Avoid this place at all costs! The owner of this studio (Donna Grim) is a cruel, vicious woman. I don't mean that she is tough on the dancers, I mean she is sadistic to some. My daughter got "the treatment" when she transferred to the studio (she was a top-notch dancer) and refused Donna's suggestion that she join "the company" (the elite competition girls). We had moved studios because my daughter wanted to concentrate on her education, and just wanted high-quality classes without the time obligations.
In ONE semester, the owner managed to destroy my daughter's self-esteem and self-confidence, and kill all love of dance in her. In hindsight it is apparent that she was brutally taunting my kid, although my child was scared to tell me until I finally witnessed something myself and started questioning her. (I am NOT a dance mom). When I talked to Donna, she blew me off and told me that even though my daughter was in all the same classes as the "company girls" she was excluded and was an outsider, because she wouldn't commit.
The level of vitriol from this woman was spine-chilling, and I pulled my daughter immediately - never even finishing the performance that evening and the next. I found out afterwards that Donna (who taught the classes) would single her out and humiliate her in front of the other girls, calling her stupid and clumsy, and encouraging the other children to mock her. Mind you, my daughter was the top of her classically-trained school before she transferred in. Because of the genre switch, my daughter assumed that SHE was at fault, and worked even harder, but this horrid woman would single her out the next time.
It has been almost 8 years since that happened, and my daughter has never danced since. I would avoid this place at all costs. YOUR kid may never get the sadistic treatment, but it trickles down to the other dancers. They never actually shunned my kid, but many other dancers were treated poorly by the other kids. It's just an environment that is dark and unpleasant. read more