Tiffany’s Dance Academy

I had good experience last year and my daughter made a good progress. Though this year I like the teachers here but the management lacks business ethics. My daughter was enrolled in 6 to 9 year HipHop class. The management combined the class with lower age class without informing parents. Now we have 20+ students from age Pre-​school to 10 years in a call. The senior students just waste time with beginners and that is why there is very little improvement in performance. Instructor don’t have time to pay attention to 20 kids in a 45 min class.

Great place, instructors are knowledgable. Costumes are adorable! As with any school, each teacher has a different style so check out the classes to see which one suits your child best.

Tiffany’s is a great dance school but it’s about time they let go Ms.Ruth. She is a rude person. She is unprofessional and discriminatory. My daughter took one trial class at her center and she lied that we took twice.
She is inexperienced and don’t know how she can be made the director. She is impatient and definitely unethical. If you want to join Tiffany’s please try another center or go to san ramon only is she is not the director.

Ms. Tyler has such patience and handles a room full of toddlers beautifully. She teaches them patience, routine, discipline, and more in addition to dance. Definitely worth the $ 52.00 per month to see my daughter get so excited every week.

My daughter attended this school 2 years ago. Miss Ruth was not there yet (would not have given 5 stars in that case) there was another wonderful, kind lady, who was a pleasure to work with and so helpful! Ms. Ruth is no longer in San Ramon, now she is in South San Francisco and makes changes for the worse there. I hope San Ramon has a nice person in the office again.
Well, my daughter did love her classes. Ms. Claire was wonderful. She is such a tallented teacher. I would say that she was our favorite! She is so patient and kind with little girls and does miracle organizing them, and her classes are so much fun.
It does feel like they have a well-​built system to get as much money as possible from the parents, but at the show, after you see your little princess on the stage and then Daddy & Daughter dance, it feels like it was worth it. After the show you can buy stage images from them online starting at $ 1, which is not too bad, given that even when you bring your camera it is impossible to take a good picture because the stage is so bright.
If you take more then 1 class a week, they will give you 50% discount for the following class, which not many places do.

My wife and I have been taking our daughter to Tiffany’s Dance Academy for two years now and we couldn’t be happier. She recently had her «Big Show» and it was amazing. I’m so proud of her and the hard work she has put in. Her teacher is wonderful and patient and we couldn’t ask for a better experience!

My child is attending TDA and she always comes home bubbling with excitement. She has a lot of fun and she is learning a ton. This is a successful dance school where the kids are having a good time and learning the skills to become real dancers. Angelica loves Miss Ruth and asks to go to dance class every day. Anything that is teaching my child and giving her exercise at the same time is a great thing in my eyes.

