Hawkins School of Performing Arts

My two kids have been at Hawkins for almost 2 months now. My son takes acting class (great teacher by the way!) and my daughter is taking a theatre dance class. Both kids love this place and look forward to attending their class. The staff are nice, helpful, and the property is beautiful. There is a small area near the acting room so that my little one can play while her brother takes his class. There's a table and chairs for family to sit. I highly recommend this place and hope to stay here for many years.

My daughter started dancing at Hawkins when she was 3 1/2 years old and this week she turns 16. The wonderful teachers and staff at Hawking School of Performing Arts have not only taught her an incredibly wide array of dance styles, but they have given her countless intangibles. She is boldly confident, superbly creative and has learned how to set goals and attain them. I should mention that I am my daughter's dad. Way back when she was 3 1/2 I was unsure about her studying dance but now I am so thankful that she became a Hawkins' student. They have helped to make my daughter an amazing young woman with a very bright future.Thank you, Hawkins!

We have been loyal customers of this studio for years with multiple members of my family dancing there and on different companies/troupes. For the first several years things were good, we had a rocky situation when a director left mid season but was replaced by a very talented teacher and choreographer so I believe that they handled that situation well. We were satisfied with the teachers for the most part-there are some very amazing ones who are just delightful-and some who are not as much. We were content for a few more years until, surprise we had another company director change. The studio did not do much to listen to their customers' concerns about who they were putting in place as the new director for the new season, so as paying customers we really felt we had no other choice but to look for other places to dance this upcoming season. I have to give Ms Tessa, Mr Tony, Ms Julia, Ms Erin and Ms Joanna their kudos as they are all amazing dedicated teachers, although one of them will also not be there next year. I have learned from some of the other families who have been there longer than us that teacher retention there is a problem. We have also seen from some of our friends who's children also take class that they are starting to use some rather unqualified teachers to teach classes. One teacher was teaching a tap class for Little's in Tennis shoes and showing the little kids a video on her phone to dance from! My friend who's daughter was in that class was not very impressed by that. The facility is very lovely and spacious, the office staff especially Carrie and Kristin are very nice and helpful. It's sad to leave but we can't patronize a business that refuses to listen to the majority of their customers. There are too many other studios out there that will care about who they put in place to teach a class or direct a company.

Cathleya's review of Hawkins is somewhat antagonistic and being a former Hawkins dancer I think she is off her nutter about the costumes. Hawkins was ALWAYS extremely conservative when I danced and oh wait CATHLEYA... I DANCED THERE FOR 10 years. What about you?They were ALWAYS extremely professional and broke me of all the bad habits I learned at other studios. I competed with them for 5 years and I have to say that never once was there anything even extremely close to hooker wear. Hawkins was also acutely aware of things like if girls were ready for point (in terms of feet, etc.). All I have to say is JEEZE, Yelp what kind of crazies (Cathleya) are you letting become Elite these days?

Teachers seem to be pretty good and a lot of happy and serious faces in the dance classes.The non teachers who run the place are a little uptight, coming off as demeaning to us more than once. Just had to shrug it off as they seem to be the only game in town. The performance at the end of the year was at Folsom high; must sit through a couple hours of the studio showcase to see your kid's two minute performance. The place was too small for the number of people who wanted to get in to see their kid. No videotape or photos were allowed, you have to pay the bucks for the DVD of your kid.Aside from that, quite a variety of dancing going on and it appears like they foster a great love for the art and inspiring a lot of girls to keep with it.They get 3 stars, but I have seen better for less money. Don't let that stop you from going though.Update : Summer 2011: They revised the end of the year performance to shorter installments. Now you don't have to sit through as many performances. This had the added benefit of creating less of a crowd. Also, in the last year, no problems with staff. Raising to to 4 stars.

I enrolled my 6 year old in a ballet class. The teacher was was terrible. She didn't take much interest in the students because the type of class wasn't one that would lead to some big performance. That was my impression. My daughter was so bored. I check in a few times and they would be standing there doing same repetitive movements. And sometime while that might be the case, practicing the basics. What bothere me was that the teacher was off to the side working on other stuff. The kids knew she was not taking interest in them.

Some friends and I took a modern dance class here last night. The instruction was completely different from the ballet class I took so long ago.We warmed up for a good 10-15 minutes, went over the steps several times before starting , the teacher was informative, friendly and didn't ignore us because we were slightly older than the other girls in class....Not only was this class a great workout, it was fun! I love dance and this school offers lot of variety, from Tap, Jazz, ballet, lyrical, jazzercise for adult etc. The rooms and waiting area are extremely clean and tidy, no children running around or screaming. They run a "tight ship" it seems and I like that! It was such a great class I'm thinking about continuing my instruction here (at least for lyrical/modern). I noticed they no longer have an adult ballet class on the schedule, probably for the best. There other classes seem much much better Haha...

Hawkins continues to be one of the premier dance and performing arts schools in N. California. Our daughter recently graduated after spending several years in both the ballet and contemporary dance programs. The teachers are excellent and go out of their way to get to know the students and work with them as individuals. For kids more serious about dance or musical theatre, the troupes and companies enable them to get more specialized instruction, as well as several performance opportunities during the year. On a couple of occasions we traveled and performed in the Choreographers festival in Palm Desert, California, where many of the top programs are invited each year. Highly recommend.

My daughter LOVES the new tap teacher. The previous teacher was ok, not terrific with littles, and Miss Katie (the new teacher) is fantastic! She also seems to work really well with the older students and is able to teach beginners through advanced.

This is a beautiful facility. Carrie and Kristin in the office are ever so friendly and helpful. They have a station in the lobby that sells food and drinks (although it is not open enough).The teachers range from experienced professional choreographers to teenagers with little to no teaching experience. Class fees are the same no matter what teacher you have. Highly recommend Tessa for jazz and Emily for hip hop. Teacher retention is an issue--tap program is working with 4th director in the 5 years we have been there.