been informed that my husband was coming home from the hospital on hospice and my granddaughter may miss the competition which was going to be the next day. The director wrote back and said to please try to get her a ride as the teacher would have to redo 3 routines and the children would have to learn the changes. The director again said please get her a ride. Unfortunately my husband passed away the day he came home and my granddaughter was able to get to the competition. But it was not because the dance studio stepped up to help a family in crisis. No one has reached out to the family with condolences or any concern. Needless to say we will not be going back to that studio. read more

i love it here its an amazing place dance i've learned so much the teacher are very nice and the mirrors are very clean they are so epic read more

Dance Arts Academy - sign - Performing Arts Near Me - San Jose, California

My daughter has been taking dance classes here for a few years now so I feel pretty confident that I can give a fair review. My daughter loves to dance but has some gross and fine motor issues related to ASD. So I didn't sign her up expecting anything more than for her to have fun. Her first class was gymnastics. For those who complained there were no bars, balance beam, etc. I feel the need to explain that there are different types of gymnastics. What you see in the Olympics is called artistic gymnastics. What DanceArts focuses on is tumbling. Tumbling is more easily incorporated into dance routines. Ideally, they should call the class Tumbling for more accurate marketing. She loved her class and her teacher. I loved that she was having fun and moving. But as the year progressed I saw her improving and gaining more confidence. She asked if she could audition for one of the competitive teams. We said sure and she added lyrical and jazz to her classes. This is the first year for all the members of her team. She has competed in several competitions with her team. Are they the best team there? No. But again, as the year has progressed, I see them improving, learning to work as a team. That's what's important to me, not how many trophies they earn. It is also made very clear in the paperwork you receive in September that dance team members are required to be at all three competitions and the annual recital and the dates are given at that time. Again, I think it's important for my daughter to learn to honor her commitments so don't have any issues there. The location is next to Golfland in the same complex as ClickAway. There is also a hydroponics store and a painting contractor. No car repair shops so not sure what that complaint was about. It *is*a small studio space and thus parents are allowed to observe one weekend every other month. As someone else said, it helps the students focus and as a music teacher I totally get it and it doesn't bother me. I can wait in the lobby area and hear everything that goes on in the class anyway. The pricing is reasonable and I think fair for what they provide. They do submit their flyers to the local school districts and as a music teacher I will tell you that at least in SJUSD, the approval process to have them distribute flyers is fairly stringent. So no kick backs as some insinuated earlier. The biggest selling point for me is that the priority from the teachers she's had so far and from the owner is for the girls to develop confidence and to just enjoy expressing themselves through dance. This is NOT a Dance Moms style studio, rather the complete opposite. If you want your child to be the next Maddie Ziegler, then this might not be the best fit. If you want a place for your child to feel accepted, welcomed and that will help them develop confidence and love dance, give Dance Arts a try. read more

Do you want an unprofessional environment in which the teachers play games with the students instead of teaching them how to dance half of the time, and then feel no need to restrain themselves in swearing at their students when they get frustrated with their progress? Then look no further than Dance Arts Academy! Even worse, despite letters of complaint and multiple calls from different parents complaining about the behavior of the teacher in question, the management reacted by literally doing nothing. No response, no attempt to retain their clients, and NO VISIBLE ACTION AGAINST THE TEACHER. There's a reason that this place is in a run-down little studio behind Golfland. And even if you do decide to give the place a shot (after all, this is a reaction to one teacher and the management's handling of the situation), then avoid Nicole like the plague. She's the teacher I'm referring to. read more

Do yourself a favor, do not bring your kids here. The instructor here does not know how to work with young children. I signed up my son for a class taught by the instructor from this dance studio at our local community center. The class has 16 or 17 kids, 3 to 7 years old. I forgot the instructor's name, but she is the older lady. On the first day, she said she has been teaching over 40 years and knows how to deal with children when a few of the parents voiced come concerns with about their children. She had an assistant the first day- which I think with that many kids is necessary. Parents were instructed to not watch through the window and wait for the 55 minute class to end. The second class we attended didn't have an assistant. My son was misbehaving and she put him in a time out. I understand that completely. I happened to be walking outside the window where there is a playground and she came out with my son and told him he wasn't listening and yelling and closed the door. My son had to remove his shoes for class so she put him outside in the summer on hot pavement for a timeout. He was 4 years old at the time and a 4 minute time out is what is recommended at that age. I knocked on the door after 4 minutes and she didn't reply. My son knocked on the door. I was texting with my husband about the situation as I stood outside waiting. It was 13 minutes before she finally opened the door. What responsible instructor for children would leave a child shoeless outside in the summer on pavement? At that point I was upset as was my son. He didn't want to continue the class anymore. So when the instructor opened the door he ran and got his shoes and ran back out. He had no interest in returning. The instructor asked me if he wanted to return and he said no and she shut the door on us. I sat down with my son and told him he had to go back to class. And we walked around to the other door and he tried again. She escorted him out after a minute or two. I made my son sit and wait for class to end to apologize for misbehaving. While I understand that my son was not listening to the instructor- what I don't get is her behavior. You should not have put my son outside without his shoes in the hot sun and there is a time limit on how long a child is in timeout. If you lack experience working with kids, then don't work with them. What should have been a fun class for my son who registered with his friends ended up being a horrible experience. read more

