Tiffany’s Dance Academy

Pros:
*Location
*Summer recital
*Awesome costumes
Cons:
*Dancers less than 5 years old are not all invited to be in the winter nutcracker, however the additional winter recital is primarily based on class size and if your class isn’t chosen you have to try to move to a class that is (if it isn’t full).
*Communication to parents
*The varying instructor styles may not be a fit for your child. Class sizes limited so research in advance a good fit.

I love TDA! It is THE PERFECT studio for the novice dancer. My daughter started dancing here at the age of three. Miss Kristina was a gentle, soft spoken instructor whom my daughter instantly connected with because she was who she needed at the time.
My daughter was a part of their competition team for three years with Miss Nicole as her instructor. Miss Nicole brought out the best in my daughter. She is an outstanding person all around and all the families simply adore her.
Recital was the best part! The dancers always have theeee most eye catching, super cute costumes (that come with a heartbreakingly hefty price unfortunately). They have the best props for the chosen theme and they don’t miss a thing in assuring that everything comes out perfect. The father/​daughter Dance warms your heart. My husband truly misses those precious moments.
POST NOTE:
My daughter no longer dances here and the instructors mentioned are no longer there. However, this place will always be special to us.

The teachers are great and professional. My niece has had Miss. Jessica for a year now and the improvement has been extremely noticeable from her last studio. She is very friendly and dedicated.

Great for Kids, Bad for Adults
For my daughter, she gets to experience being a dancer which is great!
For a parent, the experience is debatable.
I agree with the other 1 star that online costume manager that they use to order dance uniforms, recital costumes, and accessories are overpriced. Minus the recital costumes, you can find them elsewhere, like Target, Amazon, etc.
The teachers are great but some of the staff appears apathetic if not, unhelpful. This included the recital. It was not as bad as the Jaci C’s comment. I am guessing they are still working through their cultural and organizational faults.

My 5 year old daughter dances here. She just finished her first «Twinkle Stars» class, which is ballet and tap. She loved it! She got to do 2 super cute dances during the year (which runs July-​June). One performance was in December and another, better one, in June. Her instructor, Veronica, was awesome and so good at keeping the class of 4 and 5 year olds focused. I’ve loved the 45 minutes each week spent watching her learn and grow as a dancer. The recital was well managed and super cute. I also really like Erika, the new studio director. Class fees are very reasonable, but costumes are overpriced. I guess that’s to be expected, though. I wish there was a way to trade costumes in, or recycle them somehow as it seems wasteful to use it only once. We’re all signed up for next year. My daughter is very excited for her next level class!

