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studios in San Francisco- any recommendations?
Hi!!
I’ts nice to meet all of you π
I’m moving to San Francisco this month and I am looking for a good studio!
Do you have any recommendations? -
29 Replies
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Hiya! Welcome to the Bay Area.
In SF I’ve only tried Studio Botan and they are okay but pretty pricey! They have good workshops but I’m not really into their regular classes. They’re fairly conservative so if you’re a beginner/intermediate they don’t let you do many daring inversions. If you’re pretty advanced though definitely check them out because I feel like they cater to that level much more. A 10-class series is about $220 I think.
I would not recommend Phoenix Aerial in Berkeley either even though they have a groupon. I liked their contortion classes but I wasn’t into the pole classes.
Right now I go to Atomic Allure in Oakland because it is affordable (half the price of Botan), close to me (I live in Oakland) but it has its ups and downs too– like they don’t take care of their poles so they’re all scratched up and a little slippery. But they’re fun and are encouraging for beginners like me so I enjoy going there.
I’ve heard good things about Poletential but they’re further down the peninsula. I met a girl who went to Shelly’s and she said it’s a pretty small operation and a little pricey but has good instructors.
Hope that helps! π
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Yes it was very helpful!! I got a lot of information π
Thank you so much!! -
Yes, welcome!! I’m in the North Bay, and there’s NOTHING here for pole at all.
I don’t know of many studios in the bay other than ones mentioned, I think there’s an S factor in SF too. I’m here if you ever want meet and hang out. This area is so beautiful!
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Veena that’s awesome that you’re so close!! Would love to have a local meetup for us Bay Area polers someday! North bay is gorgeous!
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Happy Friday! I’ve been a San Francisco native and moved to the North Bay 4 yrs ago. I attended the original SFactor Studio when it opened in the City around 2004. I enjoyed the curriculum that included 1 Hr of warmup / exercise, 1/2 hr of pole instruction and 1/2 hr of free dance interpretation by each student. I have not been able to attend the studio since SFactor changed over to Sisters in Motion and they moved to Columbus Street. It is my understanding that Sisters in Motion are certified to teach the SFactor curriculum. Contact Kerry Anne to find out more info. This is the web page link: http://www.sfactor.com/pole_dancing_studios/locations_welcome_sf.asp
The other studio you may want to check out is Steel Heart Dance in South San Francisco. South San Francisco is about 15 mins south of the City. This studio has lots of parking, which is a plus. I have not gone to this studio since I live pretty far, but one of the owners was my old instructors’ at SFactor. Contact Deb at Steel Heart Dance. Their web page is: http://www.steelheartdance.com
Good luck and have fun. I hope this information helps you.
Warm Regards,
M :o) -
This thread gave me an idea! I was thinking it might be fun to get together at a park to meet up and play!! I realize I have a lot of equipment we could use….. 3 stage poles, one stage could have the lollypop lyra on it, I also have an Xpole A frame for Hammock and lyra, along with many hula hoops of various sizes. We could make it a potluck and bring snacks to share! If I have time, a get together before the winter rain would be fun!
What do you guys think?
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Sounds wonderful, Veena! It would be very nice to meet you face to face after all this time. I’m actually in Sonoma County, so I may or may not be able to join you all. I’ve been on hiatus for 5 yrs and would love to get spinning again. Enjoy your Sunday evening.
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I would not recommend Studio Botan to my worst enemy. They consider butterfly a beginner move, and insult people if they are having a sweaty day. I went to their studio for open pole and an intermediate class. I did an hour of free styling and conditioning before I went to the int. class, and thought I brought my itac with me but apparently I left it at home. I was told I needed to go back to “beginner classes” because I couldn’t hold a sit due to sweat grip issues. Nevermind the fact that I just did janeiro to marchenko–I apparently needed to go back to “beginner classes”. OK. She also felt the need to loudly announce this infront of the entire class, and also she did not spot my friend who had never done a shoulder mount invert. Said friend fell and while she didn’t hurt herself badly, she had a bruise from falling and was not offered a spot, nor was a spoke given when asked. Highly unprofessional, unsafe, and incredibly rude.
Poltential is the exact opposite. You can take the Cal Train and BART to the studio for maybe $7? Christina is an angel and courteous to EVERYONE who comes. She always remembers me even though I only come into the studio maybe once or twice a year and I’ve never heard her speak ill of another studio. The trainers at Botan, however, told me not to go to Poletential. Glad I didn’t listen. Also, Poltential has a couple of different pole sizes, 38, 40, and 45. Their poles are also taller.
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Oh, I’m in Marin county, San Rafael actually so not very far from Sonoma Γ°ΕΈΛΕ
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Oh cool…..that’s even better!!!! Hope to see you sometime, Veena.
M :o) -
I love Entangle and Sway..They are in the heart of San Francisco.! Their class sign up is a little confusing but once you get the hang of it you will be good to go! Their customer service was amazing! Such an encouraging studio. And the decor is so cute π
Check them out!
http://www.entangleandsway.com/ -
If there will be a north bay pole meetup I’d probably be down for it too. π I’m a bit farther east though and unfortunately have not tried any studios in San Francisco.
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Hey guys, I would love to have you join our studio in San Jose. We have a few students coming from SF and Sacramento and a couple of them from Santa Cruz as well. I know our location is a bit too far for you but who knows we might be able to work something out ;-). I don’t know about other studios but Poletential is a great one and for shorter distance, you definitely should check it out.
Oh by the way our studio is Ly’s Pole Studio. You can also find us on Yelp. We’ve just moved classes to the new spacious studio which has 9 poles of 18ft long
Happy poling! ^^ -
Veena! Name the time and place and I’ll be there!!! I’m still totally a beginner though– trying to improve on inverts and such but it would be so cool to play in the park one day!! Please let us know if you really want to do this!
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I will see how Oct. looks. It would be nice to get together before it starts to rain Γ°ΕΈΛβ¬
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