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| - Been going to this studio since last fall. Originally started with the Groupon, then took advantage of the flash sales they've been having and now I'm on my third and final monthly unrestricted membership.
I went to an arts school so I have a number of friends in the dance community - and it was through them that I first heard of OIP. The Groupon offer also made it an easy sell. $22 for 16 classes - not much to lose considering one drop-in class there is $15.
Turns out you only have 2 months to redeem the 16 classes which wasn't explained until after the purchase, so I was only able to redeem about half before it expired.
First impressions: The studio isn't very well kept, wires are duct taped, paint is peeling, furniture is broken, floors are covered in dust bunnies (and not small ones either) and for a while they had a dead fighter fish in the bathroom - it LOOKS like a place you would pay $22 for 16 classes for regularly. After signing up for the first time, they handed me a barcode taped to the back of a tacky card as my membership. Not a big deal, but I'm used to having a key tag or something from other places (perhaps those are only for fitness places).
The Dancing: I don't consider myself to be a completely new dancer (I had to take dance in school), but I wouldn't call myself anything but a beginner. At the start I mostly attended Danny's classes - I was expecting really easy choreography but was surprised by how advanced some of it was. I had no problem picking it up (because of my background) but certainly for people who are truly green, I can see it being a challenge. You only have an hour total (including the warm up) so depending on your teacher you may have to go through choreography quickly - but it's clear that all the teachers know how to dance and have a passion for what they do.
The instructors: The teachers all have different dancing and teaching styles so it's really up to you who you prefer. I've had the most experience with Danny who is also the owner of the studio (he definitely doesn't mind reminding you of that). Danny chronically starts and ends his classes late. While he's a fairly decent teacher, you can always tell when he's having a bad day as it's reflected in his attitude and his teaching methods. Danny also does an excessive warm up that really isn't even all that good for your body. There's no real focus on proper alignment, or protecting your muscles/joints, or holding tension properly; it feels like it's more of a scare tactic for each class. All the other instructors I've taken class with at OIP seem to have much more reasonable warm ups. Of the instructors I've taken class with I'd rank them from least to most difficult to follow thusly: Chris, Jungle, Derek, Danny, Jordan, Dominic (based on 2 classes), Angela (based on 1). One thing to note, they don't have a very effective way of letting people know when there will be substitutes - they don't update their website or send out emails - you have to follow their Facebook page for these updates (which I only learned yesterday).
General Admin: None of the staff seem to really be confident in running the studio. Their barcode cards have failed multiple times as have their check in systems - and when it happens it doesn't seem like anyone knows what to do about it. Check in lines can sometimes be excruciatingly long to the point that you could show up early for class, but somehow still manage to enter the studio late. I find this is mostly due to new Groupon customers that need to fill out paperwork - instead of getting them to fill it out off to the side and check in everyone else in the mean time, the front desk will wait for each of them before moving on. I do have a problem with overcrowded classrooms - it seems they care more about volume/profit than actual danceability. It's especially hard with beginners because we aren't always moving in the same direction (due to error). And with the music so loud, a crowded room makes it hard to follow instructions. The studio also isn't good at effectively communicating important information. As mentioned above whenever there are subs, no one who isn't following them on Facebook is notified (which is a problem if you're going to a specific class for a specific teacher). Things like their flash sales only sometimes appear on Instagram/FB. They also film every class at the end which they say is so that we can "go home and practice it" however they a) never asked for permission, and b) never told us how to access it. It really just seems like it's free self-promotion for them - which is fine but at least tell us where we can find each one.
Overall, it's a studio filled with talented and passionate instructors, however, that barely balances out how poorly run this studio is. It's clear why they're almost always doing Groupon Deals and Flash Sales, because if they weren't, I probably wouldn't come back as many others haven't. I'd give it 2.5 stars if Yelp let me.
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