Livermore Ballet School

It's the best place to learn Ballet in the TriValley area! 1/ You love ballet and just ballet 2/ you want an age appropriate teaching for your student 3/ you love creativity with choreography and costumes 4/ you still want to have a family life after ballet

My daughter has been taking ballet at the Livermore Ballet School for the past two years. I chose the school because the instructor is a classically trained ballerina and she teaches the terminology and correct position to even her youngest dancers. She has the ability to get 12 -15 young girls to all do what she asks from stretching, to barre work, to working on their routines for the recitals. I am a middle school teacher and some of my students also dance with the Livermore Ballet School; some have been students for YEARS. The recitals are beautiful, even if things backstage are a bit confusing (hence 4 stars instead of 5).Miss April does expect a lot from her dancers and her parents. What she gives in return is remarkable.

My daughter was signed up for a 3-4 yr old ballet class and I asked her twin brother if he would like to join as well. He was excited and obviously wanted to join his sister and their little BFF. The ballet school (run through the city) advertised a free class before you commit for an entire session. And knowing that my little boy can be quite shy, I didn't want to pressure him or commit him to a full term. I called the school twice and left a message about allowing him to try a class but never heard back since the teacher was out for a surgery. Thinking nothing of it (and because it's a damn class for 3 year olds, what could they be possibly doing that would prevent one more kid from joining?), we showed up to the class. The substitute spoke to me briefly and when hearing that T wanted to participate, said to me, "And you know this is a very frilly, princessy class? They do ballet in here." Um, yes, he understands this is ballet. She continued on by saying that she was not entirely comfortable teaching a little boy and that the class was likely full. My son was very upset at the time, and although it's my fault for not just registering him, I really didn't think someone could just turn a 3 year old away like that. The class wasn't full that day--the 12th girl never showed up. This class is run through the city and if my son had been registered and turned away, this would have turned into a discrimination issue with the city. I'll be taking my business elsewhere.P.S. There's also weird communication practices with the teachers here. There's always forms left on the table when you enter the room, and my kid was sent out once with a question scribbled on it. Not sure why she couldn't bother to leave the room to ask me a quick question.

My daughter has been taking ballet with Ms. April for the past two and a half years and has thoroughly enjoyed it. The classes are structured (in a good way) and fun, and my daughter is clearly developing a love for ballet. She is always enthusiastic about going to class, and she just loves being in the summer and winter performances. Judging by how beautifully the older girls dance, Ms. April really knows what she is doing. I like the fact that Ms. April teaches with classical music, and the dance is pure, classical ballet. Also, the dance studio is very nice and super clean, and there is a big waiting area just outside the dance studio where you can play with siblings while you wait. There are tables and chairs where you can play games, read, etc. Overall, our experience with this ballet school has been just great.

We were absolutely blown away by the Nutcracker this year! All of the dances were great, especially the older dancers, who were very impressive. My daughter is very excited to do the next show this May. She loves her teacher and we will continue to participate in ballet classes

My two daughters went to Livermore ballet school via LARPD. This place is okay but few things can definitely be improved.1. The program is overall okay but my daughters got super bored after doing same dance for 3 sessions. Something could be done to make it more interesting for the kids. Instructors are not so kid friendly I guess.2. During performance the positioning of the kids were in a manner that many of them were hidden at the back including mine. What is the point of performance when we can't see the kids on stage? A lot of money, efforts and time is invested here but if we need to search for our kids on stage then I would say it definitely needs some improvement in positioning. It would have been better if the entire big stage was used fully. A lot of space was left on the stage.3. I most of the time felt rushed when asked about anything but observed instructor to be super nice and paying extra attention to other parents. I don't know why this bias.4. After the performance, organizer asked the parents if they wish to take pictures with their teachers/family pictures. I went on stage to take pics with the instructor as per the my kid's wish, where I was again rushed by the instructor stating OTHER KIDS ARE WAITING FOR PIC DO IT FAST. She asked us to be in line when there was no line at all.If she rushes with everyone then it is sort of acceptable (giving it a benefit of doubt that this behavior is with everyone) but here also I saw her again rushed with me and my kids only.I initially didn't want to put this review but later felt that if the business takes it as a constructive feedback that it would be awesome.Only suggestion: If this place tries not to be biased against some parents (kids) based on the prejudices if any then this is definitely a good ballet learning place to look forward for. Also they need to work on the kids performance more than showcasing their own talent on stage. They should be using some other platform for that matter and totally focus on kids whose parents are putting lot of efforts, time and money in their performance. Although, Instructors are talented and hardworking.

