Reviews of Christine Rich Studio Dance Academy (Dance School)

Aaron Geiger

Ms Rich was the complete opposite of what a parent wants for a child. She was rude to my wife (telling her how to be a good parent), bossy, and not friendly at all to our three year old. Our son would dance all day at home, and wanted to take dance lessons. But Ms Rich was unfriendly, curt, and disrespectful to him and my wife. I had to talk to her at length on the phone to get a refund. I know of three different people who have had very negative experiences here. One of which had her young daughter actually kicked out of three different classes for not being engaging enough in one. This is not what children need or want. And if you want a good laugh, look up Rich's book "The Truth About Amazing Kids: Child Whisperer, Parent Liberator." Great.

Orbby

My daughter loved going here for a little over 4 years and while it was expensive and there was a lot of "extra over the top" rules (Like parking and being late means sitting out) we understood them and all was fine. However this last year and a half was an insane mess. It was like the flood gates opened and insanity came through. We got so many emails flooding us that it became hard to keep up with what was important and what was her just talking about her life, how sick she is, the drive and how mad she is at a light company, and her trying repeatedly to sell a work out dvd (While saying your child is garbage and won't be any good if they don't have it...). It was nuts. She lost that "I'm a business" mode and went into "I'll air everything to you all". Not only did these emails start but this last year is what broke us, she started charging everyone for ANYTHING anyone forgot. Forgot a hat, that'll be $10. Forgot to get the bun perfect, that'll be another $10. Forgot to respond to an email, $5 for that! It was too much and on top of that, she would do all but name you in public emails. In an email to everyone she wrote this "We had only one non-compliance", "Five families did not turn in a cover up photo at all and are in the penalty phase", "Others ignore and never respond to the emails. BUT, when we release those recital tickets discount emails, WOW, the same people who could never cooperate or "receive our emails" are all over the discount". I should never be told about another family forgetting something or failing to respond, that's not my business. Some of this stuff they could have mentioned at the last class. Hell, I was talking to the teacher and yet she didn't say a word about remembering hats... But because I missed the email, I had to fork out cash. I understand she wants everyone to quickly comply but we already pay an arm and a leg for them to teach our kids. Also, I came to find out the teacher took "Breaks" during my daughters class... I'm sorry but I paid too much money for her to take a "break". If she needed a break then Christine should have given her time between classes. During these times the kids just did whatever kinda dance they wanted to... Yep that's good teaching! Not only all of that, but she forces families to "Volunteer" or your kid is out. We pay almost $30 a seat and snacks and drinks $1 a piece... Where is all that money going? You're not paying people to do it so you're just pocketing it all. My husband was to do the setup but got hurt before it, so he couldn't do it. Instead of her offering something else for me or him, or even just taking the $50 and calling it, she threatened to kick my daughter out a week before if my husband didn't hand over a doctors note. I'm fairly certain it's illegal to ask for a parents doctors note to a child's class. Plus, we already pay you a ton. Hire someone instead of pocketing it! She could have easily asked me to do something else or asked if I could do the set up for him... but that's a MANS job (What she states in her volunteer sign ups)... I'll stick to lifting my 80# bales of hay I guess... All in all, I would let my daughter go back if it became more like it was before but I won't pay for someone to treat the people who pay them like garbage. It's sad to not see my daughter dance any more but it's just not worth filling the pockets of someone like that.

Kari Marino

My daughters have been taking dance at Christine Rich for almost two years. The high quality instruction along with high expectations of their dancers combine to produce not only talented dancers, but also wonderful kids. Add in the state of the art facility and you have an amazing dance experience for your children. I could not be happier with our choice to enroll at Christine Rich.

