Arthur is a genius! He taught us our wedding first dance in August/September of last year. We gave him the song, and even though he'd never choreographed a dance to it before, he very quickly and naturally figured out the step we'd do (an East Coast swing) and taught us basic steps, a couple of fancier steps, an entrance, and a finale. We met with him over the course of 4 Saturday mornings in a dance studio in Potrero Hill. He recommends doing at least 5 lessons with couples for a wedding first dance, especially if one or both don't have dance experience, but he's flexible about working with you on your timeline, which I think is also testimony to his fine teaching skills. We'd love to have a reason to go back. Maybe get married again? He's very responsive to email. Check out his website and you can find his contact info there. Thank you Arthur, we had so much fun learning our dance from you, and our guests had a blast watching us perform it! Hope to share a video of the dance with you sometime in the near future :) read more

My husband and I were preparing for our first dance at our July 2016 wedding at the Berkeley Faculty Club, and were scrambling a bit when the clock started ticking two weeks before the big day. I reached out to a few different dance instructors who would be able to give us a few hours' worth of (foxtrot) lessons, set to the tune of Nat King Cole's "L-O-V-E." Arthur was super responsive and friendly, so we decided to go forward with him. We initially booked two 1 hour sessions to practice our dance; he gave us two hours of great instructions, in between which, we were able to practice 30 minutes. Then, to allow us to feel more confident, we booked a final third hour. (From the packages we saw, most instructors recommend 5 or 6 hours, but since we didn't have that much time to spare, it was great that he was able to give us 3 hours of instruction with recommended practice time!) Arthur was a confident instructor and fun to work with. I'd recommend him to other couples seeking a dance instructor for a first dance or other big dance event. Especially given that my husband and I (at this point in our lives) aren't regular dancers, our first dance turned out really well. Thanks, Arthur! read more

Arthur Calandrelli - Our first dance at our wedding - dance expertise courtesy of Arthur. - Dance Studios Near Me - San Francisco, California

We took a 5 lesson package with Arthur to prepare for our wedding. Throughout the process, he's been very patient with my fiance's lack of rhythm and has good techniques for becoming a proficient dancer quite quickly. We've had a lot of fun at our lessons and learning to be partners on the dance floor as well as in life! Arthur's also been very flexible with scheduling. If you already know the dance style you want to do, I recommend choosing a first dance song before your first lesson so you can hit the ground running. Arthur is great at email and helped us pick a song with a clear rhythm ;) read more

Arthur was great! Extremely great start for my wife and I to learn how to dance. I gave lessons to her as a Christmas present and Arthur's friendly style and good foundations were lots of fun. read more

Arthur was a life saver! Our wedding is in 1 week and I realized the one thing we never checked off our list was to get dancing lessons. Arthur was super responsive and accommodating and in just an hour we learned enough to feel so much more confident for our first dance. Arthur is an incredible teacher and was very patient with us the whole time. I certainly wish we did this sooner so we could have more lessons with Arthur, but we had such a good experience that we might just end up continuing lessons with him after the wedding just for fun! read more

Being the obsessive planner that I am, I found Arthur months before our wedding and got a 5 class package. We had our song picked out, which was not a traditional slow song, and Arthur was able to help us fit a swing dance to it. He's been incredibly patient with us and showed us enough moves so that we can impress our guests on our big day. We still have a few months to go before the big day, but I know we'll be well prepared! read more

This is an overdue review for Arthur. And like the others who worked with Arthur, I also highly recommend you to consider taking classes from Arthur to help with your wedding dance choreographing. For two people who have no basis in dancing, Arthur worked diligently and patiently with us through our 5 sessions and helped us to achieve our envisioned piece (include quite a bite of fox trot and twirling). With practice, we accomplished it. Thanks to Arthur, the piece added an additional charm to our elegant wedding. read more

My fiance and I are both novices at dance and approached the idea of a choreographed first dance with trepidation. Arthur has taught us with patience and kindness and we have slowly grown in confidence. We signed up for a package deal of five classes, which yielded a lower per-class rate than if we were to pay by the class, and made much progress over our first two classes. Arthur starts the class with a review of what we covered last time, then teaches us a few basic steps, and then has us practice combining all the steps we've learned thus far. He watches us as we work our way around the room, offering encouragement and perceptive tweaks that make our dancing look much more polished and graceful. I can tell that Arthur is a very adaptive teacher. Early on, he identified that we were two cerebral individuals, who live mostly in our heads. His explanations of dance form and moves thus centers on the why--for example, our feet should be offset from one another so that we can move forward without having to worry about stepping on the other's feet. He also offers insight into which muscles we should be engaging when we raise our arms to enter the initial position and how my fiance subtly signals through his touch a change in direction or a new movement. Thus, we are learning not only a singular dance but also about dance in general. We are looking forward to our future classes with Arthur and to a great first dance. We highly recommend him if you are preparing for a special event or are just interested in starting partner dance. read more

