Royal Dance Conservatory

I enrolled my daughter at Royal Dance in December of 2014 after an eye appointment next door. I saw on the sign they were still enrolling and I figured it she hated it then I would only be out ½ a year tuition instead of a full year. The door was locked, even though it said it was open, and a girl popped out of the truck in front of the store and asked if I needed help. We went inside and I asked about ballet for 3 year olds.
They had a Monday class from 6 – 7, which was great because her 5 – 6 swimming class was such a stressful rush to get to. The best part was we didn’t have to buy the crazy expensive costume for the end of the year show because they were already ordered. She told me about a spring show at the other location my daughter was able to dance in and I was sold. I signed up, paid, but was told I couldn’t have the parent packet sitting on the desk. She said it was the last one and it had to stay in the filing cabinet (she then put it away). I was told classes started January 6^th and the girl I was dealing with, who looked 15, would be the teacher.
My friend had sent her daughter here a few years prior and had major complaints about the studio but I was taking it as a trial run. Her daughter loves ballet but another friend’s daughter hated it so I would see how it went.
They don’t allow shoes past the carpet by the door, which is understandable. Winnipeg winters are wet and messy. The waiting room is cold in the winter especially by the window but the girl at the desk has a nice little heater for herself. Unfortunately because of the shoe rule during the end of class it’s a madhouse of parents and students tripping over each other to prepare themselves to enter the cold.
I love my daughter, but she is 3, and 3 year olds don’t always listen. When she took swimming a month prior she spent 90% of the time screaming her head off because she didn’t want to lie on her back. Saying I was nervous about her listening to her ballet teacher would be an understatement. I tried approaching the teacher after class to talk about her listening skills and all I got was a nervous teenager not wanting to answer me. I tried reassuring her that I know my kid had listening problems and she couldn’t offend me but I got more of the same and some half answers.
While watching the class through the blinds I found that I didn’t like was how the class was structured. There was the teenage teacher, a teenage assistant, and 2 maybe 10 – 12 year olds also assisting. The two older ones pretty much ignored my daughter and left it to one of the younger ones to deal with her. The problem with «tweens» trying to teach and work with kids and toddlers in a structured environment is that they are not teachers and they are not mature. This kid kept grabbing my child’s arm leading and pulling her where she wanted her to go. As a parent it was even more frustrating that there was no adult supervising anything. The teenage teacher was the only person in change and I was not about to approach the assistants when their parents were packing them up too.
My kid loved the class so I tolerated the tweens and thankfully they were only in 2 more of her classes. After that first class they closed the blinds so parents couldn’t watch but on occasion they left the door open. I saw a room full of happy little girls dancing but what I didn’t see was any attempt to correct the students if there were not following proper form. The girls were using the bar and while my daughter hung from it and did kicks the teacher and the assistant continued with the lesson and neither even bothered to make sure she was learning.
I continued asking for the parent packet with no luck and last week I found out from another parent that the spring show already happened. The other parent said there was an email that went out inviting the kids. Wait, what!?! I was told my kid was going to be in that! I spoke to the girl at the desk, I told her I never got this email. Her response was that only 2 girls from the little ballerinas class showed up. So I told her again that I never got the email. She took my application form out and searched the email list. She was shocked when she couldn’t find my email address on it and her demeanor changed right away. She told me about a student show that would be happening in June. The kids preform for each other so she should still get to preform but she should pick her up early because that is the same day costumes are picked up. That’s great and all but it still doesn’t help that my husband and I didn’t get to see her dance. She gave me the director’s email and I emailed her this morning.
I am really unimpressed with this place. If you want your child to «learn» dance more for the exercise, convenience of not dealing with downtown traffic, and just having fun then I absolutely recommend this studio! My child will not be returning next year, we will be enrolling her in the RWB.