I wouldn’t even be giving Tiffany’s Dance a star if I didn’t have to…
I enrolled my daughter in their «Twinkle Babies» class this summer as it was basically the only one that offered a class for 2 – 3 years olds during the summer months. We wanted to do a fun class with her best friend who is 3… Unfortunately, before the first class even started my daughter’s friend was bumped up in to the next class due to her age (ok, fine). But when my daughter did turn 3 just a month after enrollment, she wasn’t allowed to move up to the class with her friend (which was the whole point of enrolling in the first place).
The director sent out an email prior to the class with the «required» attire… pink tights, pink tutu, etc. We were advised by someone who had previously attended the studio to buy the items through a dance store in Walnut Creek as it was cheaper then what the studio charges… The first day of class the director very rudely «let me know» that I HAD to purchase the clothing items through them or my daughter wouldn’t be allowed in the class. They changed their policy this year but NEVER specified in the ONE email that it must be purchased through them. So I had to go and buy more stuff through them…
The teacher, Ms. Tyler, is great with the little ones. She’s friendly, fun and super sweet. The class itself did get a little repetitive but my daughter enjoyed going.
Parents are not allowed inside the studio, so you have to sit in these metal chairs and watch through windows with blinds on them. You can barely see through them and certainly can’t take any pictures.
One day we arrived and Ms. Tyler told us it was «parent day»! Yay!!! We get to go inside… the only thing was, is that they never told us ahead of time and no one had a camera, etc. People were PISSED. They spent half of the class describing how the recital would be run (9 months from then!!!) and we watched our girls dance for about 15 minutes (of a 30 min class)
The director is extremely rude and unfriendly; I’m not sure how to get on her good side (if she has one). The last time we attended class there, my 3 year old daughter was having a rough morning. She was crying and said she didn’t want to go in the class. The director was standing at the door and watched everything. Several of the Mom’s were so sweet and tried to encourage my daughter to go in there but she just stood there with a bitchy look on her face. My daughter finally stopped crying and said that she wanted to go in. Great! I walked her to the door and the director blocked me and said «she can’t go in now». Flabbergasted, I asked why and she told me that «it would be a distraction to the other dancers and she has to wait until the song changes».
Ummm… they are 2 years old; you are not running the SF ballet!!! Several children weren’t even looking at the teacher, one had a hula hoop around her neck and there was NO WAY that my daughter walking 5 feet to her spot in front of the teacher would be a «distraction». Kids are in and out all of the time to go to the bathroom, get a snack, etc. Not to mention, that just 2 weeks prior to this incident– there was a little girl who was also having a hard time going in to the dance studio. The director HERSELF attempted to escort the child in numerous times (while the child refused) — giving NO REGARD to the song changing, distraction to the other kids, etc. What a joke!
Well, by the time the song DID finally changed my daughter was over it (so was I) and we packed up, left and haven’t looked back.
Unfortunately, my daughter’s friend has also had terrible experiences with the director (worse that I experienced) and we’ve both pulled out of the program.
I could go on and on about other incidents with the director but all in all– I have no idea how she still has a job… The whispers run rampant among the mother’s who sit and watch their dancers. Everyone rolls their eyes, tells stories of how rude she was to THEM, etc. It is unfortunate because most of her rudeness affects these little girls who just want to dance.

finally remembered to write this up to give you an insider’s view.
tiffany’s does earn its one star because it is a dance studio and the kids do learn here. they get kudos for that.
but here’s why it doesn’t get any other stars. i’ll keep it to the points
1.tiffany’s is very much business-​oriented meaning they are all about making $$.
at the recitals, the studio asks parents to donate time and baked goods, so they can sell them for a profit. really? even after you charge for tickets, $ 30+ for the DVD, you want to make $$ on donated baked goods? also, a friend told me they now have a recital minimum for tickets. So if it’s just you and your spouse, you will not have spent enough on the minimum to watch your child in the recital. better think about buying more tickets!
2.the recital DVD and pictures you must buy from them… they prohibit you from taking video and pictures… why? for the «safety» of your children because if you take pics/​video, it is too easy for you to share via social media and there are kids involved, blah blah blah. what is the difference between sharing your pics from your camera versus purchased pics/​video? nothing except they took your money if you bought from them. it’s not about the kid’s safety, it’s about making more $$. Let’s not try to BS paying customers.
3.costumes, they take your child’s measurements, you go to THEIR website and enter in measurements and it tells you what size to buy. they take growing children’s measurements about 8 – 9 months in advance. when you get your costume months later and it doesn’t fit, they will not take it back. they will exchange it… for a fee. yes, i understand the costume is custom made but as a professional dance company, theytook the measurements, suggested what size to buy and then you have to pay the fee to get it changed. way to squeeze more $$ out of customers!
4.the office manager, yes, comments are true about her. she is not the friendliest, you can see it in her face. i really think she’s there so you are afraid to voice an opinion, so they can keep making $$ off of you.
we left a while ago, when we found out you can learn from other academies AND not feel like the company is trying to take every penny she can from you and your family.
and i’m the only one that feels like this, what do you think the parents do while watching their children, they complain about how $$ hungry this company is.
i will say the only reason we stayed there even though we felt this way, our child and we loved ms claire. she is a main reason why many parents overlook the $$ hungry company. again, many people’s sentiments

