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| - Ugh, what a pretentious snob the owner of this studio is. Let me preface by saying that my daugther has a special need that affects her physical appearance, but not her physical ability or learning ability. She is a typical 5 year old girl. We were invited to try out the studio by one of my daughter's friends for "Bring a Friend to Dance Week". When we trialed the class, my daughter loved it. So we signed her up. After signing up, the class size got too big. The owner, Allison, said she was going to split the class into two groups according to ability. The following week, we arrived to dance class to see that Allison had moved my daughter into a class with 2 and 3 year olds. My daughter was so crestfallen, she started crying right there in her leotard in the middle of the class. The teacher should have called me in advanced before she did this, so I could have known what we were walking into. We could have then countered with "we didn't sign up to be with toddlers, she enjoys being with her friend, etc." But she just put her in the toddler class. So I said I wanted her to be moved up, but Allison claimed that all of the 5 year olds were experienced dancers and she wouldn't fit in. (Are we talking about 5 year olds? How experienced could they possibly be at the ripe old age of 5?) So I insisted she try two classes in the 5 year old class as a trial. The first class she did perfectly and fit right in. Nonetheless, they told us she would have to try again next week before they would know if she would be a good fit. At this point, I told my daughter that I hated the studio and would like to take her somewhere else. She said she still wanted to try, so I said, "Well you have to do everything perfectly because for some reason they are picking you apart." I made her practice at home, I told her to do her best and try her hardest. When we went the second time, the teacher didn't even acknowledge her arrival, and I think coupled with the obvious pressure she felt, she froze up and said she wanted to go home. So we did. To subject disabled 5 year olds to embarrasment and unfair standards is the lowest of the low. I would not recommend this studio to anyone. They are a disgrace to Arizona. There are laws against discrimination.
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