Tiffany’s Dance Academy

I only wish the owner of this Dance studio reads reviews from customers like us! First, for a better business, a friendly accomodating staff is very important. This Dance studio doesnt have that front office staff with a good behavior. This person is a Racist and doesnt treat customers right. She is very impolite and rude to customers. She plays favorite. I have witnessed how she changes her mood and gets mean /​rude. She is not very helpful. She gets into fights easily from other customers that I saw. This company will be better if they change the staff that work. I have transferred my 2 kids to a different dance studio, and this one is way way better! I am happy that i have pulled them out from here, but feels sorry for new people to enroll here. Good luck. Bad bad management. Owners pls reassess your people.

If I could I would give this place no star. I have a bit of a concern about how some of the parents parked their cars while they dropped or picked up their children. I have come to my favorite place to eat like a hundreds of times in the last seven years and never have I seen the rudeness and inconsiderate parking of some of the parents. A couple of times I saw how fight almost broke out cuz the parking lot next to the school is being blocked because of all the inconsiderate and lazy parents. A couple of times I almost got into a heated argument and people that worked in the area also complained about this. So I took this up to calling the office to see if they can work this problems out. And just as I thought, to no avail. The person I spoke to just kept on saying that they have no control of how the parents parked.(with attitude) Yes I realized this but if you can compromise with other people by at least making some kind of an effort would gladly be appreciative. To mention this problems to parents and let them know that parking citations will be given if they parked illegally. But instead of that she rather be difficult and rather do absolutely nothing. She told me that she doesn’t appreciate me cursing at her. When did I cursed at her, I have no clue??? I was trying to go the peaceful way but that is not going to happen anytime soon. People around here warned me about that. I have no kids but I know a bunch of people that was once their clients and they all told me that this dance school is no longer what it once was. Well… never the less this place is a joke and from now on I will have to bother the SSFPD about this issues.

This is our daughter’s second year at Tiffany’s Dance Academy and we are seriously questioning whether to keep her (and our youngest daughter who is almost of age to dance) here or finding an alternative dance studio.
What keeps us here are the amazing friendships our daughter has made. We’ve been blessed with the same great teacher, Claire Calalo, who has a genuine love for children and does an amazing job. Our daughter loves the music, and we are happy with the overall structure of the class. She has had a great introduction to both ballet and tap, in a fun/​light environment where she can truly thrive.
However, there are some cons. Sadly, it feels like Tiffany’s is one giant money machine that values purchasing costumes, recital tickets, and monthly tuition over the actual quality of the dances. There is very little dance technique correction in our daughter’s class. Granted they are 4 year olds, and still very young, but there should be more focus on correcting technique. Of course there are expenses involved in dance, and that is not the problem we have. The issue is that almost weekly we are bombarded with emails about purchasing more and more items (DVDs, t-​shirts, costumes, tickets, etc. etc.), while there doesn’t seem to be a lot of respect for the beauty of dance or the parents themselves.
At this past weekend’s dance recital, the people handling the tickets/​seating were short and rude. We were rushed into the theater, and as we left a woman was screaming for everyone to get out «NOW» so that the next dance show could start. It felt like we were cattle all being ushered out. This dance academy cannot survive without the parents (who PAID for their tickets) and therefore I feel there should be greater respect for the parents. There is a polite and cordial way to ask people to exit the theater… not by screaming in their ears.
*Also, just a handful (not all) of the songs at the holiday recital were in my opinion, not appropriate for such young dancers.
Our daughter may choose to stay at Tiffany’s, in which case we will continue to focus on the pros and deal with the cons… however we are also looking at other dance schools for the future.

My daughter spent two seasons and we pulled her for multiple reasons. #1, I still have not received the recital video I bought and paid for. I have been given the run around and finally gave up. Second, they recycle dances, which I have never seen a dance studio do before. They teach the kids the same dances/​music so if you have two children, they will be doing their recital to the same routine. When my daughter aged up to the next level it was the same thing every week. I would not recommend this studio at all. However the teachers were very sweet.

As an update… on our last class the kids were playing in the reception area and Ruth asked them to be quiet… when I passed by she was playing games on the computer… but did not have time to talk to anybody.

I was able to finally get through with a very nice employee at TDA in Livermore, I think her name was Vanessa or Janessa. Anyway she was able to hear my frustration and took matters in her own hands and took care of me. She was nice, thorough and quick to call me back. Although I will not be returning to TDA I do appreciate what she did for me.

I love this place! My daughter has learned so much from the teachers and the wonderful staff! I have never had any issues with management or any of the teachers. She has been there since she was 5.5 years old and just loves it! I take adult classes there and love it too! This place is very family orientated and very professional! My daughter is 9 years old now and still enjoys going to dance class now 3 times a week! This year she will be performing with the Hip Hop Crew! She is very excited!