Natalie Coyne

I used to work at the Christine Rich Studio in the front office. To say that the experience dancers receive at the studio is superb would be a gross understatement. The facility is stunning with the largest classrooms I've seen, the teachers are all seasoned in providing excellent dance/fitness instruction, and lastly Christine holds all students, parents, teachers to the highest of standards, which results in a very structured environment. Rest assured that if you enroll your child at CRS, they will be learning much more than dance; they will be learning discipline, self-control, and respect for others. I saw countless students go from being somewhat wild and unruly to poised, mature, and confident young adults. If I had a child, they would be dancing at CRS - period. Check it out, you will not be disappointed.

John Gallagher

My daughter has been having class at this studio for the past four months. Classes start consistently 5 minutes late but if you, as a parent, are a few minutes late, they kick you and your child out. My wife took my child there today (4/9/2018). They arrived two minutes late. My daughter started dancing and enjoying herself. Then the instructor kicked out my wife and daughter on the basis of being late. This was our first and only time being late. The owner also sends out ridiculous emails that are unrelated to dance. She is entirely unprofessional in her communication. I would advise strongly against enrolling in this school.

Orca

Both of our kids have signed up for their classes (different age group). Every monday, my husband or I got off work at 5, rushed to pick up the kids (from 2 locations), in order to catch the 5:30pm classes. We were late for 4 minutes today (We really did our best. Come on, people have to work...). My son was physically refused entry in the studio. However, the instructor was late a few minutes a few times as well in the past, never said anything, guess should have asked for a refund. The owner sends out emails to parents everyday (sometimes 3 a day), basically implying they are the only ones with high standards, making it very easy to overlook the few relevant messages they do send. The studio charges outrageous fee for recitals (52 dollars for each kid!). Costume is 47 bucks... They made parents think the costume is custom made but when we received the costume, my 4 year old son's shorts have MAN written on the tag ... very cheap and low quality - 5 bucks is the most I would pay for this in a store. Plus they ordered the wrong color. It supposed to be yellow for boys. However they said the manufacturer messed it up and sent pink instead, and they decided to stick with it! No "sorry" in their email... All of their faults were ok and they don't even apologize. They charge a very high amount of recital fee and forced parents to volunteer (yes you can choose to not volunteer. They will just bombard you with emails to make you super ashamed). The recital tickets are 30 dollars each! Even though you already paid recital fee. Guess what? The recital is taken place in their own studio. Where does all the money go? Bottom line! DO NOT SIGN UP for your kids. Your kids will repeatedly get the same stuff every week with no progressive curriculum, and you are going to be humiliated because you happen to be late for 1 minute, you happen to talk with your friends in the hallway(they call it "gossiping"), or your kid does not feel well and wants to take a break. I forgot one more thing! Remember that 52 dollars recital fee? That actually does not qualify you to see your own son/daughter perform! For that privilege, you pay additional 30 dollars/person!!!! -------------- Update: my kids were both dismissed from this studio. Above was my original post. Ms. Chrstine, I am the mom and take full responsibility of my words. I don't understand why in your mind there can only be one "Cassie" in the world who is your dance teacher. I have been using this name as my google account name for a long time even before we know Ms. Cassie in your studio. Also, this review was not posted by Scott. I feel very offended by your reply. As a customer, I am supposed to be abused by your so-called policy and lies? This is totally unfair. No matter I have been a customer of your studio for 4 months, or even one day, I should be treated with respect. When a parent did whatever they can to try to get the kids to the dance class on time for the 5:30pm class, but just not able to do so (my younger son is 2 years old. anything can happen and cause a delay - like a dirty diaper...), they should be treated with understanding, not humiliation. Regarding your "policy" - if you don't send random emails everyday talking about things irrelevant to our dance class, maybe I could pay more attention. That's called email campaign 101. Thanks! Regrading "loud Yelling ruckus" - I hope you can find the girls who were "visibly trembling". If you can prove that they were scared by my husband, I will come to the studio and apologize to them. The fact is, my husband was about to leave, and you came out and start to argue with him. And our boys were totally scared by your strong words and angry facial expression. Plus, you send out emails like that all the time using your girls as excuses to make parents feel guilty and ashamed, like "it crushes them". Using your students as a weapon to attack upset customers is not a good strategy.

