Disclaimer: During the first few months Ly started to teach pole, she had a promotion that if you write a review on Yelp, you can receive 25 dollars off toward the class. And one class's cost (including introduction class) is 25 dollars. Now the promotion doesn't work unless you took 3 months class and write a review on yelp. I had been in Ly's pole studio for a month (one introduction class, a four-week beginner class). I had also attended pole dance class from other studios. I am not intended to use this review for any exchange of promotion. I believe I can leave a fair review. This disclaimer just gives you some information when you read this review and other reviews.
When I took the class, it happens at her apartment living room, having 2 poles around 8 to 9 ft high (not very high if you want to climb more steps or do aerial invert). It is not a formal studio but a temporary apartment. There usually are four students per class so you will have to share pole. It is very hot during summer even with air conditioners on. You need to park your car at somewhere in the apartment visitor parking or parks nearby. During rush hours, it will take extra time to park and be careful with the parking violation. The parking police is driving around all the time. I got one parking ticket when I took the class there because under a "no stopping anytime" sign, there is an extra line using very small font saying "from this line" so a larger area cannot park but a lot of people got confused, park there and got tickets.
When I took the class a few months ago, she mentioned she just started to teach pole for 8 months. She did mention that she will open a new studio so I hope the studio situation will improve.
Ly has student discount, which is very good value. Therefore a lot of college students there in the studio. This can cost mix ability level students at the same time. Some people get the upside down right away and have a athletic college student body; some people get it slowly, need extra tricks, and feel embarrassed when taking turns to do the pole. However, I see this mix-ability problem in other studios as well. It is just magnified in Ly's because you have to take turns and other people are staring at you.
Ly's pole class tends to focus on more strength building rather than learning sensual movements. The class starts with some flexibility exercises (some exercises are very hard) but definitely open the body. The class tends to teach you a lot of movements (some moves are hard and seem dangerous for a beginner-level). Some hard-to-get moves are not taught as thoroughly because it happens very quickly. The tricks are not taught often so some moves might hard to get. Some students having background might get it easily/quickly but not others. I found other studios do not put so many moves in a single sessions. This depends on what you would prefer. Some people like learning a lot in a single session, while some people like to slow down and get a solid understanding. For example, I didn't get to understand the upside down tricks until I watched some youtube videos and heard other people talking about tricks; I also didn't get to understand how to spin to get off from the ground until in another studio, the teacher taught it in a different way so I finally understand.
I also found the studio to be a little bit pushy. Upside down and V are taught on the second class at beginner level. When I use grip aid, Ly seems not like it and said grip aids are for advanced/dangerous moves and you need to learn how to master slippery hands. However, it is too slippery that I cannot feel safe to do any moves since I have very sweaty hands. Sometimes students need to take smaller steps and need more aids until grow out of.
Ly is very flexible with the time and schedule. Once I had to miss a class and she is very nice to rearrange me. But I sometimes have to wait longer than 10 minutes for the class to start when I arrive on time because some students haven't arrived.
The class, overall, is very good. Most of my experience is positive. I have learnt a lot of moves and feel my body stronger. I'm just comparing my experience with other studios and give the people more information. If you are a college student, this probably would be a good value. And Ly tends to teach more moves during a session.
Updated 12/17: I have to use another account because I don't want to expose my information when leaving a just-ok review. She sent me a yelp message asking if I can let her know my first and last name and trying to "guess" if I'm somebody. It is creepy and absolutely the reason why I cannot expose my name using my usual account. read more