My husband and I decided to take lessons for our first dance at our wedding. Since neither of us had any experience, we decided to go with a 10 private lesson package since we wanted the dance choreographed and special. The ballroom was spacious and had plenty of room even on days with other instructors and private lessons. On our first meeting, we played Arthur our song and described the "type" of dance or look we were going for. After listening for only a moment, he explained the type of dance that would go with the music and showed us a few steps. From there our lessons progressed and more steps were added at our own pace. Arthur was EXTREMELY patient and encouraging even though there were times we failed to practice and didn't improve much from our previous lesson. On the actual day, everyone commented how unique and pretty our dance was! Many even said they never saw or expected a routine as detailed as ours even though we repeated a few moves. I highly recommend Arthur! You won't regret it. :) read more

As my fiance puts it, he didn't want just a hug and wiggle for our first dance, so he sought professional help. He called 5 instructors and Arthur was the best in terms of price and availability. He was great. For our homework, we sent him a couple songs and he chose the best one to dance to. During our first lesson he already taught us 3 different steps to incorporate in our song. Throughout the lessons, he honed our technique and answered all our questions. We would practice and forget the exact steps to take. He's very patient, graceful and understanding. I would come back again and learn more steps to show off at other weddings =P read more

I was desperate to find a professional dance instructor to give us a crash course for our "first dance" at our wedding. Other options weren't going well, so late Tuesday night before the Saturday wedding, I messaged Arthur on yelp. He replied that he had an appointment available for 5pm the next day. From there he was quick to respond to text messages and provided instructions for how to get to his studio. In the 1 hour lesson, Arthur scoped what he would teach us and kept a close eye on the clock. He taught us 4 patterns, allowed adequate time to practice each pattern, gave tips on how to keep time and cues to listen for in the music, and suggested entrance and finale sequences. Our first dance was a success and I was very pleased with how it turned out. We couldn't have done it without Arthur's lesson. read more

I came to Arthur looking to get back into Ballroom after 3 years of having not done it much at all. He's an impeccable instructor - he's able to clearly break down the technique involved in complicated steps. And just as importantly, he also knows when to tell you not to overthink it and encourage you to just figure it out by dancing. This teaching by doing was especially helpful when he'd lead me into new steps before explaining them to me since it showed me with good following skills you don't have to know everything. I still wouldn't call myself a dancer but I can now follow pretty confidently. I even got to pick up a few leading skills as well. Overall, Arthur is a lovely and patient teacher and I highly recommend him to anyone looking to improve their social dancing skills while also having a lot of fun. read more

My Fiance and I wanted to take dance classes for our first dance at the wedding. Arthur was referred to me by a friend of mind who had worked with him before and he certainly did not let us down! Arthur was able to work with us, me who has several years of dance experience, and with my fiance, who has no dance experience, and made it fun and seamless! He was patient, and worked very well with both of our skill levels. He was very flexible with scheduling, and took things slow enough for us to learn together. It was a fantastic experience and I highly recommend Arthur! read more

My fiancé and I began taking lessons from Arthur several months ago. We were interested in learning a mix of dance styles so we could pick a dance that we felt the most comfortable with for "the wedding dance". Arthur was great. Patient and understanding - as well as making sure you are comfortable and understand his instructions. My fiancé was interested in starting the process of learning sooner as he knew that several guests of mine are from my college dance team (the pressure's on!). I have danced many forms of dance since I was 4, dancing 5-20 hours a week from age 4 through college, competitively and non-competitively. None of it in ballroom. My fiancé took a few basic swing classes, but no other dance experience. We started the process early and through Arthur's tutelage; my fiancé's fears have subsided. We've learned several dance forms (salsa, rumba, east coast swing, cha, etc.) and have finally selected "the one" for our wedding in 2 months. Now he is choreographing to our wedding song and he even brought in another instructor to help us learn some lifts. What started out as something my fiancé was trying to check off a wedding to-do list, became something we look forward to every week. We have had a tumultuous year, professionally, and we find the classes with Arthur relieve our stress from the instant we walk through his door. Nothing else matters outside the dance studio, you come in, and you dance. It's great. We're looking forward to learning more, even after our wedding, as we truly enjoy it. I'm so happy we decided to do private lessons, versus taking classes. The individual attention we receive with Arthur has expedited our learning process and the individual feedback helps to make sure you look your best. I will end with this tip to engaged couples: Start taking dance lessons for your wedding much earlier than you think. We started 6 months ago which is super extreme, but I'm so happy that I'm not just starting now, it would have been really stressful waiting until the last minute. read more

