We danced at Studio 5 for 3 years. In 3 years, my daughter lost most of her ballet she already knew when she was 3 because they hardly focused on ballet. They only received around 30 minutes of ballet at max. Pointe Ballet is offered at this studio. Nobody there should be doing pointe due to the lack of ballet - most studios have recreational and pro tracks for ballet. It is not safe to offer pointe at recreational levels with only 1 hour of ballet per week - you need to be doing a minimum of 4 hours of ballet per week for pointe. Rules have never been enforced there unless it benefits the owners. Bullying occurred a lot. Not specifically with my child, but in general. It has a high school feel due to certain groups of moms and kids forming "cliques." If you are not a part of that group, you are not treated the same. They will gladly hand out awards and compliments to those moms, but not to the other parents who are not in those groups, who have also volunteered their time and efforts to support the studio. I feel it shows favoritism. I do not want my daughter nor our family to be a part of a studio who allows bullying, drama, and high school "cliques." I feel like everyone should be recognized and appreciated when they have put the same efforts and volunteer time as those other parents in the cliques. Where is the awards for those other families who also deserved it? We also paid for a lyrical/ jazz class for a year and the dancers hardly got any lyrical training at all. The main focus was on jazz all year leaving only a month of lyrical training. In fact, they finally learned their lyrical dance at the very end of year only a month before recital. Due to not enough practice their dance was a mess. They were not ready for recital with that dance, which was a huge disappointment as well as the audio mess ups during competition and recital. You were told about certain important information (regarding competition/recital) at the last minute as well as the owner constantly saying, "be on time". Multiple times dancers were late due to not having the correct location information. Parents would have to message the owner asking where and when things were taking place. Another huge issue that occurred while we were there was regarding a family with two daughters who had attended dance there for many years even before the owners currently took over the studio. Their one daughter was a part of the special needs program they offer. Their younger daughter who was in dance troupe was being bullied by the owners daughter and other kids. Our daughter even witnessed bullying. Due to issues of bullying by the owners daughter as well as other dancers, and a heated discussion due to the lack of resolution on this matter, the owners became defensive instead and this family was not allowed to return to their dance classes or perform in recital. They have their daugnters in the yearbook with class pictures of them but their names were not even listed, like they did not exist other then their image. They clearly did that on purpose, especially since the timeline adds up. The yearbook was not completed until after this huge issue occurred and they already were not allowed to return to the studio even though it was not their girls' fault. All this family wanted was to let the owners know so they would handle the bullying issues. After several times reaching out and no resolution they naturally became upset and frustrated. Their daughters have always been kind and respectful towards adults and dancers. The rules in the troupe handbook state bullying is not allowed when in fact it was allowed and no disciplinary measures were taken! The special needs daughter had nothing to do with this situation and it sadly effected her. Both girls looked forward to performing in the recital. Again it was neither girls fault for the poor behavior of other kids and lack of discipline. Their other daughter who was bullied and apart of dance troupe worked hard this year with all her dances including a solo dance. Our daughter was also effected by this as she was close to their daughter. This family has always volunteered their time to help support this studio and they also had their girls participate in many dances. Their dedication to this studio did not deserve them being kicked out and the girls not being able to perform at recital being that it was only a month or two away! Completely unfair and devastating emotionally to them both. Kids were allowed to run all over behind the building, on the side walk, and even in the parking lot including under the age of 6 running in the parking lot with no parents or teachers in sight. Several families have not returned this year because of so many issues. We only stayed bc of our daughters dance teachers and friends. However 3 teachers are no longer working there. I do not recommend studio five dance company. I hope things change. read more
