East Bay Dance Center
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Website for East Bay Dance Center: www.eastbaydancecenter.org
1318 Glenfield Avenue, Oakland, CA 94602 new phone number: (510)336-3262 (updated Oct 2006)
April 2009
Re: Summer camp for daughter just finishing kindergarten
My daughter has attended the following camps - I am including
her ideas and ours: East Bay Dance Center, similarly priced as
Adventure Time about $50-$55 per day with before and after
care. Don't worry about tap, ballet or jazz shoes - your
daughter can borrow them. My daughter loves this camp, her
friend does not.
Oct 2007
Re: Thanksgiving week camp for 7 year old
East Bay Dance Center in Oakland's Glenview District is perfect.
It's about $40 day a little more for before and after care. The
before and care is a little like ''child care'' to be fair -
however the majority of the day is hip-hop, ballet, jazz, tap
and tumbling / acrobatics. And it's FUN. My 8 year old has been
going for three years and loves it. Begs to go. Donmt worry if
you donmt have the tap or ballet shoes, Bonniems got kem for
kids to use.
Bonnie is the owner and main instructor - classes fill up fast.
East Bay Dance Center Fan
April 2007
I am considering the east bay dance center for 2007 summer camp
because of location and affordability. Does anyone have any
experience with the center near Park Blvd in Oakland and a
recommendation for or against?
karen
I don't have personal experience with the Dance Camps, but my fourth
grade
daughter has taken East Bay Dance Center dance lessons since she was
three with
Bonnie Sita who runs the Summer Camp Program. (We've always had busy
summers
so didn't do the camps. But other kids have really seemed to enjoy
themselves.)
Here is our experience with EBDC. Bonnie Sita has been a great teacher
for my
daughter and the other girls and boys who have taken dance over the
years. She's
utilized play and imagination to progressively teach dance technique
and skills. It's
a method that certainly has worked for my daughter. The atmosphere is
relaxed
without pressure however Bonnie is not a push-over and does maintain
class order.
She wants the children to love dance and as she puts it ''not cringe
when they hear
music from the Nutcracker Suite.'' She adjusts her teaching to the
personalities and
age levels of the students in her classes. I was impressed with the
way she
managed to make dance fun and motivating both for girls (at times very
princessy)
and boys (leaps over snake pits). I think the facility would make a
good site for a
summer camp program since it has a spacious dance studio with a stage
and an
enclosed out door area. The center offers hip-hop, ballet, jazz and
tap.
Satisfied Dance Mom
Re: Only need camp for 2 days of the week (March 2007)
Try East Bay Dance Center in the Glenview District of Oakland.
The director, Bonnie Sita, is great with kids and offers camp on
a ''per day'' basis. I believe camp is $40 per day from 9 - 3 and
before and after care is available at $5 per hour.
No need to worry about ballet, tap or jazz shoes, Bonnie has
them available for use (free). No dance experience is necessary
and the chidlren (both boys and girls) are grouped by
age/ability.
My daughter has been attending since she was 5 1/2 and loves it.
Mom of a dancing girl
Re: Informal dance/movement class for 3-year-old (March 2004)
Try East Bay Dance, located at Mandana and Grand Ave (near the
Grand Lake theater). Bonnie Sika offers a preschool ''beginning
ballet'' class, which the little ones seem to really enjoy (at
least, my daughter did - she's been going there for almost 3
years now). It's not ''formal'' ballet, in that the kids can wear
almost anything (w/ ballet slippers) - my daughter used to wear
her ballet leo under her favorite tie-dye dress, and Bonnie was
totally okay w/ it.
You can try it over the summer (short sessions) and see if
it ''fits'' for you.
Mom to twirling ballerina wannabe
Re: Ballet for 2-year-old (June 2002)
East Bay Dance Ctr on Grand Ave in Oakland - Ms. Bonnie Sita -
starts at 3 yrs old.
Maria
Re: hip hop/jazz/modern dance classes for 13-year-old (2001)
The East Bay Dance Center located at 3501 Grand Ave in Oakland, phone
465-6678, offers Child and Teen Hip Hop, Jazz, Tap, and Ballet. We haven't
attended yet, but I've spoken to several parenst with kids there and they all
say positive things about the program.
Cathy (2001)
Re: ballet for 5-year-old
East Bay Dance Center has wonderful preballet, pretap/jazz, and ballet,
hip hop,
and jazz/tap for kids, most taught by the Center's loving, patient
director Bonnie
Sita. Bonnie makes it really fun, with princesstime (running around with
long scarves
as capes and skirts, pretending to be princesses and fairies), great music
(Nutcracker
and other familiar classical music, as well as some showtunes), and a
break midclass
for water and bathroom use. My 6 year old daughter has been going to the
ballet class
for 1 year, and adores it. Plus, she is really learning classical
technique (and the
french names of the steps) and graceful movement, bit by bit, though she
doesn't ever
feel pressured or stressed. The learning environment is entirely funbased,
developmentally appropriate, and encouraging. There is no "correction" at
this stage, just showing the
kids how to do the movement, and repetition. Whoever doesn't quite get it
just
approximates what they can do, and I always hear positive encouragement from
the teacher. This is not a strict ballet regimen, but for a future dancer,
it's
also a good starting place.
Also a big plus is the small classes on weekdays (6 or so kids). There's a
recital on
June 9 at Piedmont High if you want to see the results and get your little
one interested. Classes are all year, in 2 semesters and a shorter summer
program. 3501 Grand Ave (near Mandana) 4656678
Suzanne
this page was last updated: Apr 25, 2009
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