Just Dance Academy has impressed us in every aspect. The studio director and staff exude warmth and…read morea love for dance. Jenna, the owner, is a graceful and enthusiastic instructor, and also an incredibly responsive and diligent administrator. She manages the studio with great care and professionalism, communicating quickly, paying attention to details, and always going above and beyond for her students and their families. Most importantly, my daughter loves dancing at Just Dance Academy. Her instructors have been outstanding, and the performances we've been a part of have been fun, innovative, and inspiring. The classes bring her immense joy, confidence, and excitement. We are so grateful to be part of such a nurturing, well-run, and inspiring dance community.

Artistry, Inclusivity, Athleticism, FUN and JOY! These are all the things that make Just Dance…read moreAcademy a spectacular community! My daughter started in 5th grade when we moved to Marin, with only one year of dance under her belt. Today as a 7th grader, she does Jazz, Ballet, HipHop, Contemporary, and Competition Team. She is learning creativity, resilience, artistry, and commitment -- dance has boosted her body confidence and helped her make a bunch of new friends in our new community. And then there's the shows (oh, the SHOWS!)...the winter show and spring shows are incredible! High production value and absolutely incredible choreography. Jenna and all of the teachers create a warm, welcoming, encouraging, and inclusive environment for all abilities and interest areas. Highly recommend!!

Dance Arts is the best! The teachers and staff are always warm and welcoming, and their…read moreprofessional instruction is amazing. It's a always a joy to take dance classes there to improve my dance skills.

I've been to Dance Arts many times over the years for private lessons, and did it again this past…read moremonth. It is always an awesome experience because the facility is quite nice and recently remodeled, and the teachers are all consistently terrific. Seth was our dance instructor, and he is very personable and a wonderful instructor so it was a pleasure to work with him. And it seems like everyone is very competent and friendly. The owner Joanne is an incredible teacher, and a very nice personality, so in summary it's just a pleasure to be there, and I love this place!

This is the most fun way to work out! I've been taking zumba with Paola and Jannely for years, and…read morenot only does it help me lose weight, but it's a super fun way to start my morning. They are both awesome instructors with a lot of energy and positivity, and they come up with new routines regularly. It doesn't even feel like exercise- way better than running on a treadmill! They also have TRX and circuit conditioning classes on the schedule, which I've been taking to tone up my arms and abs. I've taken other HIIT classes elsewhere but feel the most comfortable here, with supportive and encouraging instructors!

I've been training with Paola for years and give her the highest ratings. Her workouts - both…read moreprivate lessons and group classes - are fun, full of energy, and effective. Paola loves what she does and it shows in all aspects of her business. She is constantly improving herself by getting new certifications or new training. She greets each person who walks through her door and makes them feel welcome from the first class. And she keeps her studio clean, bright, and cheery. She really knows her stuff and is great at tailoring moves to work with limitations and injuries. She incorporates new routines and new ideas in her class all the time. And she just loves to help clients reach their physical fitness goals. Like I said, I cannot recommend her enough! Try one of her classes and see for yourself!

Where do I start? The instructors of MDT are nothing but passionate, caring and dedicated to the…read morelove of dance. Miss Vicki has been an amazing instructor. She is always creative with her curriculum! We are grateful to be part of this wonderful program!

I've been taking Nancy Gallenson's class the past 4 years, starting as a beginner, and I absolutely…read morelove it! I've tried classes in several places in the Bay Area, and I have to say Nancy's instruction is by far the best you will ever find in Marin, if you want to learn classical ballet technique as an adult beginner. I have tried them all, classes in the city, other parts of Marin. Her teaching style is very approachable and down to earth. The class atmosphere is friendly and non-intimidating. Nancy offers clear instructions at every level from beginners to advanced. No dancer is left behind in the dust. She explains everything and corrects everyone. Her classes offer a good cardio workout, builds strength and gives you the "ballet body", lengthening and toning your muscles. You'll be sweating at the end of each class. Dress code, anything goes, as long as your feet and ankles are visible. If you like wearing the gear, you'll feel at home joining the Yumiko leotard brigade, in every color under the sun. But if you just want to wear whatever leggings and t-shirt, that is fine, too. There's no pressure. The drive up to the school off the freeway takes you past verdant pastures of cows and open countryside. The school is located in a stunning original 19th century cloistered campus, anchored by a beautiful chapel. The studios are varied, but beginners are usually in smaller studios (great for inspiring high grand jétés) and the intermediate to advanced are in the larger, airy studios, each with romantic views of the beautiful original architecture of St Vincent's campus and the green pastures beyond. It's no wonder your worries evaporate as soon as you are in class. I joined her beginner pointe classes recently, as a complete beginner en pointe. In her enthusiastic manner, Nancy gives very concise instruction and inspires confidence for those learning pointe work for the first time, starting in mid-life. The MDT Adult-Teen program is a great place for adults to learn the basics, as well as for more serious students who hope to graduate on to pointe for their very first time as a mature student. What a great find.

