First let me say that we are NOT dancers and NOT very coordinated - which is what makes Teresa and…read moreSway Dance Chicago so amazing. She was able to make both my husband and me feel comfortable - both during the lesson and then later on the dance floor at our daughter's wedding. I booked a small group lesson for my husband and me, my son and his girlfriend as something fun to do and to help us all feel better prepared for my daughter's upcoming wedding. I sent an inquiry from the website and because of COVID, I wasn't sure if they were open and what their hours would be. They were very responsive and got back to me quickly. I can't say anyone but me was very excited about the idea of dance lessons. However, by the middle of the session, we were all into it. Teresa took any awkwardness out of it and we were having fun. Then about two weeks before the wedding, my husband actually suggested that he and I go back for a private lesson! Teresa was very accommodating and helped us out. She even recorded us, sent us a list of good songs to practice with, and gave us tips to work out with the DJ specific to the wedding. I should also add that the studio itself also impressive. It is very clean and well kept. The floors are in great condition and beautiful glass and mirrored walls. I highly recommend Sway Dance Chicago for private and group lessons. My husband and I are even thinking group dance might be a great way to get some fun exercise!

Great place to learn some fundamentals, especially from Kat Feliciano! We learned East Coast Swing,…read moreJitterbug, Charleston, and are now learning Salsa & Bachata!

I've had two classes of the 4 intro to pole series. I LOVE IT!!! I knew it would be different and a…read moreworkout but I'm in love and so excited to come back. The studio is so cool. Mood lighting, great stereo, you name it. My instructor is Kelly, she is amazing, especially for those with no experience. I also love how they have you sign a form to promise to love yourself and others and not to bring the negative energy in! Due to the snow/blizzard a class was cancelled and they immediately reached out to schedule us with a new class. Also, the instructor Kelly hand wrote a card about thanking us for joining and beginning this journey. I am super excited to continue. From the moment you walk in, you sanitize, remove your shoes and check in. On the first class we were 15 minutes early and they asked us to wait in the car because they want to limit people at the door, which is nice. Masks are required. Also, they sell out quick when it comes to registering! Another good sign to me. I've learned a lot in two classes and I'm so excited. This place is amazing. I want to schedule a birthday/party here too, they look so fun!!! This business is the stuff !!!

Hosted my best friends bachlorette party here and had a blast! We did the BOMBSHELL PARTY package…read more We were able to bring snacks and drinks and the representative set it all up for us. We all signed the waiver basically stating we won't sue if we're injured. The representative had us do a champagne toast for the bride-to-be before we began the class. Afterwards, the class began. We learned a sexy lap dance routine then a pole dance routine. It was extremely fun. Then they had the guest of honor do a special routine while we throw money at her. Now that was exciting!!!! The guest of honor also got a gift bag and we all got a free class card that must be used in 30 days. The party was definitively worth it! I would definitely love to do this again.

I have been a student at Aloft since 2017. I have had some incredible teachers during my time…read morethere. I've only left because I relocated to California. I will really miss the community and incredible instructors here. This truly is a space for everyone. You don't need to have previous experience or strength to come here. They will support you in developing your strength and skills on your own timeline. During COVID-19 they switched quickly to an online platform that was helpful to maintain strength and created great policies to keep students even when we can't "fly". I am incredibly sad to have left before getting to return to the air, but I will definitely be coming to visit if I can. In addition, I HIGHLY recommend any of their shows. They put on incredibly fun and dynamic shows for the community, so if learning circus isn't for you. Please support them by buying a ticket to Sanctuary or a company show. Finally, we cannot forget how cool this facility is since its in a rad old church!

