More than a dance class, West Valley Dance Co is a dance community! My daughter has been attending…read morefor 4 years now. We love the teachers and staff (yay Rebecca) My 8 year old dancer says, "Ms Julianna and Ms Vanessa are the nicest teachers who push our whole team to be better and stronger! They are the best!"

Edit: Just learned that the 2026 seniors were allowed to…read morevote on who *they* wanted to dance with instead of promoting dancers that should have earned that spot by the audition process. Also amazing is the placement of dancers who pay for private lessons always seem to be much more prominently showcased. One particular teacher is quite bipolar, yelling one week and 'i brought donuts' the next, our kids are downright frighted by A. While most of the instructors here are very professional, supportive, and put the best dancers in the front, sometimes you can really tell who the 'golden child' is (sometimes as obvious as the offspring of a faculty) by how they will always be featured and front and center. New for 2025 is their SPOTLIGHT Award, which will be handed out by staff to the most Above and Beyond, and who do you think those will go to? Betting right now the same set of insiders that already get the best spots. There are also many extra fees and costs that are just added to your account without asking: including a year end 'pizza party celebration' that didn't include any actual pizza, 'team bonding' events like going to a movie, or 60second Holiday performance AND a season end show that require more makeup, shoes & costume purchases. I guess kids had a great time but no thought by staff on costs parents have to pay for these add-on. Updated to add: make sure your kid keeps an eye on their things... I've heard recently that several things have gone missing, wallets & phones gone through, cash & clothing stolen. Given the size of the number of studios I suppose there's no way to do a locker system but the casualness of the staff response to the thefts was a little troubling. I had to hear about it from the dancers as nothing was ever mentioned to the parents. Youd be better off at a smaller, more caring studio, IMO.

Exceptional quality professional ballet training, If you want your child to experience real ballet…read more Highly recommended. My family has been with OBA for about three years. One of my boys trained there throughout that time (incl competitive track), while my other son attended pre-ballet summer sessions for a couple of months. Over those three years, we experienced regular academic-year training, summer drop-ins and intensives, competition team, private lessons and custom choreography, 2x year theater stage productions, and local community performances. Our experience was mostly with children under 12, so I can't speak to the experience for advanced students or adults. A few things I personally valued most: 1) TOP QUALITY CLASSICAL BALLET TRAINING. OBA teachers trained and taught at leading ballet schools in Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union, with their exceptionally strong tradition of classical ballet education. What is remarkable to me is having access here in Bay Area to that caliber and tradition of training without first having to make it through the highly selective admissions process typical of that system. For a child who has the interest and ability to take ballet seriously, there is a genuine path toward advanced and potentially professional classical ballet training. There are some character and contemporary classes as a part of curriculum, and some Jazz in repertoire - but mostly classical dance! 2) BOYS PROGRAM. As a mom of two boys who displayed strong interest in dance while in elementary school, this was particularly important to me: it feels as most dance schools do not have a lot of experience teaching boys. In contrast, OBA founder has advanced teaching degree (PhD) specifically in boys technique, and I appreciated the understanding that boys can bring different energy and learning styles into the studio. Expectations remained high, but the methods didn't assume every child is the same. 3) CULTURE AND ATMOSPHERE YOU WANT YOUR KIDS TO LEARN FROM. OBA channels certain formality and graciousness to the classical/academic arts culture: respectful communication, good manners, self-discipline, consideration for others, and an expectation that students learn how to conduct themselves appropriately and respectfully with teachers, peers, and other adults. Impressively, I never saw OBA adults raising their voice or projecting their stress onto the kids -- neither have I seen kids getting rowdy. As a parent, you can experience this magical respectful, focused and positive atmosphere while observing an "open house" class or an end of year "exam", and when volunteering backstage. Over time, I saw my kids' exposure to this environment translate into more "mature" respectful behavior, greater self-discipline and responsibility, and an understanding of how to interact appropriately and professionally in classroom and backstage. 4) PERFORMANCES WHOLE FAMILY ENJOYS. Students get meaningful stage experience through OBA productions and community performances. The OBA shows like Thumbelina have been running as full productions with beautiful costumes, sets, music, and lighting. We got tons of professional photos and videos from these to toute around family. Most classes will rehearse a piece or two throughout the year and perform in shows 2x year, and some students audition for more challenging featured roles -- beware that rehearsals then may claim many Saturdays throughout the year! Those who are ready may be invited to the competition team, with opportunities to compete at events such as YAGP and CDC -- this is also quite a commitment and training starts in the summer prior to season start. Our experience on competition team has been top notch, structured and inspiring 5) ADMINISTRATION. To me, they deserve a Momager Choice Award! Communication about schedules, rehearsals, billing have been "best in class" - responsive, well organized, warm and genuinely invested in supporting child's success. Schedules / major dates are available far in advance -- like, in May all schedules for the next year were already published, so important for me with afterschool activity & family trips planning. Note that OBA operates out of two Mountain View locations, and sometimes we had classes at different locations on different days of the week. During competition prep weeks, we occasionally even had to "shuttle" between the two locations on the same day -- pay attention to those rehearsal locations in the emails! In summary, what our family valued most about our experience at OBA was access to serious classical ballet education in the Vaganova tradition, with a path toward professional training if a child has the desire and ability to pursue it, while being part of a supportive community centered around a love of art, discipline, and growth.