We have been with Livermore Ballet for the last year and absolutely love it! My daughter performed in Swan Lake in June and was so excited to come back for the Nutcracker. I love that this ballet studio lets the younger students participate in their elaborate ballet shows! The costumes and backdrop are always impressive as well. If you are looking for ballet classes for your young children, I would definitely look into Livermore Ballet School

My daughter was enrolled in a dance class for 3-5 year-olds, through LARPD in the fall of 2024. Her teacher was listed as April Wagner, but April's daughter, Laura Myers, taught the class. Laura never introduced herself to the parents and did not welcome any interaction. The classes would begin 5 minutes late, and end 5 minutes early, and the last portion of the class was free dance, waving scarves to a Frozen soundtrack. My daughter loves ballet, and we were locked into the December performance of The Nutcracker (signed up for 3 sessions at once in order to guarantee a spot in the performance), which she was very excited about, so we continued with the class. There was one rehearsal for The Nutcracker, on the same day as the performance, at Livermore High. The fee of $85 included a costume which needed to be returned, and tickets for the family. My daughter performed near the beginning of the show, and had to remain in a cold hallway without me (parents were asked to leave), and with a large group of children with minimal supervision, for the entire rehearsal and performance. By the end of the rehearsal, my daughter was sobbing (and I did not know this until I came to meet her). This was very distressful for me and for other parents whose kids were similarly affected. The performance itself was about a minute long, and the children did not seem to be in sync or know the moves. I'm not sure what to expect for that age group though. What I did find impressive was that the children did overcome any stage fright and went up on stage. The performance showcased Laura Myers and April Wagner's other daughter. Laura danced a solo to Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy which was very well done, but I wish I would have seen more of the students in the studio in lead roles.

Edit: just wanted to add in after April's unhinged response.I typed out a whole thing responding to what she said but then decided not to post it. This defensive response is so telling and so was the attempt to paint me as an "angry mom" and attack my parenting to discredit my concerns instead of reflecting. Personally not something I want when choosing a ballet school. I'll just keep it as this: every single thing I mentioned was a concern shared by multiple parents. And that I did not yell or "rage quit". My conversation and leaving were previously discussed with my daughter, who wanted to leave. And I would have talked to April after the rehearsal but it was already well past the scheduled end time and there was no communication regarding when that would be.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~TLDR; Try another ballet school for your small child. Signed my 4 year old up for the fairytale class (youngest group), and paid the $85 extra for her to participate in the nutcracker performance. - Teacher was unfriendly. The instructor (owner's daughter) didn't properly introduce herself to the kids or parents. After 3 months, we have no idea what her name is. She also is a very serious person, and there were few smiles, humor, or really any kind of joy in class. Not a good fit for 3-4 year olds. My daughter liked ballet but did not enjoy class. - Teaching was incredibly lazy. The 45 min class started late and ended early every single week. Additionally, the last ~5 minutes of class consisted of the kids "free dancing" around to Frozen music. With all this, plus the several minute water breaks, it was less than 30 minutes of ballet per week. - The class went over a few moves every class, but never learned any type of routine for the "big show". There was very little effort put into teaching these children. Now for the actual show:- The littles were on stage for a total of 1 minute + the bow at the end. They had no ballet routine, and just stood up there copying some arm/head moves from the owner back stage. On top of that, they were positioned in 2 rows. So I could not see my child at all because she happed to be in the second row. - When I asked the owner about this, she said "there was tape on the stage, it's not my fault they weren't standing on the tape". Then why weren't they in a single row so everyone could be seen? Makes no sense. - When the owner was asked why they were on there for so little time, we were told this is all this age group can handle. Other ballet schools in Livermore have 3 year olds participate in the Bankhead Nutcracker with full routines, so this just comes back to lazy teaching and lack of effort put into the younger classes. - They were largely unsupervised in the LHS hallway for the rest of the time back there aside from a couple parent volunteers. The parents don't really know each other, so when a child was crying so hard that she ended up puking, the parent was not informed. - You may wonder where their teacher was during this time. Well, she was starring the show. The show was just a showcase of the owner's adult daughter and her advanced class. They had many elaborate costume changes, and were onstage about 80% of the performance. Every single audience member was there to see their child. Unfortunately, unless your child was in the advanced adult class, you didn't see much of them. - The $85 rental costume was a single leotard + skirt combo. But someone had to subsidize the advance class' many costume changes. If you're considering ballet classes for your preschool or elementary school child, skip this one. Try Valley Dance Theater instead. It's about the same price for lessons, and they actually seem to invest and put effort into their younger classes.

Some of these reviews baffle me! We have been going to Livermore Ballet School since both my daughters were 3! One is now 11 and one is 8. I had brought them to 3 different studios before this one and was not happy until we found April! She is so caring and so great with the kids. And the shows are always amazing. We have been to the Bankhead Nutcracker 3 years and every year we all agree Livermore Ballet School Nutcracker is better! I have never had a problem contacting April and we always receive information way ahead of time in handouts and email chain. My daughter is super excited to go up on pointe this year and we are so glad we found our forever dance home with Livermore Ballet School!