I do not like to bash people or businesses and I have treated Golden Slippers prettly badly and, well, kind of felt bad about it.

However, they recently opened a new studio, or rather relocated one of their existing studios right near where we live and I decided to give them another chance.

BIG MISTAKE!

My daughter has issues for sure.  She is irritable and can be quite a handful but she can also be so incredibly sweet, if given the chance.

Our very first day at the new studio my daughter had a melt down and the owners looked like they just wanted me to get her out of there as fast as possible.

All it would have taken is one of them or one of their instructors to come and try and talk to her, show they gave a damn about something besides money.

My husband took her the next week and had the same thing happen.  No one even bothered to try and convince our baby girl she would enjoy being there.

So, we took her out again and fell back on old faithful… Attitudz.

Even though they are a good 45 minute drive from where we live, it is so worth it.

Our daughter just feels at home there.  She does her Jazz and tap, gets to see what ballet is all about, and plays games, acts, all and all, has an absolute ball.

This is what we need.  No uptight studio where you are lucky to be enrolled.  Attitudz appreciates their clients and students and shows it!

Just wanted to share the frustration and if your child is looking for a great environment to be in where he or she can learn how to interact with other children and become quite the little dancer, I highly recommend Attitudz Performing Arts!

One of those questions is, how much will this cost?

Rates for the various studios, at least the professional ones, are surprisingly similar with one another.

Attitudz and Golden Slippers for example, are almost identical in what we paid per month for our daughter.

However, at Golden slippers we had to pick a class like tap and jazz to enroll her in, which did include some introductory ballet.  If we wanted her to experience modern or hip-hop or anything else, we had to sign up for that separately.

At Attitudz we enrolled our little one in the Children’s Class which included instruction in Hip-Hop, Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Singing, Acting and Musical Theater.

I feel this keeps things new and fresh for our daughter who needs constant stimulation to keep her interested in things.

Of course some of this time is set aside for learning the routine our daughter will perform at the annual recital but much of the time is actually spent learning and exploring new things.  At Golden Slippers pretty much each class was recital routine practice.

Our daughter now enjoys going to class and learning to express herself in many different ways.

I cried the other day when my daughter broke out in the most beautiful dance when she heard a song come on the radio.  You could tell she was expressing how she felt and not just going through the motions of some structured routine like she had at Golden Slippers.

Now to be fair to Golden Slippers here.  We were not at all happy with our instructor because we felt our daughter was not getting enough individualized instruction.  Yes, we understand that she is in a class with other children so one on one work is not reasonable but more could have been done to help our daughter learn.

For example,  we found out that an instructor at one of their other locations had actually made a dvd of the routine so the children could practice at home and therefore be much more confident not only in class but in front of hundreds of people at the recital.

Our instructor would not do this so we went to the other studio and got a copy from one of the parents and this helped our daughter immensely.

So, I think one of our biggest problems with Golden Slippers is perhaps the instructor we had… but this is no excuse.  These instructors should be monitored and the parents comments and concerns addressed, which they are not, and so we left.

So, to answer the question, is dance class expensive?  Well, it is not cheap but it is well worth the moneyy invested so long as your child is receiving value for the time they spend at the dance studio.

We pay about $90 per month for two hours a week of instruction.  Money is not something we have a lot of so we need to make sure that we are spending it wisely.

We are committed to paying this amount each month for our daughter to be able to interact with other children and actually get something out of the classes, which, we are happy to say, she absolutely does at Attitudz.

Here is an email I received from a parent with a daughter much like ours.  She asked if I could put her story in the blog and I said of course I would!  Anyway, see if this story doesn’t pull a tear or two:

I have a 5yr old special needs child that has loved to dance since she started walking. I knew that was going to be her passion and strength.

 
I had been looking for a dance class that would not only be able to understand her needs, but also teach her how to dance. Every school I contacted told me that since she was not potty trained they could not accept her. So, we ended up purchasing a few dance DVDs and my husband made her room into a little dance studio.

 How heart breaking it was for us to watch our little girl dance all alone.

Last summer I decided to look into a few more schools of dance and even asked if she wore a pull up would they accept her, well the look alone at a couple of dance schools made me just walk away with a heavy heart. Right when I gave up I found Attitudz and I almost didn’t even want to contact them in fear of the strange looks or rejection.
But for my daughter sake I gave it another try expecting the worse.

The owner greeted us with open arms and took to my little girl right away. She didn’t give us the look, she immediately took her to one of the classes and stood next to her and guided her through the dance routine. My daughter was ecstatic, as I! 

 When the class was over we started talking and I explained that my daughter is Mildly MR and was not potty trained, the owner just looked puzzled and asked me if that was a problem for me, because it was certainly not a problem for her. In fact she told me she would work with my daughter, she could wear a pull up or panties to class and told me that maybe after a while of her interacting with the other girls she would come around.

 
I didn’t know what to say, I just started crying. She gave me a hug and told me that it was going to be OK, that everyone is special in their own way and that my daughter was not only gifted, but talented.

My daughter started last fall and I am proud to say that she is a great little dancer, has friends, and no longer has to dance in her room alone with her dad and I as her audience.  She preformed in the end of the year show and was marvelous! The show was magical! It made you laugh, it made you cry, and it made all the parents proud!

