BalletNova Center for Dance

I LOVE this place. I’m a former student of Joffrey ballet school in New York and I have also traveled to many states and countries (r Russia and Canada) for dance and can tell you this is an excellent studio. It’s very spacious the teachers along with the students are amazing. You walk in and immediately see pictures of the very talented professional looking students hanging on the walls in large posters. I’ve taken a few adult ballet classes, Clementine is very good and you can tell by her adult class –whom most are late starters– the class is very solid as a group. I am impressed.

I recently signed up for the fall semester of Adult Basic Beginner Ballet. Being 27 and utterly lacking grace I decided to try and change my clumsy nature and thus signed up with BalletNova.
Best. Decision. Ever.
I had so much fun at the class! The instructor was so welcoming and the students were all ages (from older teens to older women) and of all builds. The studios and dressing rooms were spacious and well lit.
For a basic class it was very fast paced, but honestly it kept me paying attention. They fit so much into the short 1 hour 15 minute time slot that I really felt like I got my money’s worth. I learned so much in just one class and now I’m thinking about signing up for a workshop as well!
If anyone is scared or shy about attempting ballet at an older age, then I highly recommend this place first! Everyone was very supportive and I absolutely can’t wait for next week!

It looks small on the outside, but is spacious on the inside. I took my 4 ½ year old daughter for a trial dance class and the teacher was nice and my daughter loved the class. We ended up signing her up for a different class that suited her age better. The only thing that I really don’t like is that parents can’t watch the classes. Parents are not allowed outside the classrooms. They’re no windows or TVs to even see what they are doing.
But as long as my daughter is having fun, I’ll stay.

I danced when I was very young, and as an adult I wanted to get back in to it. I have tried adult ballet lessons in several area schools and decided that Ballet Nova was the best fit for me. I really enjoyed the beginner classes. I thought that the pace was just right for getting back into it. I also really liked the dance cardio. The class was fast paced and you followed the choreography of the instructor to cool electronic music. I always worked up a sweat in that class. I only wish it wasn’t right off route 7, that road gets so messed up sometimes.

I took adult ballet and tap here.
The ballet is okay if you are not looking for indivdual attention. The classes are often huge and the teacher barely has time to notice everyone, and I often get ignored. It’s okay with me since I primarily study elsewhere, this could never be my main source of classes because of this.
The tap is okay, but not really a drop in class. If you haven’t been coming from the start you won’t be able to do anything. They just work on choreography, so you don’t really learn steps or techniques. So I won’t go back for tap.
The studios are nice and big and clean, some of the teachers are amazing, others a bit apathetic.

I have been a dancer all my life. I am a dance instructor and fitness instructor who loves teaching but was missing taking dance classes for myself. I don’t care for Zumba and found a lot of classes I was taking weren’t challenging enough or what I was looking for. I am so glad I found Ballet Nova! The classes are at the challenging level I want without the competition involved I had as a teen or in college. I can learn and have fun. The studio is gorgeous and very professional and they have some of the most qualified instructors I’ve ever seen. If you are an adult dancer who misses taking class, this is the place. The only two things I’d change are — I wish they had an online sign up system instead of using paper. It would be much faster and easier to manage. And I wish they were closer to me so it wouldn’t take so long to get to and I could do more! Keep up the great work Ballet Nova!

Big, bright, beautiful studios. The ballet classes are run at a consistently high standard (be ready to work, people). Maria Watson has the best theater dance class in the DC area.
My only gripe is about the location – I’m Metro-​dependent, and public transit options are limited in the area.

