Dreamz Dance Company

Reviews 4

DE

Deanna Atchley

Ive taught both recreational and competitive classes at Dreamz for about 1.5 years. Writing this review isnt easy for me, but it seems like theres a pattern of parents and instructors leaving quietly and then a new batch of people go through the same thing all over again (or it gets worse). With that being said, I wouldnt recommend this studio to anyone, either as a customer or as someone considering employment here. Please note that at least 2 reviews on google are from members of Tonyas household (unless removed) and some of the favorable reviews are old reviews from people that no longer patronize Dreamz. So here it goes... What I loved: the creative freedom as a staff member, the laughter and smiles from being around energetic kids and their families, the racial diversity of the studio, and seeing growth both in skills and confidence in students. I do appreciate that Dreamz encourages dancers of all sizes, abilities, and ages. I also enjoyed my relationships with other staff members. Facility space and location are decent. Biggest issues for me: Lack of integrity, lack of leadership, poor management, price-gauging parents, and not valuing current customers and current staff. Recreational parents pay usually by February for costumes. Tonya doesnt even begin to select costumes until sometime in mid-April (based on my 2 spring recitals). By then, many costumes are out of stock or reduced price (aka clearance). She claimed via email to a parent that her markup range is up to 50% (which in my opinion is still high) but in actuality, its greater than 150% of her actual cost sometimes. I also just came across 2 emails from her (back in February 2017 when I began sending costume suggestions to her) where she stated she only deals with companies that offer the best pricing on clearance costumes. FYI: Most recreational classes paid $120 for one costume, which didnt include shoes. She does get them ordered and shipped quickly when she finally orders them. Recital venue issue: Venue was changed with no explanation (from a modern venue (Brown Theater) with a/c to a historic venue (Memorial Auditorium with no a/c) only a couple of months (in April) before the show. Parents paid a $125 pre-set showcase fee already by that time. A parent was told we were "bumped" by another renter and thats why there was an unexpected venue change. When folks began to question this more and more, her husband posted on an internal Facebook Dreamz page and once again, perpetuated that the Brown was at fault for the change of venue. Just 2-3 days before the recital, we found out through a Brown employee what really happened--Dreamz had cancelled--relinquished the recital dates on hold and told the Brown that the reason was the venue was too expensive. Please note that recreational parents as a whole did not know about the lack of a/c in the new venue until 10 days before the show (by burying that info in the June newsletter). As it could be a potential health issue for some attendees and dancers (elderly, babies, asthmatics, and just overheating/heat exhaustion), it really bothers me she handled this so poorly. The recital was on a day where the temperature was 90. As early as staff introductions (beginning of the recital), I witnessed audience members fanning themselves with the recital program. I assisted one dancer who began to cry when she became overheated after her last routine. Dreamz focuses so hard on desperate promotions for new customers, that in the process, loyal customers seem to be the ones shafted. In comparison to other studios, there are hardly any students above the age of 12 in recreational classes or as part of the Dreamz competitive program. Five instructors (including myself) have parted from Dreamz (on their own terms, not terminated) effective right after the June recital. To save yourself the frustration and possible heartache, just bypass Dreamz.

---

HE

Heather Ashby

I used to LOVE Dreamz they seemed very professional but boy was I wearing rose colored glasses. The instructors were AMAZING, but the owners themselves were extremely rude. We as parents paid a heafty fee for costumes and hall rental fees....okay no problem those happen when you have a child in dance, but then we found out the costumes were only half the cost of what was said, and THEY dropped the original venue and tried to lie about it and moved the dances to a MUCH cheaper studio that had no a.c....and REFUSED to refund us the difference. What they said was the original venue had dropped us for "unforseen" reasons...but after speaking with the original venue we found out that the owners in fact canceled on them!" They flat out stated if anyone brought "Drama" (Meaning if we asked about the original venue) we wouldnt be allowed to watch our children dance....so we arent supposed to ask questions apparently just sit...smile...and Nod. I am so glad things are finished for this summer and I WILL be looking for a new studio. I dont tolerate a thief and a liar and how unprofessional they were about the whole ordeal. Whats even more pitiful is they deleted their FB page to avoid the negative reviews and contacted Google as well and had them remove all of the negative reviews from parents and people who attended the recital and witnessed the miserable heat to avoid the bad PR as well....how pathetic is that? How HONEST is that?! There are screen shots of the lies and a TON of negative reviews that were on here that have been removed....is this a company you really want to do business with?

---

DA

Daisy Flower

My children has been attending dance here for over 3 years. This studio is a wonderful studio, the owners and teachers treat each child and their family like part of their own family. Some of the instructors are professional dancers, and my children loves learning from them and my child lights up when we buy tickets to see their instructors perform in their professional dances. I could not ask for a better studio. I see comments about people complaining about the 2017 recital. I was there and my family was there. There was Air Conditioning. There was a conference room on the 2nd floor where you could ride the elevator and enjoy the a/c and there was a room on the main floor with A/C. This venue has a fan circulation system which kept the auditorium cool. No one in my family broke a sweat and did not even have to pull out a fan. I was running back and forth for costume changes and I never once got hot. As for some bad reviews about costumes the costumes looked like any costume from any dance recital very lovely and they did not look cheap. I loved where we had the recital. I promise if you bring your child here to Dreamz they will learn so much they will be different dancers from when they start. I can not say enough about this studio. You just need to swing in one day and check it out for yourself.

---

LO

Louisville Techs

Let me start by saying that most of the dance instructors are very good. I believe they are the only reason this business continues to survive. The owners of this place do not know how to run a proper business. The communication is bad, the facility is in need of repair, and I have never seen worse organization in a business. Sitting in cramped quarters, having kids run around and scream while trying to figure out what is going on with your child will do nothing but frustrate you. Ask any questions and answers will come vague and too late to matter. Their prices seem better than other schools until you add all the extras like hundreds of dollars for costumes and facilities cost for your child to dance 5 minutes. For example, a Christmas recital was the worst organized mess I have ever seen. Kids fighting in the hall. Staff not sure what was supposed to happen next. Owners/announcers making up impromptu schedules. To top it all off, they promote to all the kids that Santa will be there and at the end they announce that "Santa cant be here tonight but he will be at your house on Christmas." I give them two stars because the instructors are good but, I did debate that many stars due to the much frustration I have experienced.

---

---

Other organizations