Pamela Trokanski Dance Workshop

I take my 4 year old daughter to pre-​tap and pre-​ballet classes here. We joined in the middle of a session and was welcomed even though my daughter had never danced before. She absolutely loves it!
Ms. Pamela is very great at capturing her attention and I love how she is hands-​on when trying to correct feet placement and posture. She is very quirky and wonderful with children. We saw her outside of the studio once and she recognized us and said hello.
Ms. Virginia has a more methodical approach when teaching tap, and has great patience which I can appreciate. She also gives her students little candies during the holidays, which is very sweet.
The studio has had a couple of few free showcases, and fairly inexpensive events and performances since my daughter has started attending. For Halloween they showed everyone how to do the Thriller dance. I am looking forward to her first recital in May!

My 5 year old daughter takes pre-​ballet here and loves it. Everyone has been wonderful to us.
My 15 year old daughter also takes the high school dance course with the studio owner and it’s one of her favorite classes. I’m definitely happy with this studio and their staff!

I am saddened by the negative reviews of this wonderful place. Please note that they all were written at the same time, reflecting a conflict between a teacher and Pamela (the teacher is no longer at the studio).
My daughter has danced here for 7 years. She has received excellent instruction from a number of different teachers. I have seen children and adults welcomed regardless of their dance ability, body type, or level of interest in dance. If you want to dance here, whether for fun, for exercise, or because you are on your way to a professional dance career, you are welcome. Pamela believes that dance is for every body – I have appreciated that there is no emphasis on a particular body type or an endorsement of super-​thin bodies. This is also evident in Pamela’s work with Parkinson’s patients, older adults, and community groups.
The training is about dance and not performance. There is exactly one student concert each year, and usually the costumes are modest and reasonably affordable.
No place is perfect. Occasionally we have had teachers who are immature or who don’t work well with kids. And Pamela is not for everyone. She has clear rules and she enforces them. My daughter has always thrived in this context. I know other children who dance here but never take classes with Pamela. There is sufficient variety that a dancer can choose which teachers to take.
I recommend this dance studio. However, I also believe that there needs to be a good fit between a studio and dancer, and between a teacher and student. Try this studio with an open mind and see if that fit is good for you and your child.

I’ve actually known Pam for several years as her dance student in high school. She has interesting quirks here and there (I can understand the profanity used by the receptionists). But as many Unilocalers have noted, I don’t think that’s acceptable. As long as you stay on Pam’s good side, she’ll take you under her wings and treat you like royalty.
Denise is awesome, I wish I had more time to learn from her. Best ballet instructor ever, she makes me want to study ballet for life. Her body is amazingly toned. I’m jelly

I love this studio, especially the Zumba class. Everyone is so friendly and makes you feel very welcome. The Zumba class was so fun that you didn’t even know you were exercising. I will continue to go back there and try other classes.

This studio is unprofessional and unfriendly.
The owner speaks to her students in a demeaning way, which is annoying as an adult dancer, and I would imagine scary and intimidating to the children who dance there. The atmosphere and management of this place squeezes every ounce of joy from what should be a very fun experience.
I imagine the ridiculous and sporadically enforced dress code (pink tights and black leotards only– even for adults!) is supposed to lend an air of professionalism to this local studio, but it just ends up making everyone uncomfortable.
This studio is at best unfriendly and at worst dangerous (no rock rosin is allowed on the floor, causing me to break my foot and a fellow dancer to break her knee doing simple turns.)
Needless to say, I don’t recommend this studio for either children or adult dancers. Take your money to a studio that values you.

I have danced here off and on for over 10 years. I have seen so much negativity come from the owner that it isn’t a wonder that the staff has followed suit.
I have only bore witness to things, and have not been directly involved, but it has come to a point that I cannot be silent when people can be treated and talked to so disrespectfully as some of the staff and owner have spoken to dancers.
This is supposed to be a place that nurtures creative expression through dance, at any age and for any reason. But with some tyrannical ideals of what you put on your body, instead of what is projected from it through the art form of dance, it has become a place of negativity, breeding fear and insecurity. It is not a healthy environment to be in and I will, as of today, not ever dance there again.

I dance here, but I wish I didn’t. The only reason I’m still at this studio is because of the ballet teacher, Denise. Let me explain:
First, some of the receptionists are nice, but there are others who are rude. When I say rude I mean hateful and vulgar. There was a recent incident about dress code and when the dancer in question said good night to the receptionist the response she got was «f*ck off.» Very professional. The owner of the studio, while claiming to value professionalism, is rude to customers as well. She is, at times, completely lacking tact.
And there’s a dress code. It has been on paper for years but never enforced for adult dancers. It’s a silly thing, really; only black leotards and no ballet skirts. The scary part is how rigid and unyielding the owner is about it. She tries to kick people out and she disciplines them in public. These are adults, who in many cases pay a ton of money to dance there! What harm is a red leotard?
The actual studio space is just ok. The owner does not allow rosin on the floors. This has created a hazard for pointe class, and many people have fallen, both in pointe and technique, including me. I will say though that after years she has finally begun putting liquid rosin on the ballet floor once a week which helps. The ballet barres are too close to the wall to properly stretch, and if you’re doing turns at the barre you can pretty much guarantee that you’ll be hitting the mirrors at some point.
For me, the worst parts are the people. The owner is straightforward, but often crosses the line from straightforward to mean, in my opinion. Some of the front desk people are icy at best and hateful and vulgar at worst.
Honestly, I’ll keep dancing here at least until the end of April when the session is up because I don’t want to lose the money. And I may consider remaining simply because I love the teacher, even though I am loathe to give my money to this establishment, but I cannot recommend this studio to others even if it is the only place in town to get such a wide variety of dance styles under one roof.
UPDATE: Approximately one week after I posted this review, the owner of the studio met me at the door with a check refunding me the balance of my tuition for the session. Her stated reason was that I was rude to her employees and I was no longer welcome there. She even had her boyfriend who, in his words, was acting as security, stand outside and verify that I had left the parking lot.

I can here for a ballet drop in and the instructors were very welcoming and nice. It had been a while since I step foot in a studio for abut 8 years, but they made sure I was placed in the right level class. There are many dance studio rooms here and all types of dance (lyrical, ballet, hip-​hop) however, no tap =(.
The instructor gave many technique corrections which I like because I want to make sure I am executing each dance move correctly. I suggest if you want proper technique, GO HERE!