Suzie is a gem. I am a 57-year old guy from Kentfield and finally took it upon myself to learn how…read moreto dance. Wanted to do it to be closer to my girlfriend who loves dancing. Suzie was so welcoming and supportive. I now call her my "dance therapist." She had me dancing in 1 session and really feeling comfortable in 2 lessons. Not kidding here folks. I was a VERY reluctant dancer. I actually had tons of fun dancing at a friend's 60th birthday party and then a couple weeks later at a wedding. Mission Accomplished and much future joy to be had. Suzie - you are truly a special person and instructor. Thanks for your support and talents in getting this guy up on the dance floor. And I'm not done. I plan to keep taking lessons with Suzie on an ongoing basis about 2 times per month. Why stop now?!

Suzie is absolutely incredible! My partner and I were looking for someone to choreograph and teach…read moreus our wedding dance to a specific song. We are not doing any other dancing the day of our wedding except for our first dance, so we really were looking for something that could be specific to the song, and a routine that we'd remember for years to come. We've been dancing country line for years, but haven't really done a whole lot of couple's dancing or modern dance, so I have been mostly used to choreographed dances where I knew what to expect, needed some lessons in following, and my partner needed some instruction in leading. We did the 6-lesson package with Suzie and are incredible glad we did. She spent the first lesson-and-a-half getting us comfortable with ourselves, each other, and different beginner positions, and she worked with us to improve and add onto our choreography with each and every lesson. She never was a stickler for time and made sure we were at a comfortable stopping point before ending each class, and was incredibly patient with us throughout the learning process. Her sense of humor and easy-goingness made it very comfortable to ask questions, practice on video, and work with her as a whole. Because of COVID-19, we never actually got to go into the studio and all our classes were done via Zoom, but honestly, that just goes to show what an absolutely incredible instructor Suzie is. If you're looking for wedding choreography or lessons, talk to Suzie!!

I was one of the older students in the open division adult classes for the last 2 years or so. I…read morehad never taken ballet at an early age so while I lacked the proper body training and preparation and attempted to start ballet at age 60 (15 years ago) I nonetheless had redeeming qualities, that being grace and good musicality and sometimes good form in certain movements. I could keep up with the speed pretty well, am fairly intelligent and enjoyed the rigorousness of the classes and the excellent teaching, as hard as it was for me at times to "keep up" because of my aging memory. At one point, 2 other women in my class (at least 50+ years of age) ganged together to bully and intimidate me because I wasn't dancing "in form" across the floor. One of them accused me of never having been in a performance before, and she was wrong--I performed at the College of Marin Dance Concerts as a student there. They had no right to gang up on me like that, and the teacher had never said anything about it. I was insulted and angry. I took the matter up in a private meeting with the teacher and executive director of Marin Ballet. I didn't expect much results but at least the offending party stopped going to that class for awhile. The bad news is, the instructor became suddenly very unfriendly towards me afterwards like he was angry at me for "rocking the boat" or something. I was very sad about that, and took classes until the end of my 20-class card that I purchased earlier and then left for good. When I told the office manager that I wasn't coming back and why, basically all she said was "have a nice day". In my book, there is absolutely no excuse why anyone should be bullied in a dance class, especially an older person. We should all feel welcome in dance classes, and I certainly never had this problem in any other dance classes I attended at other Marin dance studios and College of Marin. In fact, I was often complimented by the teachers. So I think the students that bullied me were completely out of line, and I had no support around that. I'm surprised that Marin Ballet wasn't more understanding around this issue, even though I know it does happen more on the professional level. But we were not all professionals in that class!

