José Mateo Ballet Theatre - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Mon Liu

Think ballet bars. I love the set up of the interior. A ballet school is located 1 block from Harvard University Campus. It is inside a beautiful stone chapel with a large open space and lofted a upper level that leads to smaller studios.

For young beginners, parents get to see their practice in parent observation week. There are adults whose not ballet dancers taking classes too for body structuring and posturing. When my child takes his class, I whip out my sketchbook and draw the dancers while they practice. The beautiful music they put on is calming and inspiring to me, and the view from upper level is a perfect view through glass panels.

I look forward to my son's class every week as it gives me an excuse to visit beautiful Harvard square for brunch on a weekly basis.

Andie V

The beginner sessions at this studio are definitely a higher caliber than at other studios I’ve been to. My instructor could be quite rude, but there was a lot of focus on proper technique. Classes definitely had more of a serious and intense atmosphere, focused on being a better dancer rather than a casual after-work activity.

As for downsides, the studio is in an old church and is unbearably hot in the summer. So hot that you drip sweat and it’s hard to think sometimes.

They also rescheduled one of the classes to be on a Friday when the initial schedule was Tues/Thurs. I asked for a refund for the one class because another student was able to get one, but was told I could not have a refund. When I pushed, insisting Fridays conflict with my schedules, they offered a class credit, which wouldn’t work as I am leaving the city.

While I’m sure the quality of teaching is respectable, they need to work on organizational issues and fixing inconsistent policies. Every time I have a question or request, it seems impossible to get an answer.

善安Oneness

Jose Mateo is obviously the only best ballet school for open adult program In Massachusetts metro Boston area. I take classes here either in the morning or on evening, sometimes if I get energy I will take both because I don’t want to miss to see the real good teacher and the very talented young lady pianist. The intermediate/ advanced class on Saturday morning some times will reach over 40 dancers.

Trinity Stevens

Excellent dance studio. Classes are good, the space is beautiful, and the instructors very knowledgeable. Recommend if you are serious about pursuing ballet training.

Jenna Sunshine

Beautiful! Big gorgeous building with spacious wonderful classrooms of various sizes. It's not not new construction & high tech equipment, but rather big open, airy rooms in an old historic building with hardwood floors, barres, and mirrors. Absolutely wonderful. The bathrooms are great! Instead of 1 big bathroom with several stalls for each gender, they have individual unisex bathrooms that are spacious enough to get changed before or after class, I loved that! And the ballerina statue out front is one of my favorite statues!

Henry Dera

Went to a ballet theatre open house with our three year old toddler. He really enjoyed the experience. The instructor was great with all the kids. The building is really nice too.

Erica N

We love the Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre! Our children have been attending classes since the age of 3 and thoroughly enjoy it. We are very impressed with the studio, the teachers and their ability to teach actual technique to such young students.

Heather Eliot

I have immensely enjoyed the adult open classes I have taken at JMBT over this past year – The teachers are all very attentive, the classes are appropriately challenging, and it is extremely helpful that they offer both morning and evening class times. The environment is friendly, helpful, and extremely welcoming; it is an overwhelmingly positive community. I was able to attend their Nutcracker, which had a refreshing new take on the ballet. I've attended their other performances throughout the year which are done cabaret style in their own beautiful theatre; I adore the space, the choreography, and the music. I even took a non-dancer date to a show, and they really enjoyed it!

This is an exceptional place, and it is definitely worth checking out!