Saturday, March 31st, 2007...2:02 pm
Review: Angela Floyd School for the Dancer
Last August we enrolled Daughter into a pre-school dance/tap class at Angela Floyd School for the Dancer (Home of: The Knoxville Jazz Company and Angels Kickline). Daughter really enjoys the class and loves to practice her moves at home. The studio is nice and they even have cameras in all the dance rooms so the parents can watch their children on the monitors in the lobby.The class meets once per week and costs $60 per month. There is a dress code for classes where each student must wear a specific color tights, leotard and tap/dance shoes.
When the fall classes started they make you aware that the class will have a Spring Concert in June. If you want your child to participate there is a $75 costume fee that is paid during the first three months of class. Of course, everyone wants to see their child performing on stage so that’s a no-brainer, how exciting. No other costs were discussed or disclosed to the parents.
So, fast forward to March — Daughter has been going to class for 8 months now and has started practicing for the Spring Concert. This past week, the studio sent a large packet (16 pages) home discussing more details of the upcoming concert. Here are the things we learned in the packet. This is where the frustration begins…
Concert ticket order procedure:
Students who pre-register for the summer session of classes ticket orders are collected before students who don’t pre-register. So basically, if we want good seats (or any seats at all, since they’re expecting it to be sold out) we need to sign up and make a down payment for the next class cycle.
Concert ticket pricing:
$17 for adults, $9 for children and $3 shipping per order. (I assumed there would be a charge to get in but wow, this is getting a bit expensive when you consider grand-parents, aunts, uncles, etc.)
Videography:
“Video taping is prohibited!!!… You will not be permitted to bring any video cameras into the theater.” Luckily, they will professionally video tape the show. For our “convenience” they will allow us to purchase a DVD of the taping for only $35! They are so considerate.
Flowers & Pricing:
Once again, for our “convenience” the Angela Floyd School for the Dancer will provide flowers for us to give to our dancer.
Pricing: 3 roses - $13, 6 roses - $22. (That’s only considered a deal during February. I’ll get my own, thanks.)
Concert Program advertising:
We also have the chance to place an “ad” in the program with a picture of our student and a congratulatory message. I guess this is targeted toward businesses, however, the sample they included in the packet featured several “ads” from parents not businesses.
Concert Program ad pricing:
Full page - $180, Half page - $85, Quarter page - $60, Business card - $45.
Ok, so, did you get all of that? That’s just the money stuff. I left out the fact that [in huge bold all caps] “Absolutely no panties or jewelry for dress rehearsal and the show!” Did I mention Daughter is 3 years old? Here are some more requirements:
“Hair pulled back in a classical ballet bun… and sprayed!!!!! This is a must!”
“Red lipstick is a must!!!!”
“No fingernail polish!!!”
Did I mention, “NO PANTIES.” Oh yeah, I already did.
Is it just me, or does all of this seem like it’s something we might have wanted to know at the outset? You asked me in the beginning if I wanted my child to be in the Spring Concert and you tell me there’s a $75 costume. I’m sure you meant to tell me that I’d have to pay $34 to get in. I’ll be sitting in a nose-bleed seat because I don’t want to sign up for summer classes. How I can’t record the show and that I’d have to pay $35 for the DVD that won’t zoom in on my daughter and if it does it’ll be a fly-by and won’t be shipped for “6-8 weeks”.
If you tell me all of this up front, cool. I can deal with full disclosure. That would allow me to honestly assess if I want to spend $200+ for the Spring Concert. Instead, you roped us in with the $75 charge on the front end and then worse than a used car salesman you tack on an additional $125+ on the back end for our “convenience.” That leaves a very bad taste in my mouth.
If you’re thinking about enrolling your child at Angela Floyd School for the Dancer you’ve now been warned that it’s actually, Angel Floyd Ripping Off the Dancer. I say look somewhere else.
2 Comments
June 7th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
We have been at AFSD going on three years now, after having switched from another dance school. May daughter is a teenager and has been dancing continuously in the Knoxville area since she was three years old. Our old school was much cheaper and technically equally as good. HOWEVER, they did nothing to promote teamwork, their dance company was shoddily put together, etc. At AFSD, my daughter has had the opportunity to competitively dance, build team spirit, and work hard and strive for excellence. She does not just dance for "fun." It is the real thing for her at this point. She has had the opportunity to dance with the Moscow Ballet, trained with many Broadway professionals, performed on TV, on a cruise ship, etc.
And as for the no underwear thing under tights, for a properly trained dancer ANYWHERE, that is the norm and the standard. The same goes for the bun, sprayed, etc., and no jewelry and definitely no fingernail polish or clear. Also, I have never purchased an ad, it is not required. We purchase our flowers elsewhere normally, it is not required. Most shows don’t allow videotaping. That is the standard practice. I chose not to purchase one, because I made that financial decision, as well. Don’t put AFSD down when you could easily make the choice to go to another studio where your daughter will never have the opportunity to dance on a professional stage, where she is not taught the little things like putting her hair up and wearing red lipstick, where she has a cheap rented costume, and you sit through over three hours of a shoddy dance recital and record it yourself, waiting for the few seconds your child is on a small high school stage. You can make the choice. There is nothing wrong with the cheaper route at all. It just depends on what you want to do.
My daugher loves AFSD, and would never, ever leave. She has friends, competes, and continually strives for excellence due to the professional attitude and training that AFSD has given her. And no, it ain’t been cheap, but I have been to three other studios in Knoxville in the past ten years, all cheaper, but none with the overall quality.
June 1st, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Our 4 1/2 year old daughter just participated in her first recital last night through AFSD. We were totally impressed!! The professionalism that was shown during the entire show was phenominal. Through the year we have been nothing been blessed with the instructors and staff @ AFSD. As mentioned above–the dress code is anywhere (I do wish some of those mothers would leave the panties off as asked or at least not leave them hanging out of their leotard-it’s so tacky!), not recording is at any QUALITY performance, the show was lass than 2 1/2 hours, we too brought our own flowers, we made our pictures before and after the show, we did NOT put any makeup on our dancer, and the bun is only for the performance and rehearsal-not weekly practice. As with anything-you get what you pay for-and we got an absolutely professionally done, top-notch performance for a price that was well inline with the hardwork that went into it by the staff. We also enrolled her for the fall because we know we will not find the quality of instruction and attention anywhere else in K-town. Every instructor knows our daughter’s name and the security measures they take for practice and performance are very reassuring to these parents. We HIGHLY recommend Angela Floyd School for the Dancer.
Leave a Reply