Arthur is super patient and enjoyable to work with. My fiancé and I are beginners and he has made dancing fun and has not gotten too involved with the technicalities. He is definitely proficient in a variety of dance styles and willing to show you more than one style. He is accommodating and so far we are very happy we chose him to help introduce us to couples dancing. read more

I love taking the lessons with Arthur. His extensive knowledge in latin dance and teaching is undeniable, he's also got a great personality, patient, flexible and very easy to work with. He's teaching me tango and salsa, only a few classes I've already improved a lot. I brought a friend last time to our class and we had a lot of fun. Highly recommended! read more

Arthur is so great! My husband and I took a few dance lessons before our wedding. We didn't want choreographed dance, but we also didn't want to be lame and just sway. For people with no real dance experience, and really a lack of coordination, Arthur was patient and really focused on the basics. He also made it fun and light hearted. I really recommend taking a few private lessons with him - it's certainly worth it! Arthur is also super flexible and can do weekends which I found great! read more

Arthur is amazing. We took five classes with him to shape up a nice first-dance routine for our wedding. Arthur was fun to learn from, creative, knowledgeable, and we felt turned us into total pros on East Coast Swing (in our case) within just these few hours. And that is because of HIS talent, not ours. In fact we had so much fun with him that we are thinking of picking up ballroom dancing, and hope that he'll keep working with us. Arthur rocks! read more

Arthur is a wonderful dance instructor. At the first lesson, he listened to our preferences for music and for learning "dance patterns" to showcase at our wedding; patterns that we could do in a variety of sequences, as compared to something tightly choreographed. After that lesson, we committed to the package of 5 lessons leading up to our wedding day. Arthur was flexible in scheduling to suit our schedule, and introduced new material at a good pace. We were especially intent to practice in the last several weeks before our big day, and this paid off! The dance went very well. It was a highlight of the celebration for us. Thank you, Arthur. read more

Arthur Calandrelli - Laura and Kasra's Wedding on September 9, 2017 at the Headlands Center for the Arts. Photo by Erin Prado. Que Bonita Photography. - Dance Studios Near Me - San Francisco, California

We are just about to finish a 3-week series of lessons with Arthur, in preparation for our wedding next month. And in just 3 weeks, Arthur managed to teach us Viennese waltz (not the easiest ballroom dance by any account) pretty much from scratch, as well as really improve our salsa dancing. We are now feeling ready, confident and even impatient to perform our first dances! And it has been a true pleasure! Arthur is an outstanding teacher, who really masters the whole range of dancing. We witnessed that first hand, as he was absolutely top notch both for the waltz and for the salsa - 2 very different dance styles. He is excellent at advising both the leader and follower, and did not hesitate to step in to dance with my fiancee or with myself to show us the appropriate steps and leads. He was also able to give us some really good advice on which music to pick, at which tempo to play it, etc. Arthur is a great communicator. He is able to correct you in a very clear and effective manner, without being abrupt nor dishonest. A tough balance to achieve! Arthur is also very flexible. We only had 3 weeks to prepare for our wedding, but Arthur did not hesitate to make room in his busy schedule to accommodate for our availability. And last but not least, Arthur is a true gentleman. He is a well travelled, wonderful human being, very cultured and friendly. What are you waiting for?! read more

My fiancee and I signed up for the 5 lesson package (Best deal) of all. Arthur is the first Salsa instructor we've ever practiced with so unfortunately I cannot compare with other s. However, I assure you that our experience so far is nothing less but amazing. Arthur is friendly, punctual, patient, knowledgeable, and passionate about dance. My favorite part is that he focuses on the fundamentals and proper technique. For someone who does not have any dance experience, I believe this is essential. Don't expect him to give you a routine and leave you alone to practice. I can't wait until my wedding day to share with our friends and family what we've learned in the 2 weeks with Arthur. I highly recommend! read more

This review is long overdue... My fiancé and I were searching for an instructor to teach us the basics and choreograph our first dance. We called several instructors and Arthur was by far the most flexible about our options. He was also the most engaged and interested in making sure we were ready for the big day. Due to a little mixup on our end we hadn't sent Arthur our song in advance of the first lesson. But it was amazing to watch as he listened to the song and began to string together various steps, starting with the basics and slowly incorporating additional components. After a few sessions and some practice at home we were ready for the big day! Arthur is a great teacher - he has a passion for dance, along with an easygoing style and ability to guide you through the proper technique. Highly recommend giving him a call if you're looking for an instructor. read more