Ganna Sheyko

I consider Christine Rich Dance Academy a top dance school in Champaign/Urbana/Savoy IL area. I am absolutely thrilled with our daughter’s achievements over the past 3 years. She has become more persistent, patient, and confident. This fall I plan to enroll our son in acrobatics.

Jia Xing

Thank you Ms. Christine for your reply. Because there is word limit in my original review, I have to post another one here. It gives me an opportunity to post another 1 star - using my legal name. Attacking other people using fake name without any research is not a good idea. It only shows that you are desperate to take someone down and ruin their reputation by using wrong information. I am not afraid of you. Especially being an Asian, I learned over the years that if you don't speak up, you are going to be smashed by people like Ms. Christine. We were removed from the class due to this "service condition" - according to Ms. Christine Rich. "SERVICE CONDITIONS: The Studio provides dance instruction to students and families harmoniously cooperating with CRS procedures and Policies. We have a zero-tolerance for bully-type behaviors (verbal or physical, bossing, etc.), which result in escalating suspensions for the bullying student to reorient to peaceful engagement. " However, if someone is bullying in your studio, that's you, period. "My sons love dance a lot and because of the incident last week, they were very frightened and refused to dance anymore!" If I were you, I would say something like that to make you look like a monster. But I am not. My kids were scared by you, that's true. But I am not going to exaggerate their reaction like what you did. They still love dance. There is nothing wrong to sign up my pre-school aged kids for dance classes without expecting them to perform on stage. They just want to have fun and burn some energy. What's wrong with it? We respect the teacher, Ms. Cassie, and I even take my kids out of the class by myself if their behaviors distracted other kids (as a 2.5 years old, obeying teachers order 100% all the time is impossible). I don't want to be late, but getting off work at 5pm, trying to pick up both kids from 2 different locations, and rush to your studio before 5:30pm is a challenge sometimes. In your philosophy, that's totally wrong. Being late means you don't respect the teacher, and they are horrible parents and irresponsible adults. There is no exception. That's exactly the difference between you and my husband. He lets students who are late come in class, because they pay tuition, they deserve a chance to get education. And he understands that sometimes students could miss a bus, or work until late night for home assignments and simply missed the alarm. That's called having empathy and compassion. I am proud of him for doing that. Real educator let people learn by positive discipline, not punishment. Let me suggest what you could do next time (to avoid upset customers like me), let the kids in this this time, but communicate your policy face to face to the parents. That will save you hours replying reviews like this. Regarding asking other parents to post negative review on Google - "unhappy customers tell 9-10 people about their experience" You are lucky I only told this one parent. But now I will make sure that all the parents around me know how we were treated. Thanks to you. __________ Gosh... this becomes even funny for me. This person Ms. Christine Rich insisted that my husband used a fake name to post negative review... Come on, the gmail that associated with "Cassie" name is my personal email. I have been using "Cassie" for at least one year on my google account, posting comments on Youtube, etc. Why did I take my original google review down? Because my husband, who is a decent man with good heart, told me that it's not worth starting a war online with ongoing argument like this (he was right). But I copied and pasted my review and saved in a document just in case something like this happens. If you keep saying it, that just mean that you don't have a better argument to try to make your point. I am 100% positive that my older son was present because my husband needed to pick up BOTH OF THEM and go to your studio - because I need to stay late at work that day. Otherwise where could he be? Left alone at preschool? LOL

daniella birch

I'm no dance expert but I have done business with Christine Rich and if she runs her studio like she runs her business then its probably over priced with hidden charges and has lots of flash but no substance. Back in 2012, I did some freelance graphic design work for Christine Rich and at the last minute she refused to pay me for work that I had already sent her a pdf copy of. I had to report her to Department of Labor before she paid me for the time I had put in during a "trial period". After all that, she had the gall to continue to ask me for work! I enjoyed freelance until I worked for her. Freelance is no longer an option for me, I don't like to treat my clients like potential criminals that might take advantage of me, but that's exactly what she was.

