My husband and I cannot express enough how impressed we have been with TanzDesign and their staff…read more When we first reached out to the dance school via email, they were quick to respond in English and welcomed us and our 12-year-old daughter to a free trial Hip Hop dance class.
When we arrived for the class, we were met by Svetlana, who was kind enough to introduce us to her school, facilities, as well as direct us to the correct dance class. After helping our daughter get settled into her class, Svetlana informed us in English that she saw no issue with the fact that our daughter was an intermediate German speaker and assured us that dance only needed to be taught through the use of body language. And as we waited the full hour for our daughter to finish her class, Svetlana always did her best to make us feel very welcomed. She even helped our 3-year-old daughter feel at home by giving her a nice toddler-sized chair and table on which to build her Legos, which made our toddler very happy.
At the end of the class, we also had the pleasure of meeting our 12-year-old's dance instructor, who not only warmly introduced herself to us. But she also praised our daughter for being "such a good dancer," which made our daughter, who was initially quite nervous about starting the class, beam with pride. Our daughter mentioned that the instructor was very enthusiastic, talented, "super nice", "very outgoing", and was always praising her and constantly helping her and the other students. In short, our daughter looks forward to returning and loves the fact that she was learning German in the process, even though the instructor was always willing to offer her instruction in English as well.
Living as expats in a country whose language is unfamiliar is always difficult; add kids to that equation and things can become an even greater challenge. Which is why my family and I are so grateful to have found such a wonderful school that has a passion for teaching kids and adults, and is incredibly welcoming to both German and non-German speaking patrons.
We highly recommend this dance school!
(Note: There is plenty of parking in front of the school, and there's a small but nice waiting area on the top floor, as well as a communal area for their students (kids and adults).)
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UPDATE (March 15, 2015): The school also offers a great art class and will allow potential students to try a class before parents/guardians are asked to pay for it. Definitely worth checking out!
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UPDATE (May 7, 2015): We have decided to downgrade our previous rating of five stars to one star as one of the business owners of this school has resorted to what appears to be deceptive business practices, all with the intention of driving out her business partner, whom we continue to praise for her kindness, sincerity, and passion for teaching kids and adults. Our daughter really enjoyed dancing and drawing/painting at this school, but we look forward to enrolling her in the departing owner's new dance school.