I’ve been a member of Unilocal for years now. I use Unilocal a lot to help me make a lot of my consumer decisions because I feel the feedback comes from the consumers. In all that time, I have actually never taken the time to write a review… TIL NOW…
I wouldn’t even give Tiffany’s a star because of my recent experience… that one lonely star is for Ms Kristina who is my daughter’s teacher because we thought she was really awesome. That’s the only reason why this place got even one star from me.
My family was new to Tiffany’s. We had moved her here from another dance studio because we heard some good things about it from a friend. Registration for a class was easy and the waiting room (although can be really crowded) was more comfortable than the previous school my daughter was in. She was in a combo jazz and ballet class taught by Ms Kristina. Overall, she was great with the kids and really took charge and got these 5−7yo girls to listen and follow choreography.
They have an online costume manager that they use to order dance uniforms, recital costumes, and accessories. As expected, most and almost all of the products are overpriced. Minus the recital costumes, you can find them elsewhere, like Target, Amazon, etc.
This awful review for Tiffany’s Dance is due to the recent events that happened this past Saturday during their Christmas Recital and how it was handled when I called the studio about my concerns. Tiffany’s Dance is a chain of dance studios across the East Bay so the recitals are combined with all the other schools. Their xmas recital this year was held outside the Bankhead Theatre in Livermore. Outside… in the cold month of December. At first I didn’t think too much of it because you’d think because they’ll be holding an outdoor recital in December that they would make proper accommodations to ensure their dancers are comfortable on stage. NOPE! They only had 2 heaters in front of the stage in the open area of the theatre. The temperature was in low 40s and windy. As I waited for my daughter to perform, we sat and watched many dancers, run to stage, grasping their arms in the freezing cold weather as they waited for their song to start. More than a handful of students (girls who were probably 4 – 6 years of age) just stood there during the performance because they were freezing cold. Lots of muttering around the audience saying, «poor babies!»…“if we’re freezing cold bundled up, imagine how they feel in their tutus!” It was finally my daughter’s turn to perform with her class… she had a painful look in her face as she grasped her arms as she walked on stage. In short, after the performance, she was crying and said she was cold and wanted to go home. My husband and I would have suffered through the cold watching my daughter perform. I wouldn’t have made it such a big deal if my daughter came out of all of it, smiling and loving it… but NO… it was total opposite. This event had deterred my daughter from dancing. It wasn’t about us but about her and the rest of the dancers… but it was so hard to watch. All those weeks of practice and hard work, not to mention the money spent… all came down to a freezing cold dancer who never want to go back to dance class again! After this lack of regard to their dancers, my husband and I decided to withdraw my daughter from the school. SO… when I called the dance studio today, I had the pleasure (NOT really) to talk to the studio «director». When I voiced my concerns of why I’m withdrawing my daughter from the school… she told me that participation on the recital was OPTIONAL that I knew it was going to be held outdoors. And that she wasn’t part of the planning committee that put the recital together so she had no say on the recital’s details. (Really…what kind of «director» are you?! Take some accountability. She further went on to tell me that if I had such strong concerns to call Tiffany herself. What kind of director are you if you can’t even be a strong advocate for your dancers. Another thing… I wanted to cancel my daughter’s summer recital costume because I withdrew her from the school. She told me that the sale was final and that I’ll need to come by the studio in the spring to pick up the costume! SERIOUSLY!!! What am I gonna do with an overpriced sparkly tutu that my daughter isn’t even gonna use?!! I’m done with you, Tiffany’s Dance Academy!!! This is a big example of a studio that really just cares about the business of dance. If they really cared about their dancers and their families, they would consider their customers’ concerns seriously and not brush them off aside like she did.

Professional and serious dance studio. Good for focused kids that love to perform. The costumes are elaborate and pricey, but very worth it for «the experience».

I came across this dance school over a year ago, through a free trial coupon I received in the mail. They have ballet, jazz, hip-hop…it all depends on the age of your child. The location for this one is right on Fremont Blvd so you either have to park on this busy street or in the back. They have a small ‘viewing room’ for the parents… this is where we gather and wait for the class to exit and for the next class to go in. (on a side note, it would be nice for the classes to be spaced at least 5 minutes apart, instead of back to back. The reason I suggest this is because, the room is small so you have to wait for other parents to leave their chair before anyone else from the next class can settle in, and with the two classes switching off its jammed packed, stuffy and at times chaotic).
From this room, the parents can watch their kids dance. They will also have days where the parents are invited to go inside the actual dance studio to watch them up close and take photos (without the glare of the windows). We had little short parties to celebrate holidays or birthdays (*but note they cut into class time for these).
We’ve had two instructors because I’ve changed my daughter’s school schedule around. They keep things light, fun but also focused. If the child doesn’t want to be there or is messing around, they will be asked to leave the class until they can reset and listen. I think this is great, keeps from wasting everyone else’s time. At the end of the year, they do a dance recital and its really heart warming and exciting to see all the kids on stage. They’re smiles say it all… and honestly, I’ve seen an improvement with my daughters shyness. She loves dancing and putting on performances now. The monthly fee, costumes and photos are not cheap so be prepared that the investment for the entire class can add up.