Located in the heart of downtown, it’s a small dance studio that shares the building with another dance studio. Urban Beat is on the second floor – don’t get confused!
You can sign up for hip hop lessons (usually 7 classes, 1 hour long each) online, but you can’t pay over the internet. In fact, it’s only cash only! It comes to $92 with tax, and no receipt either! Not sure what’s happening on the business side of things there, but that’s not my business I guess.
It’s kind of disorganized. You come up the stairs to the second floor. There are no signs or directions for new students. I remember that I was confused the first time I had went (which was over 6 years ago). Although, back then, I remember them setting up a table so you could sign in and pay. This time, it was pay and sign up as you went through the door.
It had been years since I took dance lessons, due to school, work and health reasons. I had been wanting to come back, but it just didn’t work out till now.
The first half of the class is exercise. Stretching and building up strength. I had been worried that I would be so out of shape or wouldn’t be able to follow due to health issues, but was surprised that although I had some trouble following, it seemed I was in much better shape than those who looked like they were in their late teens to early twenties.
The great thing about hip hop classes at Urban Beat is that they teach 2 classes per week. Once you register/pay for one, you can go to the other one for no additional cost. No other dance studio does this! I use to do this to get more practice and a good workout. Tuesday classes are 6:30-7:30pm, while the Thursday one is from 6pm-7pm. Unfortunately, I’m not able to make the Thurs one since I wont make it in time from work…
The instructors are great. Super friendly and energetic. Very patient so don’t hesitate to ask questions! The studio is a bit run down, but for the price and quality of lessons, it’s a great deal.
