I highly recommend Begin Ballet for anyone interested in learning ballet. I never had the chance to…read morelearn ballet growing up, but recently became interested in learning some of the basics so that I could reinforce & connect with my daughter who is learning ballet. I took a couple of intro to ballet classes at Begin Ballet, then joined a beginner series / workshop. Ms. Gabby and her instructors at Begin Ballet are informative and foster a safe place for learning. Everyone there is welcoming and has a shared love for dance. I loved that I was able to invest in myself and found a place that welcomed adults to learn ballet. I approached Ms. Gabby about a Mommy & Me Ballet Class and she offered a trial class, which me and my friend participated in with our daughters. We had the best time and I hope that there can be a Mommy & Me series offered in the future!

Gabby is an exceptional ballet teacher. She dedicates quite a lot of time and energy on her craft…read moreof teaching. She welcomes students of all levels. She gives genuine feedback and pulls out the ballet technique from her students. Highly recommend Begin Ballet to anyone who is interested in dancing.

Dance Institute is an outstanding place to send your kids who are interested in dance! I moved my…read moredaughter to DI b/c of its ballet program. Having danced for many years, I was looking for a studio who would take ballet seriously. Ballet is the foundation for all dance genres and without proper instruction, a student will not master the proper technique to perform at his/her best. My daughter has improved tremendously under the instruction of Linda Holland. Her love for dance has exploded and now she dances with the Dance Institute Performance Academy, one of DI's award-winning competitive dance teams. DI also has a hip hop dance team called Street Heat. Its many talented hip hop dancers have also competed extremely well. The facilities and resources available at DI are not found elsewhere in Austin. If you are looking for a great studio to grow your child's passion for dance, Dance Institute is the place! Check it out!

Nobody puts Baby in a corner…read more Really, that's all you need to know. That and... come on guys, do you want to be Johnny's cousin manning the record player (excuse me, Ipod) again, or would you rather be Johnny singing "She's Like the Wind"? Er...ok that came out totally wrong. This is the Dance Institute, a beautiful brand new school built from the ground up specifically for the purpose of teaching you to shake your maracas or for your children's pointe preparation for Julliard. You might not think this is too special, what with dance schools all over the place, and Austin still not widely considered a bastion of dancing, despite the fact that Ballet Austin is the 4th largest ballet company in the U.S. But typically dance schools are constructed in preexisting spaces, and they do the best they can. This place is, well, bangin', from the design standpoint. Some pro dance folks have shown up here from out of town already to give workshops, and say it is one of the most killer dance spaces they have ever been in. Open, airy, that sort of thing. So if you care about that, voila! A very nice space to learn in. The Dance Institute's logo incorporates a couple doing a hot salsa or ballroom type number, and it is the partner dances that DI is primarily designed for (at least in terms of sheer physical space and adult classes), if you ask me. Their space is huge though, so really they can teach anything they want in there. In addition to the ballroom dance classes that start you on your way to Dancing With The Stars type stuff, and social dancing classes like salsa or two step, they also teach pilates and yoga. I am not familiar with their fitness classes, so I cannot comment on them, but they do have them. They also have regular social events (with byo beverages, last time Monichacha O and I attended) which are preceded by mini lessons in a variety of social dances that you can choose to pay for, or not, if you are already skilled in that sort of thing. On my 5 year journey to learn how to do some ballroom dancing here in Austin, I have taken lessons from many people, and at most of the schools in town. As I have improved, this has led me to become a picky picky bastard about my teachers. DI has several of the finest in partner dancing that Austin has to offer. And imho, Austin does not offer a whole lot of fine partner-dancing teachers (though I believe their number is slowly increasing). Teachers I like at DI: my faves there are Sabrina, Kat, and Denis. I do tend to favor the Latin dances, though, so these are the folks I have had experience with who I like, who do latin. Sabrina, the Ballroom Director, has had years of dance training, and uses a lot of crafty plain language descriptions to help you figure out why you can't seem to do a box step after 50 attempts Edison. Kat was a professional ballet dancer and not only teaches the ballet program for kids (I do not think there is an adult ballet program there now) but is a superb salsa dancer and instructor as well. Often she will get folks to go out to salsa dance at local clubs in town. Denis is a former U.S. 10 dance champion (this means that he and his partner competed against other people in ALL the dances they do on dancing with the stars, really really well) from Russia, yet despite being from a country that churns out seriously hardcore ballroom pros sorta like Bela Karolyi makes gymnastics champions, he is quite nice and caters to your ability without making you run through the snow like Stallone in Rocky IV. Additionally, you can take private lessons from all their folks rather than group classes, and they do lessons for couples getting ready for dancing at their weddings. Ok, so why not the 5 star? 1. they are located in BFE for a big chunk of Austin - you can see from google maps that Sitio Del Rio is near 2222 and 620. If you don't live close by, you are going to be burning a lot of gas to become Johnny Castle or Baby. 2. they are probably the priciest in town, though with the current state of the economy, perhaps they've got some deals going. 3. The number of truly intermediate to advanced dancers that are available at this point in time, in Austin, who frequent their classes there (or anywhere in town), to do Latin Ballroom, is still pretty low. This probably doesn't apply to most folks in the universe, but it does to me, so. The Dance Institute is pretty sweet. If they were closer to the heart of Austin, I'd say there is no good reason you shouldn't give it a shot to get your dirty (or Fred Astaire & Ginger Rodgers' style) dancing on.

