Okay, buckle up everyone because this is gonna be ...

Okay, buckle up everyone because this is gonna be a long one. But it's necessary.

I attended Chrissy's for the final 5 years of the 9 years that I danced. There is a reason for it being the final years I did dance. My experience at Chrissy's up until that reason had always been leaning on the better side of mediocre. Nothing bad happened really, but I really didn't have any friends which was pretty tough on me.

The 2010-2011 school year is when the big problem started. That year I was taking Tap, Ballet and Hip Hop classes in total. I can't remember what level I was at in them, but I know that had I continued to my 10th year of dance I would've started learning Pointe.

The ballet class I was promoted into was the class from Hell. The girls that made up the rest of the class besides myself were all either from the audition only competition groups and their friends. So needless to say they were all very, very good. And I just wasn't quite as good as they were. The teacher that was in charge of that class knew all of the rest of the girls very well and was on a friendly basis, but I'd never had her before and the favoritism was clear very quickly. Not only did I deal with being left out socially, the teacher would berate and humiliate me on a weekly basis in front of the rest of the class for not being up to the standards. The things she expected were a level of finesse that you'd expect from someone from a competition group or who were just naturally talented.

Instead of helping me achieve the standards she had decided, all she did was get mad at me. One thing I distinctly remember was her getting upset with me in class and sternly and meanly telling me I was holding the entire class back.

I was dealing with a lot at that time with medical issues, and there was a severe lack of understanding or compassion from that teacher in particular.

My mother tried resolving things by talking to the teacher and those in charge, but it helped nothing.

In the end I quit at the age of about 12-13, and up until then dancing was my biggest passion. I was crushed. I didn't dace again until the end of last year for a theatre performance.

To conclude; Unless your child is very young or naturally talented at dancing, please consider your options and look at not taking your child here. It isn't the nurturing environment you or your child deserve to be in.