Great teachers who really care for their students. The competition teams are almost like family with each other. The children always have fun and are happy participating. read more

My daughter participated in a beginning ballet class here. It was not very impressive. The teacher was overweight and she did not really provide any technical instruction. It just kind of seemed like the girls pranced around the whole time and there was no real routine that we could have had my daughter practice at home. read more

Please do not go to this school if your kids would like to learn ballet and dance. Just waste of money. Please look for other school. There are many better dance school in San Jose and CA... DO NOT GO. read more

I dropped in for a Hip Hop dance class here with Amber (on Friday) and it was awesome! We danced to Womanizer and it was a definite work out! Unfortunately, I haven't dance in a while so I kind of needed to make sure he was infront of me the whole time so I could follow lol! Anyway, nice little dance studio off Winfield and by the looks of it... they've got tons of trophy's on the walls! WOW! read more

Thank you tall your Staff for the great job that there doing teaching kids to be great and confident in what they believe in The best School any child can be in is here,,,,,, thank you read more

Our children love going to their dance lessons. We have been going to this dance school since my son was 4. And since then he follows many different dance styles. The teachers and Billy are so caring. My son made long term friends with all the kids in his class. read more

So far I've had a good experience here my daughter started about a month before the Christmas in the park performance. This is her first dance class and from our parent review week I knew she wasn't paying attention like she should, so I was pretty worried. However when the performance came my little girl got up on stage and did an awesome job! My husband couldn't understand why the older girls were in front but it made so much since for the little ones to be in the back that way they had someone in front of them as an example. I've read some bad reviews on here, but honestly they are doing a good job so far I'd say 5 stars read more

This place is a disgrace! I signed up my 5-year-old daughter for a ballet and tap dance class on every Sat. For months, I was not allowed to watch the class' practice because it's the center's policy. Until last Saturday, parents were allowed to sit inside when the class was in session. I was shocked to learn that: 1) my daughter learned nothing except a few basic steps even though she has been there since Jan 2012. 2) the class is a mix of 5 years old, 6 years old, and 12 and 14 years old kids. The younger kids cannot keep up with the older ones and the teacher does nothing to help them. 3) the teacher is not professional, not friendly. She looks like she hates teaching that much. She never smiles at the students and her dress code is awful. She comes to class with snickers (you hope she would at least wear something for a ballet class), a short pant and sweater. 4) the class performance is a mess, no harmony, the younger kids missed most of the steps and their teacher did not bother to correct them. So I called the center and withdrew my daughter. If you consider signing up your kids for a dance class, take my advice, go somewhere else. This is a run-down place and a disgrace to arts. read more

My sisters have been coming here since October, 2011. Because of their policy, parents are not allowed to watch their children. I was able to stop by once for about 10 minutes (they allow parents the first of the month I believe) and it was not what I had imagined. There was a sub, so the main teacher wasn't there (nothing against the main teacher because my sisters really liked her). My sister is still learning and there was a part of the dance in which she wasn't getting the move right. Well the little girl next to her decides to yell at her each time! And the sub had the nerve to not do anything about it. It almost seems like they pick favorites there because this little snobby girl has been dancing there 'all her life'. My sister is a beginner, she's bound to make mistakes. As a sister, this made me very upset. Working with children all my life, I don't ever tolerate bullying or talking to someone like their dumb. My mom also paid for a pizza party that was $12 and all my sisters got was a tiny slice of pizza. Take your money somewhere else parents. Maybe dancing is not meant for my sisters (will be going to karate), but they need to keep some of those girls in check. $55 a month to play the same song over and over, not worth it. My sisters learned simple steps that I could of taught them by popping in a dance instruction movie. read more

