Westside School of Ballet in Santa Monica

It was a 3 night trip to LA and I ended up dancing two days! Haha, I am such an addict.

It wasn't, of course, an unplanned event. As soon as I knew I was going to LA, I was shopping for an adult ballet class to attend. Westside ballet offers tons of adult ballet classes (http://westsideballet.com/classes/adult-classes/), and I was curious to find out the quality of the studio.

Negatives first...

I am from Mountain View California, so not equipped for such a busy area like Santa Monica. Parking is not free! The meter even takes credit cards. Fortunately, it's only a dollar per hour which is not so bad.

Ballet barre is not so great. It's light, so it's easy to move, but oh my. It is about to fall apart.

I didn't see any water fountain either.

Pros?

The dressing room there is pretty decent. There's even shower.

They offer a lot of classes including pas de deux! It's for advanced dancers, but they won't reject you even if you are not ready. I did pas de deux wearing pointe shoes, but it was made for adults like me. This class is for advanced kids (soon to be professionals), so yes, pretty intimidating.

Nader teaches the class, but Sven was subbing that day. He was very nice even when he knew that I was the only one who clearly doesn't belong there. Pas de deux is not so hard as long as you have solid basics. I did pas de deux with very experienced partners and professionals, and it went pretty well.

The boys in the class are not very experienced, and they are used to dancing with very advanced girls who can do triple pirouettes by themselves. Well, it's not like professionals can make you do something you can't do, but they help. When I was paired with few guys there, I wasn't able to do much. With Sven, I was able to! haha

I would have been happy just watching them, but some guys there and also Sven asked me to dance few times. Without that, I don't think I would have been able to dance at all. I just wasn't ready to walk up to a guy since I wasn't ready. Even with my very limited skills, I had a great time.

I also took beginner and intermediate classes there, and it wasn't very difficult at all. I haven't had a chance to do advanced classes, but if I ever go back, I will try.

I took Onisha's pointe class, and it was great. I just felt really light headed and was suffering from migraines, so I had to leave in the middle of the class :( which was unfortunate.

Sven's pas de deux was great! (Too bad I couldn't stay for the advanced class)
Joan's beginner class was great, and she invited me to join her intermediate next time :)
Onisha's beg/int class was great, and the pointe class was pretty fun too (except the fact that I had to leave due to migraines).

Though, I must say, I missed my studio! Western ballet in Mountain View California. I've been going there for over a year, so lots of people (teachers and students) know me, and I am excited to go back there tonight :)