I like the idea of this studio but it not for me. Overall I would give 3.5 stars. Background on me:…read moredanced since I was a child but in hiphop, cheer, step and African dance. I also have coached a cheer squad. I also was a Zumba instructor for 5 years. Location is prime. Right off Damen (Blue Line). Plenty of paid parking in several directions. I can actually bike here in 10 minutes. Studio it self is on the 3rd floor. I didn't see an elevator but not really an issue. However you have to get buzzed in so don't be late. I never had a problem. Studio was spacious. Dance floor was good. Plenty of mirrors and clean bathroom. Ventilation could be better. View of Point is beautiful. Price for value is good. I had a groupon for 5 classes. I have only done 4, and unsure if I will take the last class. Also they have new client specials which seem very good. I think $30 for a week for unlimited classes. Class format I found frustrating. I pick up choreography very fast. I attended two different classes with three different instructors. Zi-Cardio and B-Girl Dance (hiphop). While I was able to keep up in class, I found the choreography to be too much. Not hard just too many unnecessary additions. It was not intuitive at all. Because so many extra moves put in, often the instructor was off-beat. This is frustrating for any dancer. Also because so much extra steps, very hard to predict the next move unless you have done the song before. Instructors were all friendly. Ahn is a beautiful dancer and stayed on beat the full time. Downside to all instructors is that trying to perform for live recorded class and little actual instruction given. Take aways: good studio but not my preference. If you do trial, go for full month. Will take 3 to 5 classes to pick up choreography. Classes don't seem conducive to new or drop-in students. Much better if you are a member and come at least 2x a week. Not for me because classes won't improve my dance skills. Frustrating choreography because often time spent trying to figure the move which was being done in such an awkward way. If you are a hiphop or latin dancer, probably won't work for you. Classes were very good for cardio. On average 550 calories burned per class. Love the fact thay every class had a full arms song!!! Good luck studio as I love women run businesses!!! Tip: check out routines on Instagram and that will give you an idea of how they dance at this studio.

I signed up for the new client $30-7 day pass and am currently on my 4th fitness class-parts of my…read morebody I didn't even know I had are aching but in the best possible way, and my posture is already showing signs of improvement. My overall confidence and energy are a lot higher too. I really like that the instructors are high energy and give you tips to keep you going, but also super understanding that you may need rests or can't keep up the whole time, as my first adult dance class this was super important to me for being able to jump in and feel comfortable. The location is also amazing, right off the Damen blue line, in a loft studio space with big windows and lots of natural light that seems to be right out of a movie. I always feel like the character from Flashdance walking up the staircase to class. For measure, I am a pretty athletic and go to the gym 3-4x a week, and here was my response to the following classes: The ballerina fight club gave me the best workout and towards the end I almost fainted but took a mini water break and was able to power through, has a combination of cardio with toning/sculpting. The Zi-Cardio was less of a workout and a bit easier for me, but I had a lot of fun and it was a mood booster(though this is a great exercise class for those with a lower threshold). The ballerina bum workouts are the hardest for me, not so much cardio but more so toning and sculpting specific muscle groups. I have a feeling the WERQ and hip hop classes I will take this weekend will be my favorite though-looking forward to trying them out, and definitely plan on signing up for more classes after my trial is done.

Great teachers for the most part, but very little focus on technique. My girls had fun but didn't…read morelearn very much.

Fun class with Julia. Signed up for last minute Cardio +Tone class on Wed morning. I found street…read moreparking nearby. Studio is super clean, colorful and groovy. Once inside you have to walk up to the second floor. Dance studio for class was big and spacious. It was one of three different studios. This space is huge. Class started with warm-up which got your blood flowing. Warmup included pushups so grab floor mat if not keen on doing them on hard wooden floor. Dance class was tough. Prior dance experience is needed. You don't have to be a professional but need to be able to pick-up choreography quick. Sometimes you will learn (2) 8 counts together and then move on very quickly. The style of dance seemed like Jazz, Theater and Pop. I liked it but I usually dance hip-hop, latin or African. It was a change of pace but Julia made it super fun. With this particular routine there was a plank portion, I skipped it because I just didn feel like it. Julia prepared me that the routine did include this in an 8 count. I just added some bodyrolls and called it a day. Most of the people in class seemed to be regulars. Everyone was friendly. After 44 mins of dancing, we finished with some toning that included an arm song. After putting light weights down, Julia stretched us to the max. THANK GOODNESS I would come back and groove some more. I honestly just wanted to delay working on a memo so thats why I signed up on Class Pass at last minute.

