Before the Foster corridor between 50th and 70th was cool, some artists bought an old building as a…read morelive work space. Their work is making dance and making performance. I know them and have been to many events in the space. One of the owners is Portland's top lighting designer for performances in our high end performing arts theaters. The partner is a modern dancer who worked in New York with the best. The space has a great dance floor, and there is a small garden which is sometimes open for events. The rental rates are very reasonable, for rehersal or for a show. The space is wheelchair accessible. They publish a monthly email newsletter of modern dance events covering the whole city, including competing spaces. Subscribe!! Yes, how the space is laid out for performances with respect to bathrooms is not what you would find at the Schnitz. It's an old low budget church. That's why 4 stars vs 5. This is a DIY space, but hey, they have a great floor! That DIY attitude, graciousness to performers, and their outreach to all comer performers outweighs not being fancy, by far. Their Cabaret Boris & Natasha series and Alembic are examples of making a show accessible to all performers. So if you are a performer, keep them in mind, including for rehearsal space. And if you have movement artists visiting Portland who want a large rehearsal space, they have lovely short term lodging by their garden. Performance Art NW is a good space for Portlanders interested in modern dance to track by their email newsletter and website. The creators are lovely and the audience is too. They have many special events a month!

A friend and I took a few yoga classes here, and I just recently attended a dance performance with…read moreanother friend. Since I'm reviewing the space and not the class or the performance, I'm gonna stick with (some might say dwell on) some fairly pedantic details. The place is supposedly an old church, but seems a bit more like an old high school gymnasium. One big main room, with a bathroom/kitchen/utility space tucked into the side. You enter via a ramp, and it's not entirely clear that you're really supposed to be there. But it's fine, really, it's fine, just go in already. As a yoga studio, it works pretty well. Lots of floor, smallish enough to be intimate without seeming crowded. I'd always wondered how it would work as a performance space. The answer is: hmmm... maybe not great. There are a few ways a person imagines configuring this space, but the way they had it was a bunch of metal folding chairs (the lucky people got cushions) spread across a few seemingly randomly-placed stadium-style risers. The entrance and performance area were on the same side, which made for a bit of awkwardness when it came time to leave. The restroom was also on the performance side, so it was good that the performance was short. The lighting was nice. The sound quality was great. The place has potential. But it seemed like a more appropriate practice space than actual venue. If you need a space on the SE side for a private event or show... I'm not sure if they rent it out, to be honest. But I can easily imagine high school dance wallflowers dutifully drinking their punch and covertly teasing broccoli from their braces along the edges in here. Maybe it was their ghosts that made me a little bit uneasy.

Our son goes to Dance with Joy's summer camp (they have camps for most school breaks) and I can't…read morerave enough about how much he and we love it! Everyone is so sweet and thoughtful. My son has been to several other camps and he is adamant that he only wants to go to Dance with Joy! He's as sensitive soul and feels right at home there. Best kids camp ever!

Haven't been able to find out their pricing but will keep trying. Would be nice if they listed some…read morepricing on their website. Another thing that could be an issue is that you have to sign up separately for classes, or at least that's what's implies. If not enough people sign up class is cancelled. Haven't been able to find out if you can get any package deals. Too much unknown to rate!

We love it here. We look forward to continuing our dance studies here. I'm sure other ballet…read moreschools in the city are great. We will stay with our fav. =)

This is my daughters 4 year of ballet and we love this studio! This studio is a body positive,…read morehappy place to be. They are really great at slowly introducing the classical ballet style to young kids. Each year there are more expectations and rules for them follow, but they do it in a loving way. We will stay here as long as Josie loves ballet.

If you've ever wanted to try your hand at the sexy, sultry Argentine tango...this is the place to…read morelearn. Don't confuse this with ballroom tango.....and this dance is not for people with space issues. Argentine tango is danced in a "close embrace". So bring breath mints and wear deodorant. I've taken tango classes at several locations and found that Alex does an excellent job of teaching this dance, and explaining the nuances of the tango. There are quite a few beginning classes here to choose from. (If you love Argentine tango there is opportunity to dance every night of the week in Portland!)

This has to be one of the coolest spots in Portland. I cannot believe I'm only the second person to…read morewrite a review, but tangueros seem to spend every spare moment either practicing or talking about shoes, so maybe they just haven't gotten around to it yet. For Tango, this is the place. Many (if not all) of Portland's best dancers can be seen here and the floor energy on a good night feels like it's coming up from the floorboards. If you dance tango, you need to go here. Alex Krebs (the owner) creates a really great ambiance and has weekly classes for those who want to learn Argentine Tango. But, as the other reviewer stated, this is a dance in close embrace, so you'll be spending time in close contact with other people's body. Be prepared!