A very special place. A Marin institution. My daughter studied ballet here for many years. She…read morelearned so much more than just dance. She developed lifelong friends. (She graduated over 10 years ago but still gets together with her ballet class mates) The facility is amazing. And I just love going to the Marin Ballet Nutcracker each holiday season even though I no longer have a child in the program. This place is magic.

They have a passion for upselling and a high turn over rate for teachers. They don't introduce the…read moreteam on the website because the team is ever changing. But give them your money if you'd like or find a smaller business that cares more about their clients and and their teachers. The owners are more interested in a profit than a pirouette.

Highly recommend this gorgeous, huge studio for a date night idea! Specifically, I suggest doing…read morethe complimentary intro course then stay for the group class and dance party. They paired incredible music with various types of dances, which made the lesson more approachable and familiar. The instructors are loads of fun, patient and highly skilled. They will help to make everyone comfortable whether you are a beginner or advanced. I've taken lessons in SF in the past, but this venue and instructors make the experience very special. We're hooked, and will go back!!

-----Adding to address Annie's comment below: Annie - if…read moreindeed you want to apply consistency across all performers, then when we fly in for the performance on Sunday we will join the show just like a number of other caucasian ensemble performers who had lower attendance and are still being allowed on stage. I plan to have my video on, so will record any interactions in which we're stopped from going on stage, and point to the caucasian students who have missed tech rehearsals this week yet still being allowed on stage. If paam is keeping our money, then we are performing on Sunday. Paam can also issue a refund and we'll be happy to go separate ways. But Paam does not get to take all our money and disallow us to be on stage yet allow others to be on stage who have lower attendance than our kids. Appreciate you doing the right thing. -----Original post: Our experience with the Performing Arts Academy of Marin (PAAM) has been deeply disappointing -- both in terms of fairness and the overall learning outcomes. The program feels heavily commercialized, prioritizing revenue over education or student experience. Tuition is extremely high for what ultimately amounts to very limited technical instruction, the pressure of buying vanity products aimed at parents who think their kids a star is everywhere, and the refund/credit policies are rigid to the point of being unreasonable. I've never written about race or discrimination in a review before, but I feel obligated to address it here because it has affected my daughters repeatedly. In the lyrical squad, choreography has been super simple and non-technical, yet cast placements have shown a clear pattern: the same Caucasian dancers are routinely placed front and center, while my older daughter -- who is a good dancer but not Caucasian -- is continually placed in the back or off to the far side. My younger daughter was once put in the front purely due to her small size in a formation, but it wasn't part of any fair or rotating system that would give all dancers a chance to shine. The final straw has been this: Multiple Caucasian dancers have been allowed to miss tech rehearsals and still participate in shows. Meanwhile, my daughters, who need to miss a single 24-hour window for a required ski team race and assessment (and for which we arranged to return early at significant cost of flying in, tickets already purchased), were told just 3 days before that they would not be allowed to perform once they fly in -- despite knowing their choreography thoroughly and being disciplined, capable dancers. The rigidity applied to them simply hasn't been applied to others. The pattern is painful to watch as a parent. It's demoralizing for kids who have worked hard and earned their place on stage. It's their right and not someone's at the front desk to strip them of who doesn't even see them. At the start of the year parents also receive an extremely one-sided agreement through DocuSign -- which I declined to sign because it was so imbalanced. I can't say I'm surprised. But it is disheartening to pay thousands of dollars for a program that delivers minimal instruction, selectively enforces rules for preferential kids, and ultimately allows discriminatory dynamics to persist. I wish our experience had been different, but based on what we've seen, I cannot recommend PAAM for families seeking a fair, inclusive, or educationally meaningful dance program.

I've sent my daughter here for the Holiday Spectacular one year and she loved it. However, I signed…read moreher up again and she didn't want to go again a year later and was scared to go. I'm not sure why but she said it was scary and wouldn't enter the studio. The holiday spectacular, while adorable-but can be very intense for smaller children. The (little) girls are all expected to wear makeup; such as mascara, rouge and lipstick, which some people may not want their kids to wear under a certain age. The performances are cute, but about 50 kids on stage. Pros: Nice facilities, clean, on trend dance classes (I.e Taylor Swift or Wicked/what's on broadway). Sweet teachers. Cons: Lots of marketing pressure to sign up for classes or your kid won't get into their dance class. Pressure to sign up when is opens or not in. $40 fee just to change a class even if you made a mistake. Their refund policy is not family friendly. I really tried to get my daughter (6) to go into dance class, but she was having anxiety about going. She was scared about going to a new class with new people and just wouldn't go in. This particular performance has about 50 little 6 year olds tap dancing or doing hip hop on stage and a wait list. So, it was a very popular class. However they don't offer refunds. The cost for a semester (Jan-May) is about $700 for a weekly lesson + performance. I think it's just something you should be aware of when signing up to send your kid here is that you may not get any funds back if they can't go for any reason. (Anxiety, injury, work/childcare issues etc.) So, perhaps think about this before you sign up. Recommendation: don't pressure parents so much on sign up day to get into the classes and then don't offer refunds. Offer more "try before you buy" options or options for little girls who might be more hesitant to try new things.