Bless you Tara & Attitudz!

He did however comment on the difference between the two recitals and was very impressed with what Attitudz Performing Arts Studio had put together and how well organized and entertaining it had been.

After the show we went to dinner with our friends and their daughter could not stop talking about her performance and how much fun it had been.  This was not the case after our daughters recital… she was irritable and just wanted to go home and so did my husband!

I checked out the Attitudz website later that evening and having experience with many of the other dance studios in Virginia Beach and their self-absorbed sites, it was quite refreshing to see a studio owner put together a site that was focused on the children and those who took classes there and not on her own accomplishements, which I later found out were many.

Here is a video from her site that actually made me cry a little, quite a different emotion from what you get visiting other dance studio sites.

I hope you take a moment to watch the video below and if your son or daughter is interested in taking dance class be it ballet or tap and jazz or anything in between, please check out his awesome studio that we are so proud to now be a part of!

Two of these were obsessed with dress codes.  I can understand the need for proper dance gear to be warn but if you were to look at professional dancers and what they wear during practice, it is not at all in line with what these local studios require…

Thing is, many of these studios claim to be the stepping stone required to your child’s dream of being a professional dancer but professional dancers wear what is comfortable to them during practice… not what the facility they practice in deems appropriate.

I’d argue that it is more about the money.  By requiring students to wear certain types of dance gear, and then of course selling that gear in their studios, well, it smells of money to me:

Here is an actual quote from a well known studio in the area: Wilkins School of Dance

 Our students observe a Dress Code which fosters pride in appearance, group identity, and allows the instructor to evaluate and correct student alignment and position.
For the convenience of parents we stock all dancewear and shoes required for class. The instructor will advise you.

Please purchase all equipment before the first lesson.

Yes, after spending money for enrollment you will need to make sure you wear the school uniform which of course they are happy to provide, at mark-up of course, claiming that having everyone look alike creates conformity… I want my child to be able to express herself through dance… This is NOT what the studios have in mind though!

How convenient that I can spend money right there in the studio to make sure my child is properly attired and up to “their high standards”!

Okay, Okay, I understand you don’t want the kids coming in dressed inappropriatley and all that, whcih is fine and I agree with it.  What I don’t agree with is that each child has to wear exactly the same thing ad you need to buy it there.

Some parents see this as acceptable and convenient but if you look at some other studios the dress code is a bit more flexible and you can save a lot of money buying dance gear that is readily available in stores and not just at the studio.  Just my opinion on it is all and one of the resons we did not pick that studio so ithas merit.

My goal was to document our experiences with three different dance studios in Virginia Beach that my daughter was actually enrolled in as well as a few others we checked out but decided were not right for us.

Our daughter is almost five and has some developmental issues that her doctors thought could be helped by enrolling her in dance.  I think the biggest difference in the studios we were involved with was how much attention… or non-attention, the instructors paid to our child.

Money was also a big issue.  Dance class is not cheap and we knew that going into it but one studio in paticular was pretty in our face about making sure we paid our monthly dues, well before the month started actually.

Kind of like the underlying message and mantra of the studio was, you need to pay us to make sure we keep your child enrolled.. very uncomfortable feeling.

Most studios offer tap and jazz, and of course ballet.  Many offer hip-hop and modern dance and pretty much any other kind of dance your child may be interested in.

One studio in paticular, Attitudz performing Arts Studio, was very different in how they exposed your child to different forms of dance.  At other studios you needed to pay for a class in jazz and then pay for a class in ballet and then pay for a class in hip hop, and on and on, but Attitudz seemed all inclusive, even incorporating theater and karate!

Anyway, you probably have guessed where our child is currently enrolled… yes, Attitudz and we are very happy she is there.

We pulled her out of Golden Slippers after being there a year and immediately following their recital.  I’ll discuss the reasons why in full in another post but for now, welcome to Dance Studios Virginia Beach and I hope the information will be helpful to you and your family when it comes time to enroll your child in dance class.

For a detailed article on how to find a dance studio for you child just follow this link:  How to find a dance studio for your child.

One thing to point out is that Attitudz Performing Arts studio is very different than any other we tried out.  Other studios have strict curriculums which leaves very little room for allowing your child to concentrate on what they enjoy and where their strengths actually lie.

Don’t get me wrong, along with their passion for performing in a theatrical way, they teach many of the same things other studios do. 

For example our child started out with ballet and tap with introductory jazz moves.  Center floor, across the floor combinations, Barre and precision work were all introduced before moving on.

Special attention was paid to proper body alignment, technique and musicality. Later, when she was familiar with basic moves and techniques, she began to learn different dance routines in each discipline, preparing her for more advanced forms of dance. 

It was all very professional but delivered in an entertaining and fun atmosphere that my daughter just can’t get enough of!  Awesome

Oh, I came across this video of Attitudz dancers winning first place in a dance copetition at King’s Dominion and my daughter just loved it so I thought I’d share it with you.

By the way, I’m not the only parent who has a child that is in total love with this studio.  I’ve included a screen shot below of the Attitudz Google Local listing and you can see how many reviews they have.  Just click on the picture and you can review, well, the reviews!  By for now!