John Schmitz

Just the best school for kids to learn and sustain themselves in a very difficult business.

Kenny Chumbley

One of the qualities I most appreciate about the CRS is its insistence on excellence. Which is why I am surprised to read some recent posts complaining about the policies and the enforcement of the policies. Given my experience with CRS, I can only shake my head at the self-centeredness and sense of entitlement some have. It would be one thing if the CRS violated its stated policies, but I don't see where this accusation is made. Rather, the gripes concern the enforcement of the stated policies and the fact the parents doing the griping weren't exempted when they violated the policies. In their umbrage, I'm sure the complainers don't see how inane they appear for holding CRS responsible for their irresponsibility; it's not the fault of CRS if parents can't abide by the rules the parents agreed to abide by. Last year, I needed some dancers for an original theatrical musical I staged in the area. Christine Rich could not have been more gracious or helpful in referring me to two students whose dancing skill, manners, congeniality, and commitment to the project exceeded all expectations. I don't know any of the those who have posted the negative reviews I have referenced, but I recoil from their whiny, arrogant, crybaby tone and apparent mania for mediocrity. Thank goodness there are still students---and parents!---who are committed to excellence in both art and character.

Kate Bubeica

I was always an athlete but I could tell that my little 3 year old daughter loved dance. I knew nothing about dance and I felt thrilled when I went into the Christine Rich Studio and Christine Rich herself walked me through every detail of signing us up and explaining the difference between leotards and tights, etc. and just extended me so much patience. She has a knack for children (kids were coming in and giving her hugs) and my usually shy daughter warmed right up to her. There was just a genuine care for both of us and I felt like I was in good hands with Christine. I went in feeling nervous and left feeling like "hey, I can figure this dance thing out." I guess I felt empowered from my first visit. The classes this summer have been a joy and treasure. It's a first rate operation and my daughter asks me every day if it's "time to go to dance." I highly recommend this dance studio all the way around.

Amy Kuka

My daughter has been taking classes at this studio for 3 years. She is excited to go to every class and wants to go more often than her classes are scheduled. She has made so much progress and loves her classes. Her ballet instructor is phenomenal! He definitely knows how to elicit the best from the students while making classes fun. Definitely worth the money!

Krystle Trevillion

We were blessed with the chance to attend the summer 2017 session at CRS. My 6 year old daughter, who has been dancing since she was 22 months, learned more in these few weeks than anywhere else she'd been. She is much more flexible, her technique is better, and her confidence is much higher. Her understanding of the art of dance is far better which has made her love dance that much more. The facility is beautiful and very convenient for busy moms like myself. I had no problem dropping my daughter off and running a few errands knowing my child was in a safe space. What Ms.Christine and her staff has in Savoy, Il is like no other I've come across in such a small town. My only regret is that we didn't get to stay and continue Reagan's training with them.

