Need Advice Dance Classes

I have a daughter (almost 7 years old) that tells me she would like to take ballet classes. She has never taken dance classes before so she no experience and I am not sure that she is going to like taking dance classes. I know there is Creative Dance, Studio Bleu and Ashburn Academy locally. I was wondering if anyone can provide any feedback or make recommendations on which road to travel? Thanks in advance.

 

I've heard good things about all three. My daughters have both taken classes at Creative Dance Center across multiple disciplines (ballet, tap, jazz) and we've been generally pleased. Well, I guess more than generally since I keep going back. The advice I've been given when choosing a class is that the weekday classes tend to be more stable in terms of class composition and the more experienced instructors teach then too. Does that mean the weekend classes are bad? I don't think so from what I've seen for recitals.

 

We've been at Creative Dance Center for 2 years, this year will be our 3rd. My daughter loves it. This is our second year doing the Nutcracker in a Shell performance as well. I have been pleased with the center.

I would avoid the intersection of Waxpool and Loudoun Cty Pky though. We take the back way up Gloucester in Ashburn Village.

 

There is jazz and hip hop at Legacy kind of near Lifetime.
We have done ballet at Ashburn Academy of Ballet and we were very happy.
We also did classes with Ms.Kristin at Tutus & Tiaras...but her studio might be for younger children- you might want to check her website. I have 3 daughters at different ages so we have experimented all around.
Also, there are ballet classes offered at the Little Gym.
Don't forget to check the parks & rec catalog. Those classes are usually a little less expensive.
Lansdowne has a ballet room and they have a teacher that does ballet & tap there. You could probably call their club and find out more info. I bet it's cheaper than the studios. My niece took classes at Lansdowne for a few years and loved it. They had recitals and everything.
Good Luck!

 

My daughter took Jazz at Creative Dance Center for a couple of years. This year we're switching to Ashburn Academy of Ballet (which does a lot more than just ballet). The reason for the switch is because at the most recent CDC recital I realized I would have been embarrassed to have my elderly parents attend. There was too much skin showing and too much provocative dancing by little girls. AAB claims to choose tasteful and age appropriate costumes, music, and moves.

 

Highly recommend Creative Dance Center. This will be out 3rd year and my daughter also 7, loves it there. There is a coupon for $10off registration on the new issue of I am Modern that is valid until Aug 31st.

 

We just made the switch from CDC to Ashburn Academy of Ballet. My daughter took a combo Tap/Jazz class at CDC and it was probably 80% tap. We also found that not much technique was taught there - they mainly just teach the recital piece all year. We attended a "Bring a Friend" day at AAB and my daughter loved it. I feel that she will learn so much more than just a recital piece there.