This is the east side branch of the Amsterdam Dance Centre, and they seem to only offer classes for…read morechildren here, from age 2.5 to age 15. I recently took my 2 year old to a trial lesson here, and it was a mixed experience.
First of all, signing up for a trial lesson is not straightforward at all. Their website is a mess, and we had to call them a few times, because e-mailing them went nowhere, and every time we called them their story changed on how things work. Their website is also contradictory, sometimes saying the trial lesson is free, sometimes saying it costs 10 euros, sometimes saying you can take 2 trial lessons, sometimes it says you can take only 1. They need to do a complete website overhaul to make things simpler, but that probably won't happen anytime soon since administration is not their strong suit.
Basically the way it works is you have to sign up for an account on mindbodyonline.com for your child, and sign up for lessons for the entire year. Then they say they will get in touch with you and let you know when you can come in, but in reality you have to call and ask when you can come for your trial lesson. Then you have to transfer 10 euros to their bank account to pay for the lesson, even though they ask for your bank account information up front, and you have to promise to pay for lessons until the end of the year. If you don't keep going with the lessons after your trial lesson, then they say they will not charge you for a whole year of lessons. If you don't let them know either way, or you want to keep taking lessons then they will bill you for a whole year.
Now as for the lesson itself, that was also a bit odd. I had a hard time finding the place, since they describe it as being "under Sissy Boy", but there are no stairs or anything under Sissy Boy, so there's no way to get there from Sissy Boy as a starting point. After asking around someone told me they're located in a gym around the corner, Fit aan 't IJ, with stairs that go down to the basement of the building. The number on the postbox is drawn out with masking tape, so that gives you an idea of how well maintained the place is. Once you go down the stairs and your eyes adjust to the darkness, you discover you're standing in a sort of cafe, which is located right in front of a regular gym. All the kids congregate here with their parents before class and change their clothes in the cafe. There are no changing rooms. When it's time for the class the teacher comes out to the cafe to release her current brood, and then the new kids come with her to a big mirrored room in the back of the gym.
The class itself was ok. We were there for a 2.5-4 year old class, and it consisted mostly of the teacher running around in circles with the girls (they're all girls in the class), and singing "De Wielen Van De Bus" with extra verses. It was fun for my toddler, but it wasn't that unique of an experience since she also gets to sing and dance in voorschool, so this was a more structured version of that. The class seemed to be an excellent exercise in conformity, with all the little blonde girls (they're all blonde) wearing the exact same pink leotard and tutu, even though there are no specific clothes required for students at this age. I don't think we'll keep going with the lessons because my little girl fell asleep as soon as class was over, so I think she can't handle dance class and voorschool at the same time right now. But once she's older I think this would be a great place to take her so she can develop her dance skills.
