Chattanooga Dance Theatre

★★★★★Hannah Shrum

My daughter will be starting her third year with Chattanooga Dance Theater, and we highly recommend to everyone! Every single teacher my daughter has had has been wonderful and exceeded our expectations. Ms. Ashley, Ms. Emily, and Ms. Jenny are fabulous. The spring showcase in May is our favorite event! It’s so organized and professionally executed. Highly recommend 🩷

★★C M

The tuition has increased quite a bit and is one of the highest rates around this area. I recently had a situation where it would be hard to get my child to practice before one performance (which I’ve never been an issue except this one time - medical issue) and I asked for some understanding and was told my child could not be in the performance if she didn’t come to the practice but she could come a little “late.” Family stepped in and brought my daughter so she wouldn’t miss. The packets they hand out also say if they miss practice even due to an illness they can’t perform. So parents send them to practice sick causing so many illnesses to go around because they can’t miss the practice or money, time and memories are lost not being included for the performance. The practice was also on a week night at UTC for 3 hours and they were not allowed to eat or drink anything. Fully in costume, hair and makeup done. So if ANYTHING went wrong in these costumes for the practice there would be no time to repair it for the actual performance. These are kids. Not adults or teens but small children. No way to eat, some kids had to leave straight from school to get ready in full hair and makeup with costumes, 3 hours of practice on a school night. After a couple of years at this place, I realized that even though the teachers are amazing.. The owner does not seem to care about the overall wellbeing and safety of the kids. It’s a huge letdown for our family because it is hard to walk away from such amazing teachers. Hope things improve.

★★★★★Amber Hand

As an adult returning to ballet after over a decade, I was extremely skeptical, nervous and excited to start classes. I reached out to CDT where Emily was very quick to respond and thorough in explaining exactly how the schedule works, pricing and expectations. I started with Ms. Christine in the adult ballet basics and was given a very warm welcome. I appreciate how in-depth she is in explaining what each combination is and how to properly execute each position as to strengthen those muscles and avoid injury. Now, only 8-weeks after my initial enrollment, I am enrolled in both the basics and intermediate classes. I have never been around a more supportive and encouraging group of individuals in my life. Not to be dramatic, but my experience here has convinced me the OG girl's girl was originally from ballet. I can't wait to continue my ballet journey along side educators that I can trust and new friends. If you are an adult thinking about coming back to ballet, I 100% encourage you to give CDT a try!

★★★★★Ashlee Hurst

Love this Dance studio! Very Creative and many opportunities for your kids! The Instructors are amazing! They care so much about their students. Their facility's are clean and their staff is great. Highly recommend this Dance Studio!

★Seth Meek

Beware of Chattanooga Dance Theatre – Completely Disappointing Experience I cannot recommend Chattanooga Dance Theatre. My 7-year-old daughter was kicked out of the Nutcracker performance at Christmas simply because she missed a few rehearsals. While we understood the importance of attendance, these were due to real family and health emergencies, which we communicated well in advance. The studio showed zero flexibility or compassion. What makes this situation even more upsetting is that they were the ones who encouraged her to join the performance in the first place. Their email made it sound like a special opportunity—something exciting and meaningful for the kids. But looking back, it feels obvious that it was nothing more than a pay-to-play, pay-to-participate model, not something she genuinely “earned.” This wasn’t the School of American Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, or any elite academy with rigorous auditions. This was a local studio with no real tryouts at all—because everyone who shows up and pays is automatically included. No child’s spot was at stake; this wasn’t a competitive casting—it was a paid program. We were customers who paid to be included. Despite already paying regular class tuition, we were also charged an additional monthly performance fee—on top of the cost of the costume, photos, and required extra dance clothing—and after all of that, they still removed a seven-year-old from the show. The attached email inviting her to participate is clear proof that this was a sales pitch, not a selective opportunity. Since August, we have spent over $1,000 at this studio, including $536 in class fees, $360 on show tickets, and additional money for required outfits and performance-related expenses. We invested emotionally and financially because this was supposed to be a cherished childhood memory—one of those magical moments a child carries for life. Instead, Chattanooga Dance Theatre shattered that moment and refused to refund a single penny. The most heartbreaking part is that they took away an experience that should have built confidence, joy, and excitement for a 7-year-old. Dance studios should be uplifting children, helping them fall in love with the art—not discouraging them and tearing down their self-esteem over something as small as a few missed practices due to legitimate family emergencies. In a world that is already challenging enough for kids, a business working with young children should lead with compassion, kindness, and understanding. You never know what a family is going through. When parents pay for a service—especially one involving their children—you expect support, empathy, and professionalism, not punishment, inflexibility, and profit-focused decisions. On top of that, the facilities are unclean, and there are serious safety concerns. Classrooms and the waiting area are overcrowded with children, making it stressful and potentially unsafe for young dancers. Families, please think twice. Chattanooga Dance Theatre talks about creating magical experiences, but their actions show otherwise. For us, this has been deeply disappointing, stressful, and completely avoidable had they chosen compassion over policy and profit. November 25 update - To make everything even more unbelievable, the studio actually had the gall to call us this morning—after seeing our reviews—to ask if we still planned on continuing with the studio and paying for more classes. And the craziest part? They didn’t even have the courage for someone in leadership to speak to us directly. Instead, they sent some poor finance employee to call an upset parent and awkwardly ask if we intended to keep paying monthly fees. It was almost surreal. Our review alone should have made it painfully obvious that we are not giving them another dollar. The entire call only highlighted how completely out of touch this studio is with the families they claim to serve. And to make matters worse for them, even the person on the phone seemed to quietly agree that our daughter never should have been removed from the show in the first place.