The Medina Ballet

"Fun place to dance. Miss Diana is so creative and makes the studio feel like family. Responsive and dedicated."

"This is an email I was made to do, if I wanted my daughter to continue. "In regards to our conference held today at Medina Ballet, with Amber, parent and assistant to Medina/Wilson Ballet as a witness: I was asked by Ms. Diana, owner and teacher, to redact my comment made on 5/8/2023 during a scheduled class. The comments being that I was not sure who to call in regards to physical contact with my daughter, Emilyah, "maybe CPS needs to be called". After I made a comment that was not heard by Ms. Diana, that "I do not want to talk to you". Which Ms. Diana advised, she did not hear. I also said, "I do not trust you, with the curtain closed". A comment that I am being asked to redact. I will redact that comment, as I have spoken to Emilyah in regards to this and that it will be on Emilyah to speak up if she is ever in an uncomfortable situation where I am not around. Ms. Diana has asked that I also include my commitment to assisting back stage for May 18th, May 19th and May 20th 2 pm show time and I advised Ms. Diana I would confirm for the 6 pm show time, as that is the time 5 tickets have purchased for (a total of 7, 2 of which were free). This is because of my comment of not trusting her. Emilyah was sent out today from class to sit down while the rest of her class is warming up, until this email is reviewed by Ms. Diana. This email is being sent as a condition to Emilyah continuing in the contracted, paid in full, season and production for Aladdin, which was also paid in full. In an effort to ensure a successful season for students and parents." My daughter was grabbed by the arms on 2 main occasions where marks were left. I spoke to parents from both Medina Ballet and Wilson, who said RUN. Found out other children had developed ticks to anxiety while in this school, like scratching their arms and nausea feelings. The parents who stay, say things like, "It's good for the kids to learn how to deal with tough situations at a young age" and "Saying No, is not in my vocabulary". I get this is a pre professional school, but my child was not the only one who had been physically harmed while at this school, which I found out inquiring with other parents. RUN. This is not a new behavior. This is a repeat I have heard from SEVERAL parents. And if you saw the Aladdin performance, there was definitely something off and uncomfortable in the scene with the sultan and the snake. He has no children attending the school currently and is not in ballet."

"Horrible woman, she will scream at your child and belittle them, she will even body shame them! When she corrected my daughter she said “okay I’ll try” Diana told her “you don’t try, you do” also she will charge outrageous prices and NEVER deliver what is included in packages. I paid for an add space in the end of the year production and it was never put in, then she won’t let you take pictures or videos of the production stating that she will videotape the whole thing and it’s “included” in you production package. That was 3 years ago and I still do not have the video. She stopped returning all phone calls/text messages/emails. Please do not send your children there!"

"Ms. Diana at the Medina ballet was my daughters first ballet teacher. She started ballet at the age of 3 and has been in ballet ever since(she will be 7 this year). We are no longer with the Medina ballet because we moved to a different city, but after we moved diana went out of her way to help us get our daughter into a new ballet studio that fits our needs. She even went out of her way to make sure our daughter would be able to audition for the production of the nutcracker. On the final night of the nutcracker diana was in the audience cheering on her former student. We have been at this new studio for almost a year and from the beginning I have gotten numerous compliments on how well my daughter is in class; I know I owe those compliments to Diana, she gave my daughter a strong foundation from the very beginning. If you are in hondo or surrounding area I highly recommend this school. It’s the best that’s out there."

"I would not recommend this ballet studio. The owner is not only unprofessional and disorganized, but she will also charge you for classes even if you unenroll from the studio, and then threaten to have her attorney contact you if you do not pay her. She took advantage of our family when we moved to San Antonio by trying to tell me that my daughter was not ready to be on pointe and there were a few things she needed to correct before she placed her in her pre-professional level when we enrolled. She said she would likely be there by Christmas. She failed to inform me that she did not have a pre-professional level at the time, even though she posts on her web site and fliers a time for her pre-professional students. This dishonesty should have been a red flag to me but I continued to try to see the best in her. She was incredibly harsh on both of my children and both ended up coming home in tears multiple times. We were not the only family who felt this way. .My oldest daughters class had 4 girls in it when we joined in August and 3 out of 4 have now left the studio. I should have followed my gut with how "pushy" she was and how she boasted how miraculous her teaching and studio was when we initially connected over the phone prior to moving to the area. For my daughters Christmas performance she threw a new duet at her and another student 10 days before the performance, and then the day of the performance she put another girl from her other studio in between them that they had never even practiced with. It was a complete disaster and my daughter came home so disappointed in the entire show (which only had 3 total dances in it). This was after a fall performance in which she told my daughter and her other students to go home and practice the Ghostbusters dance on YouTube from just dance for their performance. She is now continuing to charge me monthly payments even though we formally left her studio, and also told me that I owe her $400 for a spring production that we never signed up for. She will solicit money (and charge you) for goods from her studio (bags, stickers, shirt, videos...) and not deliver what is paid for. We had to ask for weeks and weeks and only was provided 33% of the goods we paid for. This is inline with the level of performance she sells from her studios and continuously failed to deliver. She will also change the planned schedule of events at a moments notice and expect you to bend over backwards to make it happen. It was very hard to plan things out. If you do decide to give Diana a try I highly advise you do not pay her up front or sign any of her enrollment forms. The studio seems to be only motivated by how much money they can make and not what type of service they can provide."