Things to Do in Dallas

For 35 years, Valerie Compton has dipped her toes into every aspect of fitness. She followed up her experience in track and field and tennis by building her career as a personal trainer, and she later branched out into Power Pilates, Spinning, and nutrition. When she designed BarreFusion in 2006, she struck upon the latest trend in fitness. Today, Valerie surrounds herself with instructors who channel their experience as classical dancers, gymnastics, and triathletes to lead rigorous barre classes.

Valerie starts her instruction with a BarreLite class that introduces newcomers to the proper forms and techniques to master fundamentals. From there, she encourages students to test out a number of other classes. The popular BarreFusion class combines Pilates, yoga, ballet, and light weights to sculpt legs and cores. She also offers Spinning classes that challenge students with a high-energy, aerobic workout that mimics cycling in front of stampeding wildebeests.

The Septien Entertainment Group excels at professional singer/songwriter development and training.

Painting with a Twist pairs instructional art with friends, wine and a lively instructor to produce individual works of art.

We teach Argentine Tango classes to people of all skill levels.

Kittrell/Riffkind Art Glass has offered customers an opportunity to peruse an ever-changing selection of artwork since 1990. Sculptures, goblets, jewelry, scent bottles, paperweights, platters, wall art, and an array of trinkets line the gallery’s art-filled abode. One-of-a-kind handcrafted works from many talented artists are available for purchase. Their friendly staff will help you select the perfect item and even pack it safely for you to take home or ship. Check out a blue cosmo perfume bottle ($48), a striking fish paperweight (starting at $75), or colorful tumbler ($36). Or pick up a beautiful vase ($65) to store your glass bananas and hand-blown daisies. Exhibits change every 4–6 weeks, so there's always something new to see. You have the option to either visit the gallery with Groupon in hand or browse online and phone your order in.

The sight of children playing with mounds of broken glass is not uncommon at Smashing Times studio. That’s because each shard of tile, china, or glass has been tumbled to remove any sharp edges before the young ones transform them into multicolored mosaics. All of the shards, arranged by type and color like pieces of a yet-to-be-discovered puzzle, present themselves for collages of all sorts, including interactive glass-fusing projects.

When not helping artists create their own silver jewelry, glass pendants, or mosaic mirrors, the artists at Smashing Times create custom installations. Ranging from massive exterior murals to miniature mosaic lamps, the projects adorn ordinary surfaces with pinpricks of color, stylized to create geometric patterns or a grove of deceptively inedible citrus trees and grapevines.