BIPOC PROGRAM... WHAT THEY WON'T TELL YOU: Months ago after watching their Nightmare Before…read moreChristmas event, I looked into their dance studio and learned about a BIPOC Program they offer. All I knew about it was there was a waitlist. So when over half a year goes by and we get the call that we've been asked to "audition" for their program, I had trepidations because the fact that an audition was required for my 3 year old to do a dance class meant for toddlers seemed elitist to me. If I knew there was going to be an audition for this program from the beginning I would have never waited with baited breath for them to contact me. But since it was focusing on BIPOC students and we had waited so long I figured maybe we shouldn't miss this opportunity. In the audition they are looking to see if your kid can take direction but even more they want to make sure your kiddo can be away from you. More on this topic soon... So we paid the sliding scale tuition and were ready to commit to 10 months of Sunday morning classes. Oh yea.. they never mentioned until after we were enrolled that the schedule is from 9:30-11:15 and that it's two 45 min. classes! Tap and ballet/creative movement. My daughter definitely did not want to do tap class and I would have never signed up for this class but it was part of their program and we had no choice. So day 1 of tap... was a disaster. Lots of fetal positioning, leaving the room, off to the corner, hands over her ears, looking for me, leaving the room again... yea it didn't go well. Quick 15 min. break and then my poor toddler was at it again in ballet. She was a little more energized for this class as there was less banging sounds now and the teacher incorporated some games. So I was hopeful that maybe if we toughed it through the tap and just made it to ballet we could get through 10 months of this. Well after about class 3 of her demonstrating the same behaviors, the studio sends us an email. Not only us, we learned that many parents got this same email, and when talking to the parents the wording was almost identical..."child's behavior is disrupting the flow of class...." Also, if you're sending the same email to multiple families, maybe it's your program and not the kids? All of us parents who talked about getting this email were full of anxiety and stress and were not feeling good at all about their experience with the program. The final straw for me came on the 6th dance class after talking to the families and learning that folks were getting reprimanded for walking into the room to help their kiddo who was having a mini-crisis/meltdown and then the tap teacher repeatedly yelled at my child to "shut the door behind her" as she was leaving the room due to stress. And I watched as the tap teacher told a parent to leave their child alone while they were comforting them at the door, encouraging them to enter the room. That was the last straw and we quit that day. I'm sharing this not to give StepsPDX a bad review but honestly for the families interested in this program. You have to know what's coming if you invest your time. I wish I did.

Came here on a Sunday for Dance Church with some friends, which might sound weird but was really…read moreamazing and fun (google it!). Class starts at 10am and online they say you should arrive 15 minutes early. We did this and no one else was there and we were told we arrived much earlier than people normally do. We got coffee around the corner and came by at 9:57am and now there were a few people present. We paid for our class (card accepted), and put things away in the cubbies. There was NO WATER available which is a big deal for a dance class. There was a water cooler but it was empty. Class was awesome, with good music and great energy. I'd highly recommend it. There were probably about 40-50 people there. It felt very freeing to be able to move however I wanted to, but also helpful to have some guidance / reminders about moving my hands or arms. Class wrapped up by 11:30am. The space is bright and open and clean. Street parking nearby was easy. I'd be happy to come back.

This company appears to be dead. The website is for sale, the facebook page is old (last post:…read more2023), and they do no appear in a google maps search by name.

I go to Center Space every Friday I'm not out of town, sick, or being forced to do something else…read morethat invariably is way less fun than going to Center Space. I go for the most fun, wonderful, queer-friendly hip-hop dance class in the entire world, Swagger. The teacher is probably the most patient, upbeat dance teacher I've ever encountered - you can tell she really loves what she does and so do her students. I recommend it, and any other class at Center Space, to beginning dancers and more advanced dancers of all stripes!

About 5 years ago I suffered a pretty significant back injury, really because I had no core…read morestrength. After that, I wanted to find a strength training class to protect my back and joints as I get older. I bought a Groupon for PulsePDX to try some classes and it was the best thing I ever did. I've been a member ever since and have tried many different classes and have gotten much stronger and healthier. They say you have to find exercise you enjoy in order to stick with it, and you can't go wrong with Pulse! If you are partial to group exercise classes, as opposed to going to a gym to walk on a treadmill or elliptical machine (which I freakin' HATE) or lift weights or use the machines, PulsePDX is your place. The studio is set up like a nightclub, with no mirrors, which I love! Every instructor has lots of experience, and there are lots of classes to choose from. Everyone who works there, as well as the community itself, is so welcoming and non-judgemental, which was a huge selling point for me. There is no shaming or talk about weight loss...the focus is simply joy. All are welcome, as well as all levels. You will not feel intimidated here. You can buy a membership, a class-pass (a punch card) or purchase single classes to try. Do yourself a favor and give PulsePDX a shot. You'll be glad you did! Pulse has definitely changed my life for the better!

So fun! A little intimidating when going alone as many have their groups or friends established…read more Advice is go with a friend.

I've been taking absolute beginner ballet for adults on Sundays for several weeks and I love it! I…read moretruly am an absolute beginner. I have done absolutely zero ballet before, but after a couple weeks of classes and a couple YouTube videos to brush up on the terminology, I feel like I'm getting the hang of it. I like that you don't have to commit to a series of classes and can just pay for single drop in classes. I needed that freedom to be brave enough to try it. The instructor is great, kind and encouraging and clear. Come join, it's fun!

Nice studio! we went here during covid. All the staff were very safe about it all and made sure…read moreeveryone wore a mask and used hand sanitizer when entering the building. they ran it so well! the teachers were all very kind and they helped train even in crazy times! great!

Clean and welcoming studio! All the teachers are amazing! Check out the hip hop class!read more

The best thing I have done for my daughter is enroll her in this dance studio. We now call it her…read moresecond family and home.