Elemental Studios

I have been going to K-POP dance classes since last year and Nicki is an amazing person ❤️ she encourages people to ask questions when they have difficulty with a part of the choreography being taught. She walks us through the choreography as the music is playing and even plays it on a slower pace so that we can fully grasp the choreography. Nicki truly is a great instructor.. however, since I’ve been going to these classes… today is the first day I truly felt embarrassed and belittled by others attending the class . I’m sure Nicki knows how overcrowded it can get as it’s noticeable and she does her best to switch us all around so that we’re in different spots and everyone can see/learn the choreography. Nicki stresses that the space is meant to be an environment for everyone to be themselves. Today, that wasn’t the case for me. I kept moving and girls kept blocking me on purpose no matter where I moved. There was a person that was on the side and just came in front of me, mean mugged me, and wouldn’t give me space to be able to even dance And there are other girls that do this with other people I go to class with. I felt like I didn’t belong there today. I walked away today not only NOT learning the choreo, but not even able to dance and watch myself in the mirror to do it correctly and on top of that, being made felt like I have no business being there in the first place. I realize this is out of Nicki’s control but I genuinely wanted to cry after dance class today. If you don’t go in a group or are part of a group that knows Nicki, good luck 🙁

I found myself overall disappointed with my experience at Elemental Studios. Some pros; It’s a wonderful, clean space. All the employees I spoke to were extremely kind. The instructors can definitely dance. The introductory price is extremely reasonable, I even feel like their packaged class deals are of great value (although I didn’t purchase). There are cubbies for you to place your items within the studios, and there is no time for anyone to be in that area without you also being available, so your stuff is safe even if it is not secured.

I signed up for the beginner KPop class, I have no experience dancing other than copying minimal moves from music videos while I’m listening in the car. While I didn’t expect them to teach us the fundamentals, I also didn’t expect that they would choose a difficult choreography. The instructor had difficult remembering each step, walking herself through the choreography before she would teach it to us. She stated that the counts she was giving us as we were learning wouldn’t match up with the song and that we would need to understand the timing of the music within the song (that I had never heard) to understand the timing of the dance. I found myself frustrated and embarrassed that my mind and body weren’t able to translate what she was teaching us. I Google’d after the class to see if maybe I was being too harsh and that this was indeed a beginners choreography, I told myself maybe I’ve chosen to attempt the wrong hobby, but Google affirmed that the choreography is difficult with off-beat timing and is known for being challenging.

I’m going to stick to my bedroom YouTube to learn easier choreography for awhile; I’m not advance enough for Elemental, but would like to return when I’m more comfortable dancing in general.