Dance Lessons
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Where to get dance lessons
Dance Classes Los Gatos
- Dance Academy USA recently started adult classes!
- They have classes for all age groups and all expertise levels
- They have a yearly performance, which is so much fun to watch.
- Great clean facility
Starlite
- Starlite has a really wide range of classes. I'd recommend going to some of their drop in classes, or Fri night classes (before general dancing) to try out a bunch of different kinds of dance. Then, when you figure out which dance, you can take 4 week series classes on that particular one.
- A couple years ago, I took waltz and two-step classes from the Starlite Ballroom just around the corner in Santa Clara. It was useful, but I found it went slow, was somewhat overpriced, didn't emphasize fundamentals terribly well, and the environment just didn't seem as friendly.
- you can try the starlite ballroom on fair oaks ave, very close to y!. they have group lessons, as well as private instruction. they have large nice floors, and some good instructors, BUT:
- the quality of instructors does vary, and there are several sloppy ones.
- they'll try to sign you onto a package deal, you'll do good to negotiate well on terms and rates.
- I recommend Starlite Ballroom (at Fair Oaks and Tasman) -- it's the biggest one in the country. I took lessons there for 3 years + and only stopped because I moved to SF and needed the $$$ for my parking spot instead. :(
- Good place. I took salsa lessons there.
- I practice at the Starlite, and recommend it for anything but salsa - they have good teachers, a great floor, and competitive prices.
- My fiancé and I take Salsa classes at Starlite Dance Club in Sunnyvale (just minutes from work). Starlite offers instruction in various types of ballroom dance. They have both group classes and lessons with private instructors. The first private instruction lesson is free!
Shall We Dance
- Shall We Dance is just down the road off Fair Oaks. 10 minutes from work. Good ballroom, beautiful floor, nice people, and comfortable teaching style for ballroom dances. Beginning series starting soon on Monday nights.
- I second the recommendation on Shall We Dance. I took a couple of weekly beginner classes from them last year at the Sunnyvale Community Center and I thought the classes were great. The instructor, Bud Ayers, is a very good teacher and makes learning the dance steps a lot of fun.
Steppin' Out
- I just started West Coast Swing classes at this place in Sunnyvale on Monday nights. Beginner classes start at 8:30 pm and cost $10. There's a dance after (which is quite fun and included with the lesson). The teacher is fairly good (a marvelous dancer). The beginner classes go for 5 week sessions (but if you know something about dancing, you can drop in any week); at some point, you can move up to the intermediate class which is much bigger. Note: I'm an obsessive lindy hop dancer so my opinion might be a bit skewed. You might want to consider blues dancing as well
- Heard good things about the WCS and Hustle classes here
Kevin and Carla
- There's a weekly swing event with lessons in Redwood City. Show up at 6:00 for the beginner's lesson, then at 7:00, head into beautiful downtown for a leisurely dinner, and be sure to come back at 9:00 to dance with everybody - it's fun *and* good practice.
- I *highly* recommend Kevin and Carla as swing instructors. They do a great job of balancing fundamentals, fun, and moves and do a great job creating an easygoing atmosphere. Classes are taught in six-week series (next one begins 4 January) on Tuesdays in Redwood City. It's an easygoing, nice crowd - I very much enjoy dancing there and have met a number of friends doing so.
Cubberly Community Center
- More links: http://cubberleyballroom.com/twiki/bin/view.cgi/Dancelinks/WebHome
- I haven't been there but I'm told it's basically a converted gym, so it's big but noisy and not the best floor.
Stanford
- keep an eye out for announcements for the Thursday evening classes, open to everybody. a nice place to take classes - Richard Powers in particular is a superb teacher for beginners for any dance, but after the beginning phase, I'd recommend moving to a more specialized instructor for any dance other than waltz.
- The Stanford Ballroom Dance Club is open to the public http://ballroom.stanford.edu/
Albertos
- Swing & salsa in mountain view castro street area. swing every Wednesday, salsa for most of the rest of the week.
- I have quite a few friends who’ve gone to Alberto’s in mtn. view and loved it. They teach salsa and swing.
- For salsa go to Alberto's in M.V. on T/Th nights for the drop-in classes with Pantea or Gabriel. Salsa's a club dance and the Starlite will teach you ballroom salsa which is very different - since most people learn salsa to dance in a club, best place to learn it is in the club...
Arthur Murray
- My husband and I took private lessons before our wedding at Arthur Murray. We learned the basics for our first dance, but they seemed to have some fun theme classes.