I give my strongest recommendation to Mystica Fiora's belly dancing/flow arts classes and…read moreperformances. She is a skilled professional of the highest caliber and multitalented showcasing a wide variety of styles: fire flow arts (fans, poi, hoops, wands, hand candles, wings), belly dancing (Egyptian/Raqs Sharqi, fusion, Indian), mermaiding (swimming with tail), and clowning (balloon animals, face painting). She is also pleasant, kind, and cheerful. She is very professional and always on time and communicates well. She has both online and in person classes available and hybrid options. I have also seen her perform multiple times and she is stunning! Book her for your special events! I have been taking belly dancing and flow art classes with her since the pandemic (mid 2020). At first we met online and now we meet in person. When I began classes with her I was suffering from debilitating chronic pain and could only dance for 5 minutes before needing to take a break. She was happy to incorporate accommodations for me when my feet were hurting or injured, for instance, we would do a seated chair class and focus on chest and arm isolations instead of leg movements. She always found a way to incorporate movement while working around my health issues, injuries, or surgeries. Now I can dance for hours and am teaching my own dance classes. I highly recommend seeking Samantha out if you have any chronic health issues that would improve with low impact exercise. She is also highly educated in these different art forms and is able to discuss the history of belly dance. She has been trained in a variety of styles from across Africa to the Middle East to India, even having traveled abroad to learn from instructors in other countries.

Mystica is an amazing belly dance instructor! She is kind and encouraging, positive and…read moreprofessional. Her excitement and passion for the art form is out of her! I get very excited for every opportunity to take a lesson from her.

My partner and I have taken multiple lesson packages with Ace over the last year and a half or so…read moreand they are awesome! Super patient and kind (especially with our wacky work schedules), and very knowledgeable about multiple styles. We've learned some slow dance, foxtrot, rumba, cha cha, etc. and are now learning our first dance choreography for our wedding. It's a very beginner friendly place, but Ace won't let you get bored either! Always ready to match pass with however much you are comfortable learning in a lesson. Definitely reach out to Ace if you have been itching to try something new, or want to add some flair to your first dance!

We are so glad we chose to take lessons with Ace for our wedding. My partner and I had never really…read moretaken dance classes before and were *very* beginner level to say the least. But in only four lessons Ace took us from barely being able to do a basic 2-step to twists, dips, and even a lift! Ace was patient and encouraging and tailored the lessons to our level, gradually helping us build up our skills with each class. Our guests were so impressed when we whipped out our moves during our first dance--they couldn't stop raving about it! It was definitely one of the highlights of the night. Don't hesitate to book Ace if you're looking to learn some skills for your first dance (or any dance)!

I found this studio and it was literally like finding treasure. I LOVE training here! Firstly, the…read morecommunity of dancers are extremely supportive and kind. Jo, the owner, is SO sweet and empowering (seeing her and her husband run the studio together is so cool too!), and really welcomed me from the moment I walked in. Secondly, the classes are really really fun, and have helped me channel more confidence and presence in my dancing. Bonus that they film everything (professionally too) - it really helps me see my progress, and the filming part of every class is so encouraging! If you want to feel empowered, beautiful, and SEXY dancing, pleaaaase try coming to a class here!

This place is such a gem. We are so lucky to have someone of Ms. Marquez's caliber in NW Austin. My…read moredaughter has really enjoyed learning ballet and dance in her studio this year. Since Covid hit, Ms. Marquez has done an incredible job moving classes online. It's been a seamless transition, and we love doing ballet from our living rooms! If you're considering taking a class here -- DO IT!

I've been taking Ada's adult Ballet class during Covid via Zoom and she is so motivating during…read morethis crazy time. I love her class! She caterers to all levels, is mindful of injuries/injury prevention, is incredibly paitent, and is articulate in her explanation of technique. Her positive energy is infectious! I definitely get a workout in class. I can't wait to take class again! Also, class is half off during Covid!

This place it's amazing!!! The teachers are the best!! I started flamenco for beginners 4 weeks…read moreago, it's only 6 weeks but you get the class video to practice during the week, Olivia shares her music and explains everything with passion, dedication and love! I will definitely continue taking classes, I got the tap shoes so I can't stop now lol The class is so fun, when Isai plays his guitar and sings while Olivia teach us, wow!!! What a team!!! The real deal!!! They make every minute count!!! Outstanding work!!! Everyone enjoys it so much!! Sophia, one of the other teachers is so good, she gives her best!!! I loved her class!!!!

I took at 6-week beginner course with the wonderfully talented and kind instructor, Sophia…read more She broke down the steps and techniques very clearly with awareness of how quickly students were picking up a concept. The staff was all really friendly and the passion for the dance and culture permeates through the studio and the fiesta the studio has to showcase the students and teachers. I would love to see this studio grow so they can enhance the studio facility especially the bathroom and performance area so there are enough chairs for guests. Definitely worth checking out if you are wanting to learn a new fun skill. They sell all the necessary clothing and shoes in the studio as well. There could be some more emphasis on helping students engage with each other to create more community rather than just showing up to a class and everyone leaving afterwards.

Great people. These are the folks you want to learn from in…read morethe greater Austin area put on your dance shoes and get down to see them.

I love Four on the Floor. Every Tuesday they teach lessons at the Fed. Lessons are incredible cheap…read more($45 for 4 classes) and a lot of fun. Most importantly, you don't need a partner. I repeate, you don't need a partner. While you're learning different steps, you rotate partners every few minutes. See ladies and gentlemen? If you want to learn, you can totally come alone. Now that I've belabored that point, Four on the Floor is a great resource for learning how to swing dance. I'm on my second class, and I'll definitely be back for another!