We have attended this place for a year and a half.
Sadly, the office is poorly ran by the office managers. I thought Kevin was unfriendly and somewhat rude, until Ruth Perez came into the picture. We really miss Kevin now. Ruth just does not love kids. She removed the toy house with the toys from the lobby where the kids loved to play and gather after the class to start their friendships. I saw SO MANY kids, including our child crying when they saw the house was gone. Ruth told me that she did not want the house there because of too much noise that bothered her! She also took away the cups for the water cooler! So when the kids are thirsty after the class, they cannot even drink the water! She told people to bring their own cups!!! Out of three times I called the office during the office hours, she never answered the phone, and we do not ever see her in the office on Saturday when we have a lot of questions (Kevin always was there). It is a really poor customer service! Too sad. After they removed the house, my daughter did not even want to go to her dance classes any longer and I heard same from other parents. We go also to gymnastics, and swimming school and have totally different experience with their offices and my daughter always excited to go to her gymnastic and swimming class. So, I guess the little ones can also feel the «friendliness» of the place.
Also, expect to pay, pay, pay for monthly fees, dresses, shoes, tights, recital costumes, pictures, videos, min. of 5 tickets for recitals including ticket for the performing child, flowers, donations and etc… I had signed up to donate cookies last year and spent an evening baking and wrapping those. On the day of the recital I overheard some women talking about them having so many cookies that they had to through away hundreds of those. How upsetting, of a waste of time and resources!
Their Daughter & Daddy Dance is wonderful, everyone loved it.

Tonight at dress rehearsal … Which was all the way in hayward, my five year old’s stage time ran over an hour late and no one bothered to atleast acknowledge that they were running behind. At one point staff could not locate my daughter, that was scary.
Sunday were recital pictures, the studio was full of people in and out needless to say, as we were leaving, one of the father’s approached Ruth, the studio director, he pointed to an exposed electrical wire, located right at the entrance to the doors, she responded very snarky towards him. I felt that was just rude!
my daughter has been coming here for three years. Each year i have to re-​think coming back.
About six months ago, i sent the studio director am email regarding some concerns and she said she would forward my concerns to someone, i never heard back from anyone.
It also just feels like a money machine. I paid $ 27 for each recital ticket and my daughter literally dances for 3 minutes. In order to purchase tickets early. You are asked to donate snacks, which are sold at the recital.
The classes are good, at least my daughter has enjoyed them. Her first few teachers have been great.

This school gets two stars ONLY because the teacher was amazing and my daughter really likes to go to class. I have a three year old and the teacher has enormous patience and enthusiasm and is able to actually teach a group of 3 – 4 year olds a routine they can remember.
I will not return after this season for the following reasons:
–the manager is very rude; too many incidents for me to expound but had she been more firendly I probably would have been willing to put up with the following reasons
–the website is not user friendly; a little hard to navigate and they force you to do everything through their website so it is frustrating
–you can virtually never get a hold of someone on the phone and the manager mentioned in the first reason does not return emails in a timely manner if at all

Instructor Ms. Katy fantastically patient and great with the kids.

My niece took a ballet class here, and I have to say I’m impressed. It seemed like she actually learnt a few things about form and posture — I saw very little of the stuttering step that usually comes with children’s dance. It seems like she really enjoyed it, too — she was begging my brother to let her do it again.
Oh yeah, and Ruth Perez, the studio manager, seemed very professional.

Tiffany’s Dance Academy is a great place for kids to learn how to dance! Its amazing to see my daughter learn and have so much fun at the same time. Kudos to the teachers for being so patient with so many tiny children. I love watching my little girl return home so happy!

I attended this dance school while growing up in South San Fran and it was the best part of my day. I took everything from Twinkle Babies Dance to Ballet 3. I still wish I lived up here so I could keep attending their adult classes. Everyone is so nice and I always left with a smile on my face! I can honestly say Tiffany’s Dance Academy was one of the best parts of my childhood.

Last weekend I was up in the Bay Area visiting my family and I had the pleasure of visiting Tiffany’s Dance Academy. My little sister has been taking classes here for over a year now and I am thoroughly impressed with the skills she has learned. The joy I saw on Sarah’s face (my sister) was enough for me to purchase a month of classes for her Christmas present. The staff at Tiffany’s is extremely knowledgeable and the location couldn’t be nicer. I’m happy to see what being involved in this dance community has done for Sarah’s self esteem and confidence!

My daughter and I really enjoyed Tiffany’s Dance Academy. Her teacher was so great and patient with all the children. Unfortunatelly I recently lost my job and now my daughter will be so sad that she can’t attend class any longer.
I would recommend this place to everyone. I can’t wait until I find a new job so that she may continue to dance.