Giving 2 stars instead of 1 because I actually enjoyed the class I was taking there (stretching…read morewith Linnea) and would have kept going had the administrative staff not treated me like crap. Aloft uses an online platform called VAMP for students to sign up for classes, manage payments, and more. I used to email them to let them know when I would be absent but then noticed on the dashboard that there is a "Manage Absences" button on the online account dashboard. In an effort to be respectful of their time I began using it to log my planned absences instead. I felt bad for having wasted the administrative staff's time before I had made this discovery of a seemingly more streamlined way to record my absences. But after a few months of using the "Manage Absences" button on my account dashboard, I noticed I hadn't received any makeup credits. This amounted to about ~$120 in class credits I should have received, but didn't. I emailed Sarah Tapper, the person who handles this stuff, and she responded with the lifeless and cold bedside manner of an animated machine, not offering any help whatsoever and instead just recited company policies to me without offering any solutions or even partial credit. (I've included all of the emails with this review but Yelp puts them out of order which makes it hard to follow, so I've numbered them to try to make it easier.) She basically told me that despite my efforts to be respectful of her time, Aloft was keeping my ~$120. Any other business would see that what I did by using a button that was clearly labeled "Manage Absences" to *MANAGE* my *ABSENCES* is an easy mistake to make and would have credited me back for the absences I logged but also informed me that going forward I was to do things following their weird old-fashioned protocol that makes you feel like you're back in the dial-up days of the internet, which I'll outline below: At Aloft, you are not to log planned absences in the streamlined account dashboard. That would be too simple and modern. INSTEAD, you have to email back and forth with Sarah Tapper about any planned absences AND log them into the account dashboard. (According to Sarah, logging absences in the account dashboard helps instructors know who will show up and emailing Sarah ahead of time is what gets you the credits, which seems like it just creates a lot more unnecessary work for everyone). It's like this place is run by the same people running the DMV or something. Like they've been doing things the same way since they first opened over a decade ago and are holding their own customers at fault for daring to assume they would be utilizing the very platform they have for literally everything else (registering for classes, managing payments, you name it) to also be able to manage absences and get credit for makeups. Why do things the hard way when you can just cut out all this extra work and make things simple for everyone? And why was I treated with the same understanding and compassion as a protagonist in a Kafka story? I was literally just trying to be respectful of Sarah's time and was instead met with zero compassion. In initial emails with her I was very respectful and understanding and offered to do things in Aloft's weird roundabout way going forward, but would like my previous planned absences credited back to me. She just responded with company policies and not lifting a single finger to help me with my ~$120 that was now just spinning down the drain. So then I got upset and informed her that I would be writing reviews about this experience to warn others as well as reporting them to the BBB because they had taken my money and weren't giving it back despite my logging my absences (albeit not in *exactly* the way they wanted them to be logged). I never called anyone names -- but I did express my frustration about the complete lack of understanding and absolute unwillingness to bend even a little bit for a good customer who had referred others to their business and had been going there for half a year and intended to keep going. It's not like there's an elaborate enigmatic code that Sarah would have to crack that absolutely prevents them from helping me--they just didn't WANT to help me, despite the fact that I only got into this situation because *I* was trying to help *them* out! Finally, the owner decided to get involved and did in fact refund most of my ~$120 back to me but said that it was best if I didn't attend classes there going forward and I agree. I don't appreciate how I was treated--punished for the crime of mistakenly trying to do something nice for someone.

Pure Pole Instructor BAM was such a great teacher! The warm up routine and the instruction was very…read morethorough. The studio is ver comfortable and feminine. Ii booked private lessons after my Friday group class! What I like about pole is that you increase your strength and your sexy at the same time!!!

Came her for a friend's birthday. Had so much in. Bam is fun and energetic. She puts on a really…read morefun and sexy class. I'd recommend doing 5 people per party so every one would have a pole to themselves. Other than that it was great! She taught us and even let us freestyle. Oh, and it's BYOB which is always a plus! Would recommend for a girl's day or birthday party. Very affordable as well.

I came to Catalyst Movement Arts after having already trained over four years of pole at another…read morestudio. I started training with David and noticed a difference in how he taught flexibility right away. Flexibility has always been the most difficult part of pole for me. I made more progress in my back flexibility in the first 9 months at Catalyst than I made the first 4 years of pole. For four years, every time I traveled, I'd try a new flexibility teacher hoping something be different and would help me. Apparently, I just needed David to move here. Not only that, after a year of training with David, I understand how to train myself better when I can't make it to class. The thing that stands out to me at Catalyst is that every single instructor teaching on the regular schedule has studied pole for over five years. Several instructors have backgrounds in other fitness areas. Additionally, because they began teaching in 4 completely different areas of the country, they are bringing skills they learned for even more people. Teaching something and being good at something yourself are not the same thing and these people have very clearly put thought into how to teach different bodies and how to break down moves into small pieces. Both David Owen and Rachele Ribera travel and sell workshops that sell out. At Catalyst, we get that expertise multiple times a week for just the price of a monthly pass. Catalyst has a heavy focus on developing correct and safe technique for pole and flexibility. Flexibility classes are capped at 10 and pole classes are capped at 8 people so that there's always enough space for people to move and the instructor has plenty of time to get to every student to make corrections and provide a spot. Classes very in length so there is always plenty of time to warm up and stretch everything correctly. Though Catalyst appears more expensive than some other studios initially, I've found that it actually costs me less. For students with a monthly pass who don't mind sharing the small space with one other person, (there are two poles in the small room), it is no extra cost at all to reserve that room during the hours someone is already in the studio for another purpose. So I can practice very often without paying extra. There's so much time available, that I often have the whole room to myself and when I don't, I have fun training with someone I can throw ideas off of.

