Danceworks

the attitude of the administration staff and management were shocking!Prior to signing up for the 4 ballet classes , I had asked them whether it was possible to prepare for me a letter of attendance and verification from their dance school and they gladly agreed.
First letter they emailed me listed all the wrong classes I had attended. After informing them, a second letter was received with correct classes but they had changed the spelling of my name instead ! I emailed to them saying that I need a letter with all the correct facts explaining it would be used for my college application.A reply came from the General Manager was shocking ! Justifying that since they have sent 2 letters to me they will not send another. Even though in all 2 letters, it was with numerous mistakes, they refuse to send a letter with the correct information.The letter of attendance was an agreement from Danceworks prior to my signing up and traveling from Malaysia for classes.

I thought it was okay but not as good as pineapple studios.It's deff cheaper but the teachers aren't as good and sometimes it can be quite crowded and not have enough space!

The reason I found this place was that I was looking for a studio in which to hold a figure drawing and photography session for cartoonists and character designers!
[see http://art.meetup.com/270/ if you're interested in drawing stylised figures, it's non-profit making we just split the cost of the studio hire and model]
Anyway, because I'm interested in dancers as models, it seemed a good place to check out. The staff were friendly and very down to earth. There's an ad hoc atmosphere there and I do agree with GreenHippo, it does feel like the Fame Academy! (OK maybe because the sound track was blasting out from the class in the basement!).
There's a nice worn in feel to the place - you get the feeling it's about the dance and the sweat and the struggle to fly, rather than being a posey 'for effect' kind of place.
Studio hire is a decent price really, considering there's full daylight, a wall of mirrors and sprung floors right in the middle of the West End. Studio 6 seems pretty big to me, but as the smallest studio, costs £35 per hour (prices vary at different times of the day).
In the basement is a cafe with a wall of windows overlooking one of the studios, where you can relax while others pound the boards, or you can surf the net.

You really have to be in the know to find this place. I will help you... locate the Selfridge's clock and directly opposite you will see Balderton Street. About 50m down this road you will see Danceworks. Come in and have a drink, coffee and sandwich - it is worth it just to feel as though you have just been transported into Fame in the 1980s! Footless tights and leotards are everywhere - fortunately, so are baggy dance trousers and jauntily placed hats.

The food and drink is nothing special, but before or after a class this is a fun place to have a drink. If you come about 2 weeks before London Fashion Week it becomes even more interesting, as the auditions for the fashion shows are held here, so you will be able to share a diet coke with some of the models themselves.

From ballet, contemporary, street jazz, hip hop, latino dances classes, to yoga, capoeira, bollywood, ballroom and belly dancing. "Everything in the universe has rhythm. Everything dances." - Maya Angelou