iHollywood Dance Productions LLC robbed 30 Chicago-area dance studios of over $200,000 La Crescenta California

Our dance studio enrolled 36 dance students and teachers to attend iHollywood Dance Convention in Chicago, March 1-3, 2013.  We signed up on line via their website and paid by credit card in October 2012.  This is the way all dance conventions/completions operate.  As March 2013 neared, the company was not providing information as to the venue location and host hotel.  Then they changed the convention date to April 12-14  and advertised the venue and hotel on their website with only 2 weeks in advance of the new convention date.  As April 12 neared, iHollywood announced the Chicago convention was cancelled and they would see us in 2014.  All phone calls and emails made to iHollywood to get a refund have been ignored.  Approximately 30 studios were affected, with an average of 30 students each, with an average of $300 per student, which totals $270,000 that iHollywood has not refunded.

iHollywood then proceeded to put on a dance convention in Tulsa, OK.  That convention did happen although there were problems with last-minute venue changes and also half the dance teachers did not show up.  Also, Rey Barcena, the owner and director of iHollywood did not show up, and he is running the show!  Many of the dance parents in attendance were unhappy with the quality/value for the money of the Tulsa convention.

Now iHollywood is announcing a dance intensive this summer called Hollywood Week. It is distressing that iHollywood is continuing to take money in for future conventions, but not refunding our money.

In addition iHollywood has not been paying the dance teachers for teaching at the conventions this year.  Those teachers are very high-profile dancers that dance students are familiar with because the teachers have been on Broadway and on televised dance shows such as So You Think You Can Dance.  These teachers have subsequently severed ties with iHollywood, yet iHollywoods website is continuing to claim those high-profile dance teachers are still teaching for them.  This is false advertising.

A website has been set up to rate dance competitions so this never happens again.

http://www.dancecompetitionhub.com/