took my 4yo in today for a pre-ballet trial class and I was impressed! The space is beautiful. The…read morestaff was friendly. I love how they have so much structure in terms of dress code and hair requirements for class. Parents are not able to watch the class which I am completely fine with as I find this is often a distraction, especially for littles. Highly recommend if you are looking for quality ballet training.

I have tried the Thursday Beginner Ballet and Strength and Stretch classes here. Both are taught by…read moreMacKenzie and she is incredibly patient, kind, and sweet! I do think the Beginner Ballet sessions are on the short side (they are only 45 mins) and as a result are better suited for people looking to refine their technique than complete beginners who need to build foundations. Strength and Stretch is also probably best suited to experienced dancers, as the class has students doing crunches for consecutive minutes with no breaks and going into straddles, side splits, and advanced yoga poses with very little preparation and no modifications (this class is also only 45 mins, so warm up and cool down are quite brief). I would rate my experience as a novice to dance as 3 stars, but more experienced dancers may get more benefit from these particular classes, and it seems the ballroom classes are much more popular and well reviewed. This is a convenient location right off Foothill Expressway with ample parking in the back. There are classes in other dance styles (especially ballroom) almost every day of the week, so I may try those another time.

About 8 months ago, I resumed ballroom dancing after a long hiatus and started taking group classes…read moreat Arete Dance Center. This place is great! Not only are the teachers very good, but they also create a very welcoming environment. Most of the group classes are small enough that students can get some individual attention. At the outset, I had no intention of taking private lessons, but one thing led to another and now I'm also taking a weekly private lesson.

The schoolmaster Lu laoshi is a very rude and ill-bred teacher. She takes the insult to her…read morestudents as a form of strictness. If you want your kids lose confidence, be humiliated, you can sent your kids to the school. I just give you an example, she asked some students to take off their ballet skirts, and show their hip to the other students.The reason is she want other students know how fat they are. Even in China, there are no teachers treat students like this! If a teacher does this action , the parents will prosecute her. She also said your mom is very fat, do you want like your Mom? She not only disrespected the students, but also disrespected the students' parents. In addition, she discriminated against Chinese Children even though she is a Chinese! So ridiculous!

