Honolulu Dance Studio

My favorite studio on island. - there's actual parking stalls. YES. Inner city studios are known for having zero parking, but there are actually a few stalls in their lot + street parking + parking @ a nearby shopping center (shh.)- so many different classes for the keiki AND adults. That's right. I know some of y'all secretly want to appear on world of dance and you can fulfill those dreams here. Classes change around every season for the adult classes, but hip hop 1 and street femme on Tuesday nights + hip hop 2 and intro to hip hop on Wednesday nights are here to stay! - all of the instructors are personable!New studios can be intimidating; here's how to navigate this one:1. The building is a two-story blue building next to Still and Moving Center. Enter through the right door that has a small Honolulu Dance Studio sign on it.2. You'll see a narrow stairwell on your left. Walk up the stairwell, put your outside shoes on the shoe rack on the top, and slip your dance shoes on (yes, you need indoor shoes specifically for dance, whether that's ballet slippers, jazz shoes, indoor hip hop shoes).3. Walk over to the registration table on the left and fill out a clipboard to get yourself/your child registered + pay.4. Wait until the dance instructor calls you in, put your water + belongings on the inner racks, and have FUN!Hope to see you in class!

Went here for my kids. They were meeting their friends for a play date and first time in Hip Hop Class. The instructor was awesome. She does really well with kids. The day we went I guess their AC was not working because it was a sauna in there. Thank god the room that the kids were dancing in was the only room with working AC. Its $20 every drop in class which is good because at least we can see if the kids like it before we commit. I guess their computer system was also down because they had a hard time signing us up. We were told that if we bring siblings we would get a discounted price. I thought. Oh, ok cool, because I do have 2 kids and saving A little money will help. But Then as we were leaving, an older lady, who I'm guessing is the owner stopped us and told us that it was wrong and that we won't get sibling discount because if we purchase the monthly tuition we're already getting a discount. Sure! No problem. I understand no big deal. But I thought it was pretty rude that she had to stop us in our tracks to tell us that in front of everyone when we didn't even ask for a discount in the first place. I just thought she could've handled that situation better like she can proceed to inform us about the mistake when we sit and actually sign up for the class. It would've been more professional and less awkward. But oh well. Overall the kids had fun, and we will return again next week to see if they want to commit. I hope this time the AC is working.

My daughter's spirit animal is: Beyoncé. That's right, all the single ladies gather round as we recently discovered at a Summer Fun finale that my six-year old looooooves to dance and shake it like a Polaroid picture! We had her in ballet for a few months, but it just wasn't her jam and we decided to try out hip-hop class at Honolulu Dance Studio. For an entire week she obsessed over going to hip-hop class and I told my husband we shouldn't have mentioned it until the day of her class so we wouldn't have to answer "am I going to hip-hop today? Huh? Am I? Am I?!" 9,345 times! Still, you can't ignore the genuine passion and relentless drive which will inevitably make her a star! Honolulu Dance Company is located in Kakaako on Queen Street and their main studio space is in a commercial warehouse area. There is no parking so you have to park on the street or South Shore Market (shhhhhhhhhhhhh you didn't hear that from me). Their dance space is by no means fancy and pretty run down, but kids really don't need much when it comes to dancing. I signed her up at the front desk and she took a 45-minute class for $20. This is the single class rate, but you can buy a class pack for the month which breaks down to about $15 a class. It was the end of the month, so it didn't really make sense to buy a class pack, plus I didn't know if she would enjoy it. The main teacher was out and she had a sub who turned out to be a really nice man that helped her feel welcome in the class. She learned a hip hop routine to a Justin Bieber song and even though she was off in the count, she really enjoyed herself and we had the best time watching her. Needless to say, I know we'll definitely be back in the future because of how much she loved the experience and we can't wait to see what the regular teacher will do in the class! Baby Beyonce is so excited to learn how to dance!

I'm in tears when typing this review. My kids studied at HDS for 6 years until we left Honolulu. They were very happy there the entire time. They love their teachers, friends, and even friends' parents. HDS is a big family where everybody loves and cares for each other. HDS has amazing teachers: Miss Elizabeth, Ms. Molly, Ms. Cathy and others...The studio is a bit too small but they try to rent other places for big rehearsals. Your kids will not only learn about dance, they learn to be a better person: more independent, respectful, caring...We did not know what we missed until we moved to a new place in the mainland. I chose what is considered the best ballet school in our new place, but my kids were unhappy. The school's director and some teachers are rude and uncaring. They just take advantages of the kids to play party boys, party girls...in their Nutcracker and other productions. There is no personal development for the kids. I've been looking extensively but could not find a place like HDS in our new place. Fortunately, HDS's training has prepared our kids to catch other opportunities. My son auditioned and got full scholarships to top summer intensive programs such as SAB, ABT, Houston Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet. He also got close to a full-ride scholarship to go to a top art boarding high school in the US. My daughter also admitted to the summer intensive programs of those big schools. I'm very thankful for all these opportunities that HDS has prepared my kids for.