My daughter has been attending Tiffany’s Dance Academy for 3 years this summer. She loves it and I love it.
I am not surprised at the mixed reviews for the studio but as a parent with some experience at the studio I’d like to share my experiences.
Observation:
My mother had me in dance at an early age and when I went to rehearsal she dropped me off and picked me up – she did not stay and watch. To be honest, the studio is not large enough for all the mommies (daddies and gramma’s) to be hanging out in the hallways and yes it is cold. I often wait in the car or run to the bank. I think that when I watch my daughter she becomes very distracted so I watch during Parent Observation Week because that is what it is for. The Studio in SSF could use some updates because it doesn’t have character – it’s old. If the parent room downstairs was more welcoming maybe the moms and dads could hang out until the kids were done.
Teacher issues:
This year my daughters teacher missed one class due to a family emergency and they scheduled another session promptly. Her first year was a different story my daughter’s teacher was often a no show and had subs often. I am sad to say that her teacher this year Miss Mandie will not be returning to the studio but I do feel that she gave the children structure and taught them form. Initially I thought their routine was too simple but when I watched my child and her classmates flutter about during their performance I appreciated the choreography.
Communication:
I think communication is improving to an extent however sometimes I feel there are too many emails about less pressing issues. In a time where email communication is the norm people tend to ignore them after a while. Last year we did not receive updated time slots for the Picture day and my daughter missed her class photo because initial communications had a «generic time» of 5:30pm I was told. Who does that? The real time was 10:30am! Either put the time or put TBD. People need to realize that we take time to prepare our children for photos and recitals and we will be on time if you give us the right time!
Recital issues:
I received an email about the performance for the Daddy Daughter dress rehearsal but not for her class rehearsal. Given the end of year and it being a school day – ahem, her graduation day – I had to take the day off for the dress rehearsal. This was a first for me because prior years she was in the Twinkle Star Show and they don’t have dress rehearsal. So we got there at our time 5:55pm and her class had just performed. WTF no one told me or emailed me about the rehearsal. They told me they made an announcement in class. Oh really? What about those who missed class did you plan on letting them know? So we had to wait another hour and some change for her Daddy daughter group to dance! If I had known she wouldn’t take the stage until after 6:00pm I could have went to work!
In regards to claims of inappropriate dancing and music in this year’s recital I am unsure as to which routine you are referring to. I thought the show was nice and fun and I didn’t see anything that was inappropriate for the youth to perform.
I would suggest that the school find a way to incorporate picture day into dress rehearsal or the recital day, that way it’s a one stop shop for everything. It will also save the family time and headache trying to get toddlers dressed and prepped 3 times versus 1 or 2.
Overall I really enjoyed the show and my family makes an event of the recital plus who doesn’t enjoy the Daddy Daughter Dance even if you don’t have a Daddy? I know there is never a dry eye in the audience! My daughter just loves being on stage so regardless of issues with teachers and communications I will continue to keep her at Tiffany’s.

Actually, Paul, nobody has made any effort to contact me to work through any of these issues. That is a LIE.
I did NOT opt out of your email system. That is another LIE. Why would I opt out and then complain about not getting email? I used to get messages, as did my husband, and they both stopped coming after Sharon left.
Dress rehearsal, as per the big sign that was posted at the studio was at 3:52 PM — not at 4:30. After being told to be there at 3:52, we were kept waiting until nearly 5 PM.
It IS cold in the studio. It’s freezing cold in the winter time.
We have been refused a refund for the missed class, even though we were told that if a make-​up class couldn’t be scheduled we would get our money back. We were offered a credit towards next year’s tuition, though that is useless to us because we are NOT returning, which was communicated to your office staff.
And finally, the dance routine where the girls wore the go-​go boots, hot pants and ½ shirts and thrusted their hips and gyrating their bodies to the song «Shake Your Groove Thing» WAS sexually suggestive. The people in front of me actually gasped mid-​way through, and aside from my own family who thought that a more age appropriate routine and song would have been a better choice, I heard rumblings from MANY families. It was very distasteful and I’m not the only person to think so.
Out of the class of 12 NOT A SINGLE CHILD IS RETURNING NEXT YEAR because everyone had pretty much the same experience as we did. How’s that for customer satisfaction?

Our feelings about this place are mixed. On the one hand, we can see our daughter’s skill in ballet showing itself, and we like her performance in the yearly presentation in Hayward. However, we wish that there were more available ballet classes during the week, and that she were given a more intensive program to help her increase her skills faster.
We were also somewhat surprised this year at the annual dance recitals when songs were chosen for performances that had obvious sexual overtones. While the children who danced in these performances were too young to understand the sexuality of the music, we still felt that they were inappropriate.
Overall, this is a good dance school, but we are not entirely satisfied. Nothing comparable or better appears to be as close to us as Tiffany’s, however.. .

I can’t believe no one has written review about this place! I’m not sure if it closed down or if it’s just under new ownership:
but when I was a child, Schumacher’s was top notch.
Most dance schools will just take your money and let your kid run around the studio for an hour, but as a 6 year old Schumacher’s taught me structure and the basics of tap dancing that stuck with me for life. Since the foundation was set at such a young age and quality training and technique was the standard, I never forgot anything I learned.
Now I’m a tap dance teacher and I hope to inspire others, like Schumacher’s inspired me.