My daughter has attended New Century Dance for around 4 years and this review will be a mixture of…read moreboth her experiences as a student and mine as a parent. 1) Classes are increasingly going back to in-person and although all students wear masks (and will be provided with one if not), there is no social distancing protocol - Students will be very close together at times - During an online dance competition, students did not wear masks while recording all pieces - Even when the county is in purple tier, advanced students will be expected to go to in-person (especially for competitive team classes) - As of recently, it is required to get COVID tested if student want to be in person - Upon entry Lu Lao Shi (the main teacher) will take student's and faculty's temperature - Equipment is sanitized and hand sanitizer is available 2) There is a lack of planning and communication between the school and parents - Often Lu Lao Shi will expect parents to drive students to school on demand or expect students to show up to new classes with very little notice - Competition dates will not be announced until a few months before - Families are expected to put dance first and everything else second (i.e. missing recitals, events, and tests for a dance event) 3) Lu Lao Shi often demeans her students and lowers their self esteem - I have witnessed Lu Lao Shi telling students as young as 7 that they are fat and should eat less - Students are expected to fit in the body type of professional dancers and students who don't are shamed in front of the whole class - Teens with developing bodies are told to lose up to 10-15 pounds and threatened that if they didn't they would not be able to have private lessons 4) Lu Lao Shi speaks in mainly mandarin and most of the students are of Chinese heritage - Lu Lao Shi can speak English but typically uses very little and only for her non-mandarin speaking students - Ms. Jocelyn Lu, Ms. Asia Bui, and most of the other teachers can speak english fluently and is their primary language in class 5) Class time is wasted with long lectures (regularly 30+ minutes and waste valuable class time) - This is only in Lu Lao Shi's classes, where when I have sat in on my daughter's online lessons noticed that she would talk continuously about things unrelated to the class - These spiels can be centered around specific students and their flaws and Lu Lao Shi embarrasses them (sometimes to the point of tears) - Technique classes will start 5 minutes late and end 10 minutes late on a regular basis 6) Students are accelerated due to their race, body type, or height - As touched upon before, many students are put into a more advanced class or being given more opportunities because of things they cannot control - Older students attend most classes based on height and students of the same age but of differing height don't get the same opportunities to improve - Students with the more ideal "ballet body" will be given solos and will be given more attention compared to everyone else - Most of the Non-Chinese or biracial students will be "showcased" to show the "diversity" on the school's social media and will also get more attention 7) Students with better financial support and who can afford multiple sets of dance clothes/hair supplies will be preferred and Lu Lao Shi will expect all students to be that way - I've witnessed a student with only one pair of leotard or tights get mocked by Lu Lao Shi in front of the class - Advanced students are also expected to be able to spend $100+ on new pointe shoes every 2-3 months 8) Most of the teachers are encouraging, supportive and helpful - Lu Lao Shi has good intentions and as mentioned in previous reviews, truly does want to push students as much as she can. However, since she was brought up in a professional and outdated environment, many of her views and teaching methods harm students more than help - Ms. Jocelyn Lu is trained in both classical Chinese dance and ballet and is a patient teacher who helps students grow their technique. Often times I find my daughter learns more from Ms. Lu than Lu Lao Shi herself. Unfortunately, Ms. Lu only teaches the competitive team dance classes and not the usual technique classes. - Ms. Asia Bui, a professional ballet dancer with the Sarasota Ballet, was only a regular teacher for about 3 months before teaching exclusively adult classes. In this short time, her teaching style was much more laid-back than Lu Lao Shi but also helped my daughter with her basic ballet technique. All in all, the studio has helped my daughter grow as a dancer, but also helped contribute to her low self confidence and her self consciousness (comparing herself with other dancers in her class). The first step towards making this studio better would definitely start with Lu Lao Shi fixing some of the things noted on this review.

