AVERY RANCH DANCE and MUSIC — Local services in Austin

My daughter has attended Avery Ranch Dance for the past 4 years and participated in several of their programs. She started with Preschool Storytime classes at age 3 with Ms. Carla, and it was such a joy to see her learn not just dance skills, but also how to listen, follow directions, and interact with classmates. We looked forward to a new story each week, and she very often incorporated the stories and characters she learned about in class into her imaginative play at home and with friends. Ms. Carla is incredibly patient and kind in addition to being a very skilled dance instructor. During COVID, she attended the Fine Arts Academy as a 4-year-old. If you are familiar with the cartoon Bluey, Ms. Cherami is like Teacher Calypso as she gracefully and serenely guides her students through art, movement, theater, nature, literacy and other academic skills while somehow weaving magic and wonder and glitter throughout. The shutdown was scary and overwhelming for everyone, especially preschoolers, and Ms. Cherami and the Fine Arts Academy were phenomenal at keeping their students learning safely without any community spread of COVID. I firmly believe that my daughter’s year at the FAA were the reason she transitioned seamlessly to kindergarten (socially and academically). For the last two years, she has been in their Primary Storytime classes as well as a member of their dance teams, both traditional and hip hop. Each week, she learns ballet, jazz, tap and hip hop with fantastic instructors, and it truly is her happy place and a creative outlet. As parents, we appreciate that it is a safe place for her to grow and explore where the emphasis is on developing the whole dancer and social/emotional skills along with technical dance skills. Our daughter has also attended a number of their themed summer camps over the past few summers, and she always has an amazing time with the combination of dance, theater, and art. I highly recommend ARD and all their programs to my friends...

We have been at Avery Ranch Dance for over 10 years and my boy/girl twins started when they were 20 months old. My daughter has continued on all these years later, and we have always had the best teachers and the best experience. The owner has such a wonderful approach to dance instruction and fosters appropriate child development milestones etc into her curriculum. It is a welcoming environment and my daughter currently dances 5 hours a week in 5 different classes in addition to all her sports and academic activities because this is the one thing she loves the absolute most. She says it brings her peace and makes her happy, so we will be here for a very long time...

After over 10 years of patronizing this dance studio, this year the studio has stopped caring about their students” safety and learning. One of my children who has loved dance has been stuffed into classes of 20-30 dancers. While we have always liked the teachers, this year she has received no feedback or attention, and been kicked or knocked over due to the crowding multiple times. The owner used to respond to concerns, but this year I have tried to address this 3+ times with no resolution. After noticing the owners daughter was in classes with 5-7 dancers, I see why she isn’t concerned.. Very...