I was a dancer for many years, and learned to dance in Grand Rapids with Amy Avery at Dance Dimensions, and Robert Estner & Chartel Arthurs at School of the Grand Rapids Ballet.
So, when I moved here, and looked into finding a dance school for my daughter, I went with who was most highly recommended to me- Toni's School of Dance.
Toni was my daughter's teacher for a year for both Tap & Jazz. The problem we had is that the teacher (and owner) is highly disorganized, and clearly not qualified to teach dance. She was incapable of teaching even the most basic steps without trying to hurry past to the next step, while the children were still unable to grasp the first step.
After watching the recital, and especially the advanced students, I have to conclude that she is not qualified at ALL to teach students.
The recital was highly disorganized, and the most advanced of students did not even have the basics of dance down, though that did not stop the teacher from trying to have them do highly advanced steps which could cause serious injury to those girls.
I highly recommend looking elsewhere when finding someone to instruct your children in dance.
more