I love this guy! I have to tell you that were very adamant about not having a cheesy choreographed dance for our wedding. We just wanted to learn a few steps and learn how to piece them together. We first bought a 4 pack lesson with another dance instructor (whom i won't mention) and it was just awful. The steps didn't go with the music and insisted on us having a planned dance. Needless to say, we just called that a total loss and thought we'd give another teacher one more try and only do just 1 lesson this time. After the first lesson with Arthur, we wanted more and wish we would have called him first!! Here's why: - Flexibility - By the time we called him we only had a month left till the wedding and Arthur already had a vacation planned. EEEK! We managed to squeeze in 3 lessons with time to spare! - Patience - Arthur is soooo nice and encouraging. He would correct us in a way that never made either of us feel bad. After each lesson, we would feel so positive and excited to practice! - Ability to dance as a lead or follower - this one is KEY. Arthur would sometimes dance the lead and have my fiance follow so that my fiance could feel how he should be leading me. As someone with some dance experience, this was invaluable!! Sometimes you just have to feel steps to understand and he was able to do that for both of us! - Range - Arthur would always show us a move and then ask us if we were comfortable with it. If I thought it was too cheesy we would work with multiple variations till we liked it. - Detailed - He knows his stuff. He taught us basics steps and how to move between them so we could just dance naturally. But he also taught us how a slight move of a hand or a shoulder could make a big difference and look more polished. All in all, we had such a fun time with Arthur and would recommend him to anyone. He really listed to what we wanted and worked with us patiently till we got it. read more

When I began my quest to learn ballroom dancing last year, I happened to chance on Arthur and read all the positive reviews on him, giving me the confidence to try out one lesson with him. After the first lesson, I knew I had found my ballroom mentor and immediately signed up for his package of 5 lessons. Now it's a year later after weekly lessons with Arthur. In addition to group classes and social dancing practice elsewhere, Arthur has helped transform me into a confident social dancer, albeit I am still continuously learning from him. He is friendly, patient and professional at the same time. What I appreciate about Arthur's teaching is that he adheres strictly to the professional ballroom dancing school and protocol, always helping me improve my form, posture, steps, hand and foot movements. Even after 30+ years of teaching and dancing, his enthusiasm for his students to be a better dance is still there. He is versatile and knowledgeable in all of the dances - whether it's waltz, foxtrot, rumba, salsa, East Coast swing, Night Club 2-step, bolero, American or Argentine Tango, West Coast swing, samba, etc. Plus he can demonstrate both the leader's and the follower's steps equally proficiently. I am grateful to have him as my ballroom dancing teacher. I may not ever become Ginger Rogers, but learning from him is a fun journey to that end. I told Arthur that if I won the lottery, I'd be taking lessons from him daily! read more

Last week I finally returned to Argentine Tango after a lengthy foot rehabilitation. I took a few privates with Arthur to test the out the foot, recall the basics and learn new patterns. Arthur wasted no time customizing the lesson to my needs so I can get back to practicing with proper technique at the next level. I'm sure I'll take more privates from him in future to keep me on track - thank you Arthur! read more

Arthur did a fabulous job choreographing a dance for my partner and I to perform at our wedding. He's very creative and supportive. He also did a private Bollywood dance class for our wedding shower and taught 8 women in my family an easy-to-learn dance routine. Overall, very professional and knowledgeable for novice dancers. read more

Arthur is a very creative dance instructor. My wife and I were looking for a choreographer to help us with our wedding's first dance, and we found Arthur on Yelp. From the initial phone conversation, I can tell he is very passionate about dancing. What I really appreciated about Arthur is how transparent he is during lessons. He will not sugar-coat anything in order to help me improve. After the 1st lesson, I've come to realize I dance with 2 left feet, and Arthur knew he had his work cut out for him over the next 7 weeks. We had a good feeling about Arthur, so we began with a 10-lesson package. Over the course of the next few weeks, Arthur was very understanding and patient. He really took his time to help us nail any shortcomings I felt I had. By the end of the 7 weeks, Arthur helped get me dancing on both feet again! As the wedding date drew closer, we began to easily stress out as most bride and grooms do. What I really appreciated about Arthur is that he took a few minutes for time-out with us, and helped us remember why we are taking lessons in the first place, and that this should be a fun experience. That kind of compassion from Arthur is one of the biggest take-aways from this entire journey. What I really wanted to focus on for the first dance was the intro, crescendo, & outro, so we asked Arthur to get creative and help us choreograph. After the wedding, we received a lot of compliments on how beautiful and unique our first dance turned out. Kudos to you Arthur ! read more