We can't thank Ena enough for all of her help with our Sangeet night for our wedding! She…read morecoordinated all our dances for our family and friends, choreographed them all, created videos for people to practice, and then hosted virtual/in person practices the week before. She helped us to pick out songs and created the final song mixes as well. If you have any events or weddings upcoming and need a professional choreographer, Ena is definitely the one to go with!

Ena is a fantastic and inspiring dance teacher. My daughter Ariana has been taking dance classes…read morewith her since she was 6 years old and Ena's love of dance and encouraging positive style motivated Ariana to try many different styles from Bhangra to jazz to tap. Ena makes the classes super fun and engaging, and my daughter loved it. Her experience was so positive that I was inspired to take an adult dance lesson with Ena. I had a blast, made new friends and the performance had my family so impressed! Thank you Ena for being an amazing dance teacher and inspiring our love for dance!

I love the Y and appreciate the amenities available to the community. I have only one concern and…read moreit is that lifeguards do not enforce their basic rules for lap swim. In the last month alone, I have experienced 3 incidents where someone just suddenly appeared in my lane, in front of me while I was swimming. When swimming freestyle, you generally are looking down and if someone is suddenly in front of you, it is difficult to stop in time to avoid a collision. On each occasion, I questioned the person to ask, "where did you come from, how are you in this lane?" All of these swimmers seemed oblivious to the rules, 1: You enter at the deep end only, not in the middle of a lane from an adjoining lane. 2: You make visual or verbal contact with other swimmers when entering their lane and communicate if you're circle swimming or parallel swimming. 3: You never enter in the middle of a lane. I live in fear of a collision because I have 4 small plates holding my cervical spine in place. But the concerning thing to me, is where are the lifeguards. They are literally sitting and watching and never instruct these scofflaws. What are they doing? Another example was the woman doing a backstroke in the "Walking" lanes, literally colliding with bathers and continued even when she was asked to move over to a swim lane by others. I'm just going to say, an accident is bound to happen unless they clean this up, soon. Perhaps it isn't a responsibility of the lifeguards to monitor for these incidents, but I got scolded once for being "too fast," for a slower lane. Made me laugh because I hadn't swam in 5 years and felt it was appropriate for me to start there. So, I know the guards are monitoring something. Let's just hope nothing bad happens, I guess.

I'm extremely disappointed with how the Marin YMCA handled an issue with my paid locker rental…read more I have been paying for both my YMCA membership and a locker, even while I was on maternity leave and had not been able to go to the gym since January. I never froze or canceled my account, and I even recently upgraded my membership so my son could participate in Y Kids. When I returned, I found out that my belongings were gone from the locker I had been paying for. I was never given any notice, warning, email, or phone call that my locker would be emptied or that my items were at risk of being removed. This is especially upsetting because this is not the first time something like this has happened. When I followed up, I was told they looked for my items but could not find them. They offered to cover two months of membership dues as a "gesture of goodwill," but then later said they did not believe staff emptied my locker because no locker audits were conducted. That explanation does not make sense to me. The locker was locked, and access should have been limited to myself and YMCA staff. Since I was not at the gym and did not remove my belongings, there was no clear explanation for how my items disappeared. I paid for a locker with the expectation that my belongings would be secure. Instead, my belongings are gone, and the response I received felt dismissive and lacked accountability. I have since requested to cancel my locker rental. I've supported this YMCA through my paid membership, even during a period when I was not using the gym, so this experience has been incredibly disappointing. Members who pay for lockers should be able to trust that their belongings are safe and that they will receive proper notice and communication before anything is removed. I finally cancelled my membership!