Our daughter has been attending TDA for 2 years. She seems to like it, she enjoys goofing with her friends, loves her teachers, she was lucky to have Miss Ashley and Miss Claire.
That being said, the management is horrendous! Miss Ruth, the director is the worst and rudest person you will ever have to deal with. They should call her Miss Rude. She has absolutely no respect to the parents, has zero customer service skills and her overall attitude is short of slapping you in the face, literally!
TDA is run like a cash machine, there is no loyalty to current customers/​families, you have to pay for every little thing, you have to commit to the recital months in advance and purchase the dress months ahead, you must purchase X tickets to the recital in order for your child to be eligible to attend, you have to use their Costume Manager to buy costumes, tickets, DVDs… On and on… They have the worst email communication in the planet.
If it wasn’t for the convenience of the location and the fact that our daughter has friends on the class… I would leave this place in a heart beat! I can honestly tell you that every parent I know feels the same way and I am surprised that their are only so few reviews to express the level of discontent about the service and attitude at this location.

I had an awful experience at the San Ramon location. A few weeks ago, I called and emailed Tiffany’s Dance Academy in San Ramon to schedule the two free trial classes that were advertised in a coupon promotion which ended in July. The person I emailed, Ruth (
), was the contact on the website for the San Ramon Studio never responded to me. I also left a voicemail about signing my daughter up for the free trial classes. Not getting a response, I decided to call the studio one morning. During that first call, the person on the phone, Ruth, was defensive and told me that she never received my email or voicemail. I went ahead and scheduled the two free trial classes with two different teachers so that my daughter could be assigned to the one that better related to her. Ruth gave me a hard time about scheduling two free classes with two different teachers but she said that she would only do it this one time. She then said that she would let me know about their special dress code when we got there. Well, I thought that this location would be a convenient one since it is in a plaza with other stores. I thought that if I enrolled my daughter here, I could get a little shopping done during her class. First of all, as we tried to enter through the front door, Ruth comes out with a stern face and rudely tells me to drive to the back of the plaza and come through the back door. At this time, I had my toddler son and daughter with me, wearing her black leotard, pink tights and ballet gear that she used at another dance academy down the street. She looked at my daughter and said that she was not dressed according to their dress code. She said «I told you about our dress code on the phone» and «I emailed you about driving to the back» — which she didn’t!!! What?!? This is a free trial class!!! I wouldn’t have minded following their guidelines if she really told me to do this before our visit. Or if her body language and voice were somewhat welcoming, I wouldn’t have been so turned off with this place. So, we decided to just go home and not even take the free trial classes. Also, this location just came out with a Pennysaver coupon on the front page of the August 2012 edition. What kind of promotion is getting a free Twinkle Bear for registering at their academy? We had just finished a year at another studio in San Ramon and had a good experience there — and their promotion of free leather ballet slippers, free tutu, free leotard, and free ballet tights was more useful than a free Twinkle Bear!

My 2 year old just started Tiffany Dance and she loves it. Miss Claire is soooo great with the kids. I know that it seems like a lot of money for their gear, especially when they grow out of it so fast — but these priceless memories and moments are worth it.
My only suggestion is to put in nicer furniture in the waiting/​viewing room. It’s really bare bones.

okay. this place had wonderful teachers. but this just isnt something for me. the truth is, i have experienced better. i went there for a year, learned the basics, but went to more of an advanced place, JazznTaps. Tiffany’s was more of a, «go here if you don’t want to join any teams, and just want to learn the basics.»…kind of place.

I enrolled my 3 yr old daughter because she enjoys dancing and I liked that they had recitals. Class time was only 30 minutes. Teacher was ok, granted it’s hard to manage 3 yr olds but sometimes she was late or they’d have a sub which was ok but not ideal. Not much interaction between the teacher and parents.
Mostly I disliked how disorganized this company is run. The website is confusing and piece-​meal info is handed out in the form of random, last-​minute emails regarding recital info/​costumes/​photo days. Dates and times were given at the beginning of the season and then changed. Basically I never knew what was going on.
Needless to say we will not be returning.