welove god5

I LOVE and ADORE this studio! My daughter is 11 years old and has been wanting to take dance for the last couple of years. I finally took the plunge 5 months ago and decided to go with Christine Rich Studio because... I don't know... it just seemed like her studio oozes class and professionalism. My daughter has grown, literally, by leaps and bounds in the little time she has been here. She went from not being able to do her splits to doing them and so much more!Her posture went from "meh"... to amazing! I know with all of my heart I have put my child in the right place. My child's goal is to dance for life and it is clear this studio is about creating professional dancers for life. My daughter is in a fantastic cross-training program that helps her core focus on ballet, but you can take one or two classes and still benefit from their instruction. About the Teachers: Miss Becky is an amazing dancer and so great with the kids in a variety of classes. My daughter and I just love her. Dr. Bellow is absolutely fantastic in instructing ballet. His own daughter dances professionally in Russia! He not only teaches the dance, but also the history and the love for it. In a nutshell, his instruction literally creates passion. About the Owner: Christine is amazing and she works extremely hard to run a good studio that keeps her students happy. She honestly doesn't get the respect she deserves. A good studio needs rules, and they need to remain in place or a chaotic environment will follow. I have seen firsthand how some parents make her job more difficult. She doesn't need that and quite honestly, the other parents don't either. Shoot! Being a parent is difficult enough and while there is a lot to keep track of when it comes to our children, it is our job to do so. Dance is no different. Read the emails, email a question if clarification is needed, and never think the rules only apply to others. This is a school, not a recreation facility. My child is learning that punctuality, planning ahead, and respect for her environment and the people around her are important. Above all else, she is learning dance is important. There is nothing wrong with that. Not everyone has this privilege and it is not only a privilege for my daughter, but also for me to be a part of her journey. As a parent: I love the clear communication from the studio. That I can always find the answer to a question or that the answer is a simple email away. I love being able to print out our dance schedule easily from home. I have had my children enrolled in a variety of activity groups over the years but the organizers were never organized. I would have to constantly chase them for information needed. I often felt like I was doing their job or "lost"'at what i was suppose to be doing. With Christine, my only job is to focus on my child's journey which makes my life easier. I also LOVE the amazing parents who are just as passionate about the studio as I am. I thought I was signing my daughter up for dance, but instead I have actually joined a family. I love this family so much that I miss them on the days we're not there! So do know that it isn't just your child signing up, but that in a way you are signing yourself up too lol. If you can handle that, you will be in the right place. I'm so excited to see how my child's abilities will continue to grow and the relationships that will be made here. Oh! The recital was absolutely amazing also, it just blew me away what the students have accomplished in this studio! Again, we are in the right place. I have even signed up my younger boys for some classes, we are officially hooked!

Athenaeum Theatre

Christine Rich Studio has been presenting dances at the Athenaeum Theatre in Dance Chicago since 2001. As Founder and Artistic Director of Dance Chicago and President of Athenaeum Theatre Productions, I can say that her offerings have been consistently creative, unique, well executed and technically superb. Her students have always exhibited the highest level of maturity, exhibiting professionalism beyond their years. Most noticeable is their incomparable spirit and pure joy in what they are doing. Christine Rich Studio is a treasure in the field of dance - the Champaign community is very fortunate. - John Schmitz

Rachel Wooley

I've been taking ballet classes at CRS for just over two years now, and it's been a fantastic experience. Disclaimer, as an adult with no kids, I have no real experience with the recital/costume process, but as far as classes go, I've really enjoyed my time at the studio. The adult ballet class is a fun, low-key learning environment (a great way to get back into classes if it's been awhile, but also a good beginner class for older students). The first class I took (and my observation of other classes) reminded me how much I'd wanted to do pointe as a teen, and Christine (along with Dr. Bello) worked with me on a plan to (finally!) make that happen. Yes, there are a lot of policies, and yes, Christine holds students (and parents) to a high standard, but as far as I can tell, the students learn and thrive in that environment, and I'm quite happy with how much my own skill level has improved in these last two years as a result. The studio expects a certain level of commitment and discipline, but in return (in my experience, at least) delivers a high level of instruction while still making it fun.

Patrícia Givisiez

When my daughter asked me to look for tap lessons for her, I had her enrolled for the summer session 2015. In the very first class, she was upset because she could not follow the other kids. Thus, we made a deal. I made her promise me she would do her best and really be humble to be able to learn. Now, I am proud to say she never gave up and has been working hard for one year already. Her tap lessons at CRS helped me to make her understand that humility, perseverance and hard work are keys to succeed in any dream. THAT is something priceless to me and I cannot thank the teachers from CRS enough. I am really happy that her face glows when she is heading up to her beloved tap lessons.