Fred Astaire Dance Studio Madison

Instruction is fine, but I hope you're never injured at a lesson. I don't blame Fred Astaire for the injury itself, it happens, but the instructors are clearly not trained in the very basics of handling a injury and the owners incredibly unprofessional in their response. I dislocated my kneecap and fell during our lesson. I was calm as it's happened before. First thing our instructor does is try to forcibly push my kneecap back into place. She should never have touched me. Forcing a dislocation can do far more damage, and I had to tell her to step away. I relocated it myself my manually straightening my leg as I was previously trained to do by a doctor. Before I had a chance to mentally prepare (these injuries are ridiculously painful), a second instructor attempted to drag me up to my feet. We were at one end of the floor already, and people were still dancing elsewhere on the floor. There was no reason to rush me. Again I had to demand that no one touch me without my permission. Once I was up and sitting off the side I asked that the instructor finish teaching the lesson to just my boyfriend. By the end of the lesson the pain was really setting in and there are definitely quiet tears, and our instructor tells me to stop crying because it's all mental which felt incredibly insensitive. I obviously couldn't complete the package immediately so we planned to take a couple weeks off to heal then would bump or lesson if needed. Our next was was on a Monday evening and over the weekend it was clear my knee wasn't ready. I tried calling the office to postpone and they weren't open on the weekend, the message just gave business hours, so I called the minute they opened Monday morning. I was told by the owner Linda that we would lose the lesson credit because we didn't meet the 24 hour cancellation policy. We were never told leaving a message would in these cases. I then took the time to explain my experience with the injury and how upset I was about the whole ordeal. I brought up how people teaching a physical activity should be trained in basic injury response. She was incredibly dismissive of my concerns and brought me to tears again on the phone. My boyfriend tried calling back since I thought he could explain the situation without so much emotion, and the secretary said that Peter would give him a call in the next two days and we never received a call back. We never completed our package. This was months ago now and I still can't believe how unprofessional everyone was.

My fiance and I came to Fred Astaire for dance lessons prior to our wedding, and we had a great experience. Our instructor was Vladimir and he was simply fantastic. He was an awesome teacher and he was also A LOT of fun. Thank you Fred Astaire and Vladimir!!

We took lessons to prepare for our daughters wedding. Super fun! Veronika and Vlad were awesome teachers!

My husband and I really love Fred Astaire. The instructors and staff are fabulous. We have been dancing there since 2013 and will continue long into the future!

Love everything about this studio! Great staff, welcome atmosphere and super professional!