I attended BalletNova 2 years ago for a tap class and tried ballet. While I concede their youth program seems exceptional, I have mixed feelings about their adult program, but I also think with a few small tweaks it could be really good. Having tried a couple of dance studios in the area, I think Ballet Nova would benefit from some changes to their adult programs, at least at the very beginning levels as people start.
Here are my thoughts:
The Good:
* No matter what the size of the class, Ballet Nova will make the commitment to continue the class even if only one person is in attendance.
* If you can’t make a class for any reason, they will allow you to drop into another one.
* The dancers who were bought through the program from youth to adult seem to do really well and have a good foundation for dance. My sisters danced at this studio for years and I was impressed with their accomplishments at the studio.
* Good individual attention on choreography and basic steps.
The Challenging:
* Lack of community in the beginning tap classes, partially because the semesters were too long. (18 — 20 weeks vs. 6 – 9 at other studios).
* The tap instructor seemed to favor newer students more than the ones that attended regularly, which was challenging when it came to learning new steps to prepare for the next class up. Candy’s class, which was the one right above the class I took, seemed to have a lot of students and a strong dance community.
* When it came to finding my dance level for ballet (I took ballet for a few years when I was younger), I was told to try one class and when I showed up, the instructor was rather snippy with me in the first 5 minutes saying «perhaps I should try another class and criticized me in front of the class when I fell, which I didn’t appreciate. Unfortunately, this first class made me want to forget ballet all together.
Conclusion:
The majority of my time was spent in the tap class, which I attended regularly for a complete semester (5 months long) vs. the one class I took in ballet. When you are first attending a new class, it would be easier if either the people on the phones worked with instructors to get adults into the appropriate class in the beginning and/​or encourage the instructor to be a little more forgiving in the first class.
I thought about doing another tap dance class at Ballet Nova, but with vacations and other constraints that I along with many other adults who take dance are challenged with, I opted to spend my time at another dance school, because of shorter, more compressed class schedules and the larger dance communities they have in each level, which is great. I would be open to trying Ballet Nova again at some point if I saw some changes in the areas outlined.

Definitely one of the best adult dance studios in NoVa. I would say the best, but there are a few I haven’t been to yet. I assume it has the most studio spaces in NoVa, because it’s huge.
Ballet Nova offers an impressive variety of adult classes at different times (lunch, evenings, and weekends). There are a number of different teachers, so I’ve been able to pick my favorites. I’ve taken adult ballet, hip hop, and dance cardio classes. I’m definitely a beginner, but have been able to take some advanced beginner classes without issue. I found that the instructors dealt with the increased class sizes from Groupons and their ilk surprisingly well. There is no requirement for adults to wear leotards, tutus, or tights, for which I’m sure my fellow students are grateful.
It’s easy to get to from I-​395 (via Seminary). Parking is free. The only downside is that the sign-​up and sign-​in processes are completely manual and inefficient. If the person in front of you keeps asking questions, you might never get to class.

I bought a groupon or livingsocial (can’t remember which) punch-​card for this dance studio. I have experience with ballet, tap, and modern dance and was also interested in the pilates/​stretching class. I was thrilled to be able to take lessons at a lower price before deciding to sign up for a full semester.
The punch card was a terrible idea because most classes seemed to build on what was previously learned. Unless I went to 5 consecutive classes, I felt like I missed something taught in the previous class. Perhaps more available drop-​in classes would have made this a better idea.
Overall I felt unwelcome and awkward using my punch card and never went to all the classes I had purchased. I would love to return and take more ballet classes as the instructors I had were fantastic and the studio space was also great.
Parking and location were excellent especially for northern virginia (free lot parking, awesome!)

Our children have been studying at BalletNova for approximately four years now and we couldn’t be more pleased. The professionalism of the faculty insures a very high level of quality instruction combined with a warm, caring atmosphere. Our children have thrived physically, while building their self-​confidence as well as a love and appreciation of dance. Two of our children participated in the Nutcracker this year and we were blown away at how much our children learned, grew and had fun in the entire process. My wife and I truly appreciate the clear communication between the administration, teachers and us. The staff at BalletNova is very approachable and goes above and beyond in letting parents know policies, expectations and progress. We have recommended BalletNova to several friends and they have also had similar positive experiences.

I am giving Ballet Nova a poor review because I feel like they ripped me off. Details below.
My daughter (call her M) took classes at Ballet Nova in the ²⁰¹⁰⁄₂₀₁₁ season. We really had no complaints with the program throughout that season.
At the end of that season it was communicated to us by Ballet Nova staff that if we were interested in M continuing with Ballet Nova in the ²⁰¹¹⁄₂₀₁₂ season we should not delay in sighing her up. The reason given had to do with the popularity of their Nutcracker performance (she was at the age where she could audition for a role). Apparently a delay would run the risk that she get stuck on a waiting list. At the time we had every reason to believe that M would continue with ballet so we signed her up and paid the tuition of $ 1.5K.
As summer progressed we became concerned we made a mistake. It gradually became clear we had underestimated the number of commitments that M had in the upcoming school year. In particular — she had some academic issues that were going to take up huge swaths of time. To all of our disappointment — we decided we had to pull M out of ballet. We informed Ballet Nova of this decision a little more than a week prior to the session start.
At that point we became concerned about getting our money back. In particular, we were concerned that some of our payment would not be refundable. Our initial attempts to discuss this with Ballet Nova were a little frustrating. The administrative staff couldn’t answer our question. Finally — after several additional inquiries and more than a week wait — a senior person got in touch with us. The woman was quite polite — but what she was said was a pretty rude shock. None of our 1.5K payment would be refundable.
Now I understand some people will not find our situation worthy of sympathy. It is in fact true that the registration forms do indicate payment is non-​refundable. If we weren’t sure M was going to take the class — why did we sign her up. To some extent — these are valid criticisms. This is why I never expected to get the full 1.5K back. I would have actually been happy if they offered me only 50% back. I was just flabbergasted by the lack of flexibility and ‘reasonableness’.
One other thing to consider. The woman I spoke with wouldn’t comment on whether or not M’s slot was filled by another (paying) student. I am pretty confident the answer is that it was filled. So our $ 1.5K is just gravy for them.