The annual recital is a joke. They only focus on the instructors performing not the students. The recital was 3 hours long with the instructors/ alumni performing 20 acts out of 54. Another 8 were their "star" students. Almost all the acts preformed by the instructors were the same lyrical dance to different songs. Even before intermission I had to keep leaving the auditorium when the teachers performed so I wouldn't gouge my eyes out before my daughter was on stage. read more

This was a more frustrating than enjoyable for our family. We signed her up and sent a check. I never heard back. I was going thru my bank account one day and noticed the check was cashed (5 days early).. I was shocked the check was cashed and no one had contacted me yet. So I sent a email and the owner claimed she called me and stated class was that evening and gave me a list of thing my child would need. Mind you class time are 5:30. I get off at 5 and wouldn't have time to hunt down all the right stuff. And the next week we were out of town. So we agreed to have her start date two weeks later and she would get her full 2 months. A month later I get a bill for tuition.... I called asking why and she stated she has attendance and my child was present started on the date the check was cashed. I was furious and told her that her records were not accurate and I sent her our entire conversation the month prior. Once that's resolved she refused to let her perform at the Christmas recital until another months tuition was paid. I had paid all classes assuming textual was included. Not that I have to pay another's month worth just for 1 recital and 3 classes after the fact... We never returned. After I saw the moves they had these young girls doing. I was disgusted and embarrassed we invited family to watch the performance . Even after paying for more classes I figured it's not worth the $70 to return. Never ever ever again read more

Have been bringing my daighters here for 5 years and am very pleased. The small classes make it much more personal and Crystal is an amazing teacher!!! read more

Excellent studio!! My children have taken there for 2 years and love it!! The director is excellent with the students and parents and the instructors are fantastic!! My children love their classes and always leave with a big smile on their faces excited for their next lesson!! The recital was fantastic!! Everyone did such a fantastic job!! We LOVE Dance Arts Academy!! read more

Iv'e been dancing there for three years and my brother for one year and it is an amazing studio! In all areas of dance. and the competition team is amazing! we bring home platinum, gold, and overall first place awards! For everyone posting nasty reviews on the internet you have no right:) it is an AMAZING studio for all ages with great dance instructors and winning numbers. read more

I've had a different experience and my girls like taking ballet. Once a month we can watch the my girls practice. Except that it is distracting for the girls when parents are watching. My girls have a recital and practice viewing has been reduced but I prefer that so my girls can focus. I've seen an improvement on my girls after taking the classes. My girls are 4 and 5 years olds so it take patience to teach both of them especially when they are in the same class. I myself don't mind the dance instructors reminding me to tie the girls hair and dress them for dance practice. I rather be told what I need to do to help my kids be better dancers than to get offended about simple thinks. I saw a previous post about the place being located near auto shops but not sure what they meant. Its located near a miniature golf course with water sleds near a mall. Plus I myself don't have a problem finding parking. We'll I would recommend the Dance Arts Academy in San Jose. read more

Generally, I do searches in hopes of finding positive reviews. The ONLY reason I am pleased, in this case, to do a search and find so many negative reviews is to confirm that WE ARE NOT CRAZY! This place is absolutely horrible. I could not recommend it less. The woman who owns it is rude and so are her employees. My daughter has been spoken to so rudely. We rearranged our summer vacation to Colorado because the instructor gave her such a hard time about us not being there for the recital (we made a year-long commitment for Dance Team, she said.) It stressed my daughter out so much, we rearranged our trip for it. Who puts a recital at the end of July in the middle of everyone's summer vacation? Someone who is afraid she will lose her tuition - because her studio sucks. Then she was embarrassed by her teacher again in class when she told her teacher that she wouldn't be available for pictures. AFTER we already accommodated the recital - are we supposed to take NO FAMILY VACATIONS for these people. Puh-leese. My daughter came home crying. Last summer, my husband told them we would have to leave for a month because my brother-in-law was dying of cancer and we needed to see him, the response was (and I am not exaggerating) "Well, that might be a problem because we already have the dance choreographed." COMPLETELY INSENSITIVE. Needless to say, my brother in law (my daughter's uncle whom she lost at the age of 8) passed away on that trip and she sent us a bill for the month. We really tried to make this place work, for my daughter's sake, because she said she enjoyed her friends there, and wanted to do competition - but after multiple horrible experiences, and absolutely no sign of sensitivity or professionalism - I am DONE. As a teacher, I cannot endorse this place or their interaction with children, esteem, or family support. It has been an AWFUL EXPERIENCE . . . and I have really tried to give them a chance to "have a bad day." We are pulling out our daughter effective immediately, and I don't even give a crap about the money she owes us. read more