My fiance and I took a set of 5 classes to get ready for our wedding...aurthur was so fun to work with and made the whole experience light. It was our favorite part of the week and can't wait to show off our moves to friends and family read more

We came to Arthur lacking any kind of rhythm, technique, or clue as to what we were doing. We had 5 lessons with him and we could not be happier with how our first dance turned out. Our routine had dips, twirls, and even a lift for the grand finale- which caught our guests by surprise. We had several people come up to us afterwards and say, "Wow, I had no idea you knew how to dance!!" We could not be happier with Arthur's help and guidance! read more

Very patient and effective. After just a few classes I am already feeling like I could someday develop some rhythm. If you are learning to dance for your wedding see if you can get a few friends together and hire Arthur for private lessons. He is inexpensive and you'll learn a ton in a few classes. read more

My fiancee (now husband!) and I hired Arthur to choreograph and teach us a first dance for our wedding. We bought the 5-package deal, but ended up buying an additional class to wrap it all up. It was SO FUN and I'm so sad we aren't taking classes with Arthur any more. Arthur was very patient although we both are terrible dancers, and offered several options for each step of the choreography. In the end, the first dance turned out great! Arthur was definitely one of the best decisions of our wedding. read more

Arthur is an amazing instructor that is patient and can quickly identify problematic areas with each student and change his coaching to maximize lesson effectiveness. I hired Arthur to choreograph and teach my husband and I our first dance for our wedding and he did an amazing job. We had a super limited amount of time and he was able to get us ready in just 2 lessons. His prices are very reasonable and he is very flexible as well. Please give Arthur a call if you are looking for a dance lesson :) read more

Arthur is amazing. He taught us our wedding dance and did an amazing job! He was knowledgeable, experienced, and professional. Highly recommended! read more

My bride-to-be and I found Arthur through a referral from a co-worker of hers; and we are HAPPY we did. We had absolutely NO Ballroom dancing experience but that didn't matter; Arthur took us under his wing and within three classes we felt confident we could pull off our dance in front of all our friends and family. (Finger's Crossed!) He is very enthusiastic and knowledgeable when it comes to the classroom or should I say dance-floor. We are sooooo glad we chose to take dance lessons and especially with Arthur as our guide. Thanks again Arthur; you were so great!!!! read more

Arthur is fantastic. My fiancee and I have taken 6 lessons with him, originally starting learning salsa as a birthday gift. We then transitioned to swing/jitterbug to prepare for our wedding first dance - not choreographed. He's a patient teacher helping us nail down the steps so we can have fun and think on our feet. It's been an enjoyable experience working with Arthur. I highly recommend and will definitely be back in the future. Thanks Arthur! read more

I have two left feet, but if I was going to try and learn to dance, Arthur would be my first choice as a teacher. He is a gentleman, a kind and cheerful soul, agile and graceful, and a fine neighbor. read more

My husband and I took both private and group ballroom dance classes from Arthur for about a year. We were complete novices, but Arthur was extremely patient and encouraging. He is a wonderful dancer and I felt very secure with him leading me. My husband and I are now having a great time dancing together, and we owe Arthur so much! read more

My wife and I wanted to do a bit more to impress our wedding guests, and dance to the tango that appeared in Scent of a Woman (Por una Cabeza). Given that we are not into dancing at all and a week away from the wedding, we sought an instructor who could teach us the basics and throw in a few moves in there. The goal was not to blow away our guests but to leave a pleasant impression. We managed to do more than that, thanks to Arthur. we had only 5 hours of lessons. In the first lesson we were able to choreograph most of the dance (it was 2 mins 38 secs). In addition to the a few nice moves, he also instructed us on the posture, body movement and other technical stuff. Come wedding night: The dance was a big success. Except for a few real dancers, all our guests were impressed and thought we have been regularly dancing. I recommend Arthur as your first dance instructor. He was very punctual, and was constantly evaluating our dance, correcting as needed. read more

My husband and I took two lessons with Arthur to learn some moves for our first dance at our wedding. Arthur taught us some great moves that we were able to learn and practice during our lessons with him. We really liked his style and creativity, and he made everything comfortable (learning to dance two-step can probably be pretty awkward for some!). He was worth every penny, and now even beyond our wedding we have moves that we'll be able to use forever! read more

My boyfriend and I have been trying to find good Argentine Tango lessons around the bay area, and we finally found Arthur. We've taken a couple of private lessons so far and have improved drastically... He tailored the lessons to our specific needs, and we are very pleased with his instruction. In addition, he is a pleasure to be around, so we're looking forward to more lessons with him! read more