A great studio — I go for the adult classes just for fun but I really enjoy the classes. Much better than a normal aerobics dance class — technical but non-​judgmental. A serious studio for both dancers and non-​dancers alike and you still get a good workout

In regards to adult classes this place is great for the serious ballet student or someone wanting to learn. Ballet is the major focus here, they offer a few other classes but far less than ballet. It’s really great that so many ballet classes are offered at different levels because ballet just isn’t something you can do one day a week and get good at. The teachers are excellent, take adults seriously, and you will be challenged. There are some seriously good dancers here.
Only two negatives I would say: 1. the levels are sometimes misleading. Example, advanced beginner is really more like intermediate and intermediate more like advanced (at least used to be the case). 2. Location is now more annoying to get to.
All in all a great studio — one of the best for adults in DC/​MD/​VA.

I love this studio! I tried a ballet class at BalletNova last summer, the first time I’d returned to ballet since I was 10, about 40 years ago. I was apprehensive about whether I could even do ballet again. Now, I wish I had the time and money to dance there every day. The instructors in the adult division are wonderful. They respect wherever you are, skill-​wise, and yet instruct as if each student is going to progress. At the same time, they are not über-​serious and always bring humor and lightness to the class. The instructors bring different styles, choreography, and nuance to their teaching and challenge students in every class. I’ve been enrolled for ballet, and recently sampled jazz and modern, and loved both mini-​classes. I also love the stretch/​yoga class they offer. Students in the other, more advanced classes seem to have quite a bit of past dance experience, so they challenge me too. I’ve found ballet to be wonderful for toning, though it’s not particularly aerobic.

Incredible studio. Please see my review under the former name Arlington Center for Dance.

I love to dance, and secretly my life wish is for someone to teach me the entire «Thriller» routine. Most of the classes I’ve taken are at my gym, or the special hip hop classes at Bally’s, etc. I’ve taken hip hop, zumba, salsa, etc. but I’m by no means a «dancer». I’ve taken 3 drop-​in classes at Arlington Center for Dance (now called BalletNova) and I have mixed reviews. This place is serious– it ain’t your gym or Bally’s’ dance class, but it’s appropriate for beginners all the same. It’s hard to describe– they challenge you on the choreography a bit, and the classes are taught by serious dance instructors. I strongly disliked the hip hop instructor I had (don’t remember her name) — we spent probably half the class stretching, which I know is important, but most of us are there to get a little exercise and have some fun. Trust me, I’m not going to exert myself to the point where I need a 30-​minute stretch– too serious. And she seemed annoyed at all of us «amateurs», frankly. But the jazz class and ballet cardio classes i’ve taken have been good workouts and fun, too.

I grew up in this area and trained at Washington School of Ballet, which is a phenomenal school in and of itself. I also took classes in the summer program at Maryland Youth Ballet when both Mary Day and Tensia Fonseca were both active in running their dance schools.
All of that said, as a now adult dance student, I am so impressed with Arlington Center for Dance. Their children’s and pre-​professional programs as well as their adult programs are fabulous and the school is nurturing without sacrificing rigor. They follow the Royal Academy of Dancing (RAD) syllabus.
The dancers they have turned out are strong and capable, which I have witnessed firsthand in the adult classes and, as an adult student, one of the most refreshing things is how clear the instructors make it to their junior students that attitude will not be tolerated from the junior students when they opt to add an adult class to make up a missed class.
The adult program is second to none in the Northern Virginia area. Classes are offered almost every day, the community of students is extremely strong, and students are committed to self improvement and instructors take instruction of adult students as seriously as instruction of preprofessional students. Corrections are given and classroom discipline is taken as seriously as it is with the kids.
Arlington Center for Dance is affiliated with the Center Dance Company (at the same address) which puts on a number of shows throughout the year, including the Nutcracker.
I love ACD!