The Alberta Dance + Drama Academy

I cannot say enough about The Alberta Dance + Drama Academy. My daughter has been dancing for almost 15 years, 6 of those being in the Competitive Program. Miss Erica and her staff are knowledgeable, kind and treat the kids as if they are their own. It is definitely a place to learn and have fun at the same time. As a parent, I could not have asked for a better place for my Daughter to dance. She has made amazing friends as have I. Sincerely, Kelly

My daughters have been dancing at the Alberta Dance Academy for 6 years. The beginning was great and then we joined the competition team where it all turned. 2 years ago my oldest daughter had a fever of 38.5C. I called the dance studio and informed them that she wouldn’t be attending. I was told to give her Tylonel and send her because the group hadn’t had a chance to practice as a whole. Part of this is on me for not advocating for my daughter but ADA is very intimidating when it comes to the absence policy and I didn’t want her to be punished. So we sent her with Tylonel. The next day my daughter was diagnosed with a vasculitis autoimmune disorder called Henoch-Schonlein Purpura. She is completely fine now and there is no correlation but pushing her to attend a dance class sick was not the best choice on all parties including my own. She also ended up at the Children’s Hospital where Erica the owner of ADA, did not reach out to see how she was doing. However, the studio manager did check-up on us. The reason I point this out is because the owner talks about how much she cares about each kid, well we did not see this. Let’s fast forward to a year ago. My daughter is an introvert and dance brings her personality out. She decided she wanted to do a solo. I trust that the studio knows what they are doing… well it was brought to my attention that she was entered into the wrong category by other parents. She was an 8 year old competing against 12 year olds. This oversight new opportunity did nothing for her self esteem. When I brought it to ADA’s attention they said they would look into it. Well they didn’t really look into it because the last competition, she was once again in the wrong category. I brought this to the owner’s attention but this time in frustration. The owner took no accountability but the situation was fixed 15 minutes before she performed. We then had a meeting and instead of being accountable she asked us if our daughter practices. Very disheartening. My husband and I discussed if we should send our kids back to ADA this year. We decided to because the friendships they built were so precious. The attendance policy is so intense that they get less time off than I do with work…. We are told when to travel as a family and when not to. So we plan our vacations around the “black out” dates. We booked a family trip for my 40th birthday in May. The black out dates for the past 5 years have been until May 9th but of course they decided to do a competition in Banff May long weekend. Parents were not allowed a say even though we PAY for everything! We did have a survey after the last season but no results were shared or no further discussion was had. We had a meeting with the owner to tell her only to get our hand slap figuratively speaking. Moving forward we booked a trip to Hawaii in November a year previous. We were told about a month before that the mandatory ballet exam(except we found out later that some families are exempt from it) are during our prebooked vacation time. When communicated to the owner we were once again in the bad books and wete basically told next year the girls were not welcomed back. This was our last straw as how can a Dance studio with my 6 and 9 year old dictate when we can have vacation…. So we took the step and left November 1st. We paid over $2000 for competitions and other things that my daughters will not participate in. I understand we left abruptly but as you can see there were many red flags. We are asking for our money back and were told we owe them money after paying for competitions we are not there for! If you want a dance studio to love your child, not pick favorites, have your child’s best interest at heart, and to not take all your money choose any other dance studio in Okotoks other than Alberta Dance Academy, unless you are in their clique then you are just fine.

We’ve been with this studio for 11 years - my kids have literally grown up here - the teachers and owner are so amazing and kind.