Dream Detroit Skating Academy — Restaurant in Detroit

My daughter began ice skating last year at the age of 4 with another skate company. From the start, she showed natural talent on the ice. I have countless videos from her practices where she’s clearly excelling, yet the coaches often overlooked her and focused more on other skaters.

At the end of the season, she wasn’t advanced to the next level and was asked to retake the course. According to her skater report card, she passed every skill except one. I showed the skating director footage of her confidently performing that exact skill—along with video evidence that coaches weren’t even watching her during her evaluation. Despite this, I never received a clear explanation for why she had to repeat the level. I also questioned why other skaters, some of whom struggled just to stay on their feet, were promoted, yet my daughter—who clearly completed all the required tasks—was not. The director couldn’t provide a straightforward answer. It was hard to ignore the fact that my daughter was one of only two African American skaters in the program.

Then, we learned about Detroit Dream Skate Academy (DDSA) from a family member, and I immediately looked them up. Watching skaters of all ages moving with grace and confidence was inspiring. Since joining DDSA, my daughter’s skills have flourished. The dedication of the coaches, and the support from other skaters, reflect the passion and professionalism that define this team.

The preparation for the Ice Show was exceptionally well-organized. Parent meetings were informative, engaging, and inclusive—there was no sense of cliques or favoritism. During the show, my sister was moved to tears seeing girls who look like us performing so beautifully and powerfully on the ice.

My daughter and I are proud to be part of this organization. We’re excited to increase our involvement next season as we work toward competitive skating. This experience has been uplifting, empowering, and truly essential for our community and culture. I may not personally know the DDSA leadership, but I’m incredibly proud of the work they’re doing and grateful for the opportunity they’ve created for young skaters like...

My daughter, nieces and sister took lessons last year and this year with DDSA and I have enjoyed watching their growth. After my daughter completed the winter session of classes last year I wasn’t sure if she would be ice show ready since she was brand new to figure skating but her instructors were confident that she would be fine and I just went with their word because I couldn’t see the vision lol but after ice show preparation it was clear that they knew what they were talking about. My baby girl and nieces were so cute and performed their routine well. My adult sister had participated too and enjoyed being out on the ice and has since then kept skating for leisure. Fast forward to this year, DDSA offered there first adults only classes and I was nervous and excited to sign up. My intentions were to learn some figure skating fundamentals from a professional so that I can take my children and nieces to open skate hours at the ice arena and make this a family activity. My instructor Angie was nice, knowledgeable and answered all my questions. Classes started off slow and steadily progressed each class. By the time I was actually starting to figure things out on the ice, the sessions for this season were done. I enjoyed learning some basic ice skating fundamentals and have skills to work on during open skate to further my learning and can practice along with my daughter who was so excited to see me get on the ice every Saturday. What I did learn from my experience was to let my daughter learn at her own pace and make sure I’m not verbally to critical with my expectations because my perception from the stands definitely was changed after getting out there on my own lol. Also I was reminded to trust the process & make time for practice. Confidence comes with time...

I enrolled in the adult learn-to-skate program. Being surrounded by skaters who looked like me and had the same passion filled me with a great deal of excitement. Unfortunately, my experience was not pleasant. Class never started on time. In fact, the class would start 30 minutes after the scheduled time. Parents and adults were merged into our class. The instructor skipped around on certain basic skills. It was unfortunate that the club skaters were valued more than the adult class. From time to time, we had to stop or stand off to the side while the club skaters practiced their routine. Every day, a new adult would join the class, making it difficult for us to learn new material because we had to catch up with the new skater joining the class. Our class seemed to have been created to fund club skaters during competition. We also missed two class dates that were not rescheduled. We were under pressure to participate in the Wiz ice show without any knowledge to display. The class was chaotic, making it difficult to learn when several other kids were hollering and interrupting class time, while also using ice time. This is definitely a...