The moment you walk in the door you feel like you are in a giant dance because each team member…read moreflows as if they are in a dance with their beauty and grace. To sign up, you must purchase private lessons and within the package, you are invited to attend group dance classes as well. There are typically at least two private sessions going on at any given time along with a group session. Throughout our six sessions, we were paired with three different instructors - Austin, Ben, and Mitchell who were all 5-star professionals. We have primarily danced with Austin in our private lessons and working with him is such a pleasure. He asks questions like are you here to become a professional? For a big event coming up? Or for fun? Either way, all team members treat you with the utmost respect as this is their chosen craft. They are attentive to every part of their student's body to set you up for success to be the best dancer you can be. In our first group dance class, there was myself, my partner, and two other pairs of partners there. This is a great part of training for dance because you rotate partners around the class and therefore learn to take smaller or larger movements based on your new partner. Pro-tip for parking: park on N Marshfield Ave after 6 PM for free parking. I can always find a spot there - it is a quiet side street.

My fiancé and I came to Arthur Murray for help putting together a wedding dance for our first…read moredance. We were partnered with the loveliest of instructors, who is always upbeat and encouraging, which is just what we needed as newcomers to the world of dance. We could only afford the beginner's package which consists of four dances, but they allow us to add on individual classes down the road if we need a refresher prior to wedding day. Highly recommend!

Gus Giordano Dance School teaches all of the the ideals and qualities I want for my kids…read more They work to treat all people the same and treat them well, they are positive and happy, community involved, fun and they make kids pay attention and listen all while being nice. Our 5 year old started nearly 2.5 years ago and we have been very happy with the program and what she has learned. She is not a dance pro but has basics down and still wants to go to class. She is super excited about her big show each year and is confident on a HUGE stage and being in front of people. She feels important and feels proud. I went to college with many ex dancers and have heard how awful balet can be and Gus has ballerina looking kids, smaller kids, bigger kids, boys who can dance, boys who can't dance and all kinds of kids all having fun. Her teachers Nicole Weingarten, Lauren and Amy have all been so sweet and amazing. I just cannot say enough about how thankful I am that they are in Andersonville and part of our community. I am not a person who intrinsically trusts people's intentions and I have made the mistake in the past of thinking nice people cannot really be that nice but these people really are. I have been late to pick up and they are amazingly nice. I am on the board for our school and they support our local school. These people are good even when they don't have to be. I appreciate them as a place that teaches children, as a local business and as a community member.

My 16 year old son visited from NY for their summer jazz intensive, and it was the most incredible…read moreexperience for him! He was challenged with working with the best choreographers, and can't stop talking about it. He really felt like he was part of a family after the first day! He's already looking forward to next summer!!

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.

Two years ago, I took a huge risk to move all the way from South Florida to Chicago to do Aloft's…read moreProfessional Training Program and can honestly say it was my best decision. Aloft has been like a second home to me. The coaches are always welcoming and encouraging and always pushing you to succeed. The training space it's self is one of the few places i've been too where everyone is friendly and you don't feel judged. I have been able to make life long friendships here. I highly recommend Aloft to everyone regardless of abilities and if you're not interested in training, Aloft always puts on amazing shows.

I love this studio. Lyn is an excellent teacher. The community is so supportive and welcoming and…read moreyou can't find better quality dance classes. I highly recommend.

This is an excellent studio. I've been talking Jazz for 9 months. Lyn is an great instructor. I…read morebelieve many of her classes are tap dancing but I know she instructs ballet as well. It a very comfortable environment. All the other students I've met at the studio were fun to meet.

I found this community dance program by word of mouth about a year ago. My kid is in the Creative…read moreMovement/Pre-Dance I class for 3 and 4 year olds, which is not called pre-ballet but is essentially pre-ballet. I never studied ballet, and I didn't want a ballerina; I wanted a Flamencista! But I couldn't find a Flamenco class for three year olds, and so this was meant to be a just a placeholder for the Flamenco lessons. Fast forward a year: my kid is now old enough for Flamenco (also at NEIU), but this is now her favorite of all the ridiculous kid-classes I have put her in. Plus, the class is super affordable - about $10/class. So, I can't really pull her out. Other details you might want to know: Rachel Burton is the director and may teach some of the older classes. She also seems to choreograph the recital. She does not teach the youngest class that I know of; that has been taught by graduate students in NEIU's dance program and, at one point, by a dancer from Ensemble Español. There are about 10 kids in the two youngest classes, and there are two, sometimes three, teachers present for each. You have to stay on site during the class, but you're outside the studio (and can spend that time kvetching with other parents, if that's your jam....it is my jam, and I've met at least three other parents I consider "keepers"). They have a recital once a year, and, though I anticipated hating the whole recital thing, it actually was a highlight of our summer last year. Tickets were cheap (I think $5/each), and so my whole family came. My kid was adorably clad in a costume that (1) I didn't have to finance with early withdrawals from my 401K and (2) I tricked her into wearing a second time for Halloween. Rachel hires a photographer and a videographer, so you can buy the DVD and pictures, if you want to - and, at least on the pictures, YOU DO.

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!