San Juan School of Dance

 

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Annie R.

Amherst, MA

I attended this studio for 13 years and took Jazz, Tap, Ballet, and Pointe, and taught Tap and Ballet.

This studio is split into two sections, in my opinion:  the Ballet part and everything else.  For ballet, the school follows the Royal Academy of Dance syllabus, which has a very strong emphasis placed on technique through repetition.  Class hours tend to be shorter than other studios, but the upper classes are very small (4 - 6 students) and VERY rigorous, with classes held at night with flexible hours, based on how much work the students feel they need to put in (classes often run long).  Pointe students generally are not started until they reaach ten years of age, and the classes are much gentler and slower than at many other studios

In terms of Other classes, the best are jazz and tap, with new classes in Hip Hop, Musical Theatre, lyrical, and others developing.  There is a kind of general canon of steps taught in the jazz and tap classes, until the upper classes, in which choreography, improvisation, and performance are the focus.

this is a Family Studio, with classes for babies, kids, teens, and parents/grandparents.  The studio does have a dance team, but overall, this is not a competitive studio; it is good at accomodating people who aren't necessarily the best dancers or the most driven workers.  If you are serious about dancing, stick around for the Advanced Ballet classes or go somewhere else.  If you're a beginner, this is a good place to get into RAD syllabus (the closest other RAD studio is in Half Moon Bay) for the technique, then move to another ballet school for other aspects of dance.

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Melissa N.

Mountain View, CA

yay sj dance!!! i didnt know it was on yelp...haha hey annie...
i too have been taking dance here since before I can remember, and leaving it because of college was one of the saddest things I had to say goodbye to.  Every time i come back from break, i try to stop by and drop in on a few classes...i miss it!!

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