Great classes! Amazing teachers and fun ! The workshop…read morehelped me understand the physiology of shoulderstands .

I pass by here all the time and decided to stop in for the KPop class. It was a lot of fun. There…read morewas definitely a lot of high school girls there but nonetheless the instruction was good and we had a good time. This class starts a new song every couple of weeks so they break the song into pieces and build each week. We showed up week 3 out of 4 and were still able to pick up the prior moves. For this class we payed $10 prior to the class and signed a waiver. I'd recommend following them on social media (Instagram or Facebook) to get updates on the class offerings.

Looking for a great dance studio for your little one? Keep looking, this isn't it. BUT if you're…read morehaving a nice day and want someone to crap all over you, ask for Dana. I left a voicemail inquiring about their outdoor classes for my 6 y/o daughter. I got a call back from Dana the owner. She provides some info and starts answering my questions--k, so far so good. But when she asked if I wanted to be in a group chat for parents and I said I wasn't ready, that's when things took a turn. "I don't think you're calling for your daughter." Uhhhh... Then, she demanded to know how I heard about them and the names of who referred me. The TikTok drama effect music was basically playing with the amount of paranoia she hit me with. I started questioning my life like "Do I even have a daughter? Should I have breastfed longer? Did I leave the stove on?" Not sure what dots she connected that made her think I was calling from some program, but I hope she's good at pirouettes because her moonlighting as a conspiracy theorist isn't panning out. My advice? Take your daughter elsewhere--unless of course you aren't calling for your daughter.

My fiancé and I really enjoyed our classes here. We signed up for the 4 week beginner salsa class…read more Alex, the building owner and lead instructor, and his co-instructor (whose name is somehow escaping me) were the nicest and most welcoming people. The progress we made in just 4 lessons was truly amazing. My fiancé did NOT like dancing nor the idea of dance classes (especially salsa) before we signed up but even he enjoyed it and was happy we did it. The studio was also very understanding and accommodating when we had to postpone our final dance class several weeks due to some personal circumstances. The prices are extremely reasonable. If you are looking for a good beginner dance class before your wedding, would highly recommend. Street parking in the area can be hit or miss but we never had to drive around the block more than a few times to find a spot nearby.

Our experience with Alex at Dance Connection was amazing! We took lessons with Alex for our…read morewedding's first dance, and we are so happy we did. We attended six classes over eight weeks or so, which for us, worked out great. My dance skills are limited at best, but Alex put us at ease right away - he asked about the song we chose, our experience, and anything specific we had in mind for the dance. We deferred to the expert, and he choreographed a beautiful dance for us. He also gave us opportunities to provide feedback or revisit parts of the dance. It really made us feel comfortable and excited about the finished product leading up to our wedding - the peace of mind was invaluable. Alex is a patient, kind and understanding teacher. Highly recommend. My wife and I will definitely be back. Thank you, Alex!

Patience is a virtue and this lady has definitely mastered it! My husband and I came to Candace in…read morehopes of surprising our wedding guests with a cliché first dance, which turned out way better than expected. Both of us being 90's kids, we had no idea about swing dancing or dancing in any way that would look elegant or graceful. The process was easy, we met, she gave us a free first lesson, we gave her the songs we wanted to dance to, a time frame, and we worked out all the moves and steps together. She takes her time to show you each and every step, which way to move, how to look, how to smile, and most importantly, how to enjoy it and have fun with it all. It really showed when we performed for our guests. If it wasn't for her, our first dance would have been about exciting as that last slow dance at your high school prom. She gives you very intimate lessons. There was no one else around except us and her, so if your two left feet are feeling shy, you have nothing to worry about. She is very professional and will make sure before you leave that you understand what you are doing. She even gave us a lesson plan for practice, since we only met once a week. She's worth it, give her shot. You won't regret it! Thank you Candy for everything!

I stayed for both Cumbia and Salsa clases and it went very well! Will continue to go!read more