Massive Monkees Studio: The Beacon

This is such a magical and inspirational space the b boys and girls who teach class here really know what they are talking about with hip hop culture in a whole I’m currently in the beginners class with b boy fever of the rock steady crew and it’s awesome the Number of students change today we had a lot of students next week it might be as low as 4 we never know and that keeps it super exciting I’m actually the only girl in class at the moment I needed a little bit more self discipline because I’m stubborn but I highly recommend this studio to anyone who wants to learn the basic fundamentals of the «b boy b girl «/​hip hop /​breakdancing culture this is the best studio for it in the pacific northwest

My godson goes here for the baby breakdancing classes. I wanted to surprise him for Christmas by buying him some classes. I contacted the studio to see if I could purchase classes as a gift, and sure enough Anna Banana Freeze responded quickly. She let me know how to make that happen. It was super simple, fast, and I appreciate the quick response. I also like that it was pretty effortless, and it was painless. This was great especially because I live in California!
What a neat and fun concept for kids!
I think it’s an awesome way to let kids just let it go and just be.
Way to start them while they are young.

I’ve taken my 5-​yr old son here three times now for the Mini Breaks class with Anna Banana Freeze. While he has had varying levels of participation due to his mood, I’ve found that Anna is an AWESOME teacher for this age range of 3 – 5. She is able to get the kids to focus, be engaged, and have fun, while teaching them some basic (very basic) breaking moves. What I especially like is her emphasis that not everyone has to participate in the individual cipher each time, and makes them feel okay about being shy that particular day. The pressure is off and they can have fun, at whatever level, they feel like at that moment.
The Beacon offers three payment choices for students. You can simpy drop-​in and pay $ 15 for the class, or pre-​pay for 5 classes at $ 65 or 10 classes for $ 10. As long as my son is still interested, I will keep taking him to Anna Banana to learn break dancing. They have comfy couches in the back for you to watch (if you don’t want to sit on the stage with your kid) and you can bring food in too, which is a great option with all the cheap eats around in the ID.

Bringing positivity to youth and the community — a cause with supporting and participating in! I love that my kids can learn from such a great group of dancers, the classes are a good mix of fun and challenging. Bonus points that I have an excuse to help them with their «homework» until the next class, so nostalgic. *^_^*

My 2 year old LOVES to dance. Like really loves it. I thought this would be a fun opportunity for her to do it around other kids. Unfortunately, it was too structured and instructional for her. She just likes to boogie. She lost interest very quickly due to the lack of music and length of talk time. Actually, this happened with a lot of kids. About 20 minutes in kids were dropping like flies. Some parents even got their money back. We left and just chalked it up to being a little ahead of her capacity for attention.
It would be cool of there was a more «freestyle» class for young kids (maybe 2 – 5) that was lead by an instructor but played more music and offered more actual dancing.
The 3 stars are purely for potential and a cute studio. The place could have used a quick swiffer. The floor was really dirty. My kids pants and shoes were covered with grey dust when we left. The mirrors hadn’t been cleaned in a looooong time.

The Beacon is a fantastic new addition to the Chinatown /​International District community. I know they offer a variety of classes, but for this review, my perspective is limited to the «mini-​breaks» class they offer to young children.
My young son (~3) often attends on Saturday and really enjoys the class. His teacher, «Anna Banana Freeze», radiates positive energy and really cares about getting the little ones to enjoy themselves AND express themselves through dance. Usual format of the class is a beginning cypher (circle where dancers alternate/​take turns dancing in the middle), stretching, learning a few new movements, activity or freestyle practice, and ending cypher.
Classes can number anywhere from 10 to 30 students, but Anna Banana Freeze handles the group well. Being a person myself who works in education, it’s easy to recognize someone who knows how to skillfully coach and encourage their students. Parents /​adults are also asked to participate and help model for their kids as well — don’t worry, you don’t have to drop to the floor and do windmills, just help your little one move to the beat and freeze during the breaks.
Did I mention the dance floor is new and the facility is clean? They also recently raised more money through a Kickstarter campaign, so I imagine additional improvements will be coming up soon.
The Beacon offers a unique experience that can’t be duplicated. It’s rare enough that a world-​class break dancing crew is willing to teach their skills to the public — but this is happening in the city of Seattle? Amazing.

Great Instructors! For those learning how to dance or even veterans, this is the place to learn or improve. Learn from the best! The teachers here are great and I love the interactions you have with the people in the class as well.
Parents bring your kids and experience this great team. If you’re not sure if you want to join… come on down to The Beacon and experience first hand, be a spectator, a walk in or join the classes. Come down and experience awesomeness!
Watching and experiencing first hand was great. Definately recommending this to friends and also friends with kids. :)

The Beacon is doing great things for the community. Perfectly set in the International District… Break Dancing is like the ID in the sense that they both have a rich history that sometimes gets over looked or not experienced, I love spending time in this neighbor hood now.
The Beacon is creating a positive, welcoming, and empowering environment. I know they do a lot of great work with youth, including an after school program.
I was welcomed right away by staff, students and instructors.
The website and facebook are informative and updated often.
I’m just very thankful this place exists and that it is run by a great group of people.

Yes!!! Finally and place to learn break dancing. Even if you have never danced in your life, the people here make you feel welcome and at home. My 6 year old son is taking kids beginning breaking on Saturday and then I take beginning breaking after him. Great work out and fun way to release stress and just have fun. Thanks to Beacon for making us feel welcome!

A great, family-​friendly, space to learn different styles of dance at all different levels of expertise. I personally enjoyed the BreakFit challenge class — an intense dance/​circuit training hybrid class for dancers and athletes alike.
They’ve also got a great free afterschool program for kids to do homework and work on their dance moves every Monday and Friday.
Overall, an amazing community space run by a great group of individuals. Ronald and the Massive Monkees are doing some great work.

I’ve been doing their locking classes for a little bit. A bit intimidating, but everyone is really welcoming and helpful. The beginner class I took is easy to follow along with despite a quick pace. The studio is pretty nice too, clean and a good size for the amount of people that were there. I haven’t taken many dance classes elsewhere, but this is a great introduction.
The people there really know their stuff (obviously). It’s worth it just to see folks do their thing.