I've been dancing at Western Ballet for more than 10 years, and it really feels like my second…read morehome. I started from Absolute Beginner 1 with literally zero ballet experience. I still remember learning the most basic tendu, and over the years I've worked my way up to more challenging classes, workshops, and variations. Pretty much everything I know about ballet, I learned here! What I love most about Western Ballet is how welcoming and supportive everyone is. The teachers are wonderful -- very patient, encouraging, and never judgmental. They're also always willing to stay after class and answer my many questions. :) The community here is also really special. The students come from all different backgrounds, ages, and experience levels, which I really appreciate. I've made some of my best friends here, and our friendships have grown way beyond the classroom. After all these years, Western Ballet has become so much more than just a place where I take ballet classes. If you've always wanted to try ballet but never had the chance, or you danced when you were younger and want to come back to it, I'd definitely recommend giving Western Ballet a try. You might end up staying for 10+ years like me!

I am forever grateful to Western Ballet's caring faculty and staff for giving my daughter a solid…read morefoundation in classical ballet from the ages of 9 until almost 16. When you begin your training at Western, you can go anywhere. This past summer, she was accepted to summer intensives at San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, and the Royal Ballet in London. We moved out of the county recently, which is why she is unable to continue her studies at Western this year, but she made lifelong friends and amazing memories there. If you live in or near Mountain View, there is no better for children to study ballet. Western Ballet truly cares about the wellbeing of each student, and it shows. Thank you for being such an integral part of my daughter's childhood.

A great way to introduce your budding little dancer to ballet. There's time for fun when the kids…read morecan express themselves and their individuality. And time for serious learning about positions, movements and their proper names. Our instructor, Miss Alana, is very sweet while communicating attention to technique and respect for the rules when doing bar work. There are plenty of options if you'd like to purchase ballet attire/slippers. **My only gripe is no fault of the school, but if they could send a message to parents reminding them to use common sense and to be respectful during classes, that would be helpful.... unfortunately, there is a mother in my child's class who repeatedly causes distractions, such as taking FaceTime calls, and bringing her smaller unruly child to class. So instead of keeping an eye on her child that is taking the class, she is busy talking on the phone and caring for her smaller child who is small, so naturally difficult for him to stay quiet for the 45 minutes of class. Common sense would dictate that if you feel the need to participate in a FaceTime call, you would stand outside so as not to disrupt the class, because it is a quiet environment, and nobody needs to be listening to somebody's FaceTime call, or their child who is not in the class, making noise. It's disruptive and our instructor is there to teach the children, not instruct the adults who are viewing on how to be respectful of class time. Other than the one disruptive mother, it's a great fun little school. And my child looks forward to her sessions every week.

My 3 year old daughter loves this class! Teachers are patient, kind and engaging. We come every…read moreweek, and if we have to miss a class it's really easy to make up classes.

As an adult who started ballet at an advanced age, I try when I travel to take a drop-in class…read morewherever I go. I was visiting from the East Coast, and Victoria's adult class was fabulous. The open level class had students of various skill and experience levels, and I fit right in. Victoria knows how to communicate movement concepts and did not hesitate to jump right in with hands-on corrections, which I appreciated and certainly needed! I wish I had the opportunity to study with her more consistently. The only issue is that the drop-in trial class was about twice the cost of ballet classes I have encountered at home or elsewhere (including NY, Paris, and Hawaii), but on a one-time basis, it was well worth it.

My 7 year old daughter has been learning from Victoria since she was just 4. I still remember her…read more1st class where she refused to do anything. Victoria simply let her sit there and observe. 3 years later, my daughter got her skills as well as her confidence from Victoria's ballet. She practices 3-4 times a week but never complains. In fact, inspired by her I started taking the adult class from Victoria this year and so far really enjoy it. I love the fact that she deeply cares about her students, kids or adults, and she wants to let everyone truly understand and appreciate the beauty of ballet. Her classes focus a lot on the fundamentals which I think is absolutely critical for kids at younger age. Thank you Victoria!

My daughter dances there. She learns new moves and makes new friends, and likes the teacher. So I…read morethink it's a pretty good dance school. They have performances for parents every December. Pretty good shows.