Our family loves HDS....the positive learning environment, christian atmosphere, instructors that help develop self-esteem, we find it rare in today's compeititive society to find a dance studio that competes with humbleness and develops character.

When my seven-year-old was a baby, I discovered she could lay the back of her head on her buttocks. That is the moment I knew she would be my dancer, my movement prodigy, my ballerina that I could live through vicariously and selfishly force to achieve all of the dance dreams I failed to attain.BUT, life got in the way of formal training and my visions of teaching her personally at home fell through because we are both easily frustrated and her feet are made of lead and she changes direction with the ease of a lethargic elephant.She really wants to dance, though. And I believe she can learn to be more of a gazelle and less of a boulder, so I signed her up for the summer intensive, made her the crappiest spray of a ballet bun ever, and sent her into class.She LOVED it. Everyone was so nice to her even though she knew absolutely nothing, she made friends, loved her teachers, and actually learned how to do some dance-like things. The training is seriously top-notch, I am a dancer myself and I KNOW. Or I think I know. I have a degree in dance, so whatever that is worth.The studio is family-run and absolutely wonderful. Communication is not always the best, parking is atrocious, but they are warm and kind and take care of the kids. If you have a question just walk into the studio and ask.Right now we spend all of our time at the fighting gym down the street, where she displays a surprising amount of promise, but when we are ready to put our girls into dance we will absolutely choose this studio.Yay!

I just started taking classes as a drop-in here and I love it! HDS is centrally located near Ward Centers, close to Office Depot. They offer a TON of classes for kids, teens, and adults, ranging from ballet to lyrical jazz to hip hop to zumba. I'm mostly taking ballet and contemp/jazz classes, and I have not been disappointed. In the adult classes there is a pretty wide age range, with everyone from high schoolers to senior citizens. Class sizes seem to vary with the time of the class. I went to a Monday night contemp class and there were about 8 girls. My Saturday afternoon jazz class had at least 16.The instructors here are great and the students are very friendly and laid-back. It's been nearly six years since I took any formal dance classes but the students and staff here made me feel so welcome and at home. Cathy Izumi, the director of the studio, is probably the nicest woman in the world. I spoke to her on the phone at least 5 times before deciding to come in for a class; she was so kind and encouraging. Also, she is still hella flexible and can definitely still dance, so I have mad respect for her. Her son and daughter also teach classes at the studio.Parking can be a problem depending on the time of your class. There is a small lot in the front of the studio, but it can fill up quickly (especially on Saturdays, when the studio is busiest). You could park in the Nordstrom Rack parking lot and walk over (which takes about 3 minutes), but I heard people have gotten ticketed for doing that. Also, classes are a bit pricey if you're a drop-in student like me. It is $20 for a 1-hr or 1.5-hr class. They have 4, 8, 12, and 16-class cards available which makes tuition slightly cheaper. All in all, I will continue to take class here because I think the studio is great and the location is convenient.

I'm being charged for a ballet class I'm not taking, and nobody is doing anything about it.I'm a teen who's taking Hip Hop 1&2, strictly only those classes. Recently, I've noticed that on my account activity, I've been attending a ballet class. I don't attend those classes, and I've been very careful of not entering a class that wasn't my respective class. I asked someone about this and they told me there was a girl in the ballet class that had the same name as me and they would fix it. Fine.Next day, I see it again, I'm being charged for a ballet class. I'm fuming at this point. I call, they say again, it'll be fixed. It doesn't. Nothing I do is getting this issue fixed and I'm sick of having to call everyday because they're not checking the email of who is checking in. I doubt she has the same email as me, and if I have to keep going through this then I don't think I'll be staying at the studio.

We are new to the kids dance scene here on Oahu. My 11 year old tried a hip hop class at Honolulu Dance Studio and did not enjoy it. The girls in her class were very rude and unfriendly. So much for the Aloha Spirit. We won't be taking class here.

The kids have so much fun and after watching the adult classes it makes me want to join in! Everyone is friendly and kind! I highly recommend HDS!