BOOK HER NOW! Emily blew our expectations. She is so much fun and has the warmest heart. She expertly crafted an elaborate 5+ minute dance for our first dance during our wedding, combining 2 songs into 3 parts. It took us 20 classes, 1x week. We didn't practice outside of class once, but nailed it on wedding day! (I know she choreographs simpler dances too.) Her dance class ended up being the highlight of our week because she makes it so enjoyable! She filmed our progress, so we could learn from the recording--but also so we could make a montage of our progress! Classes are easy to book on her Calendly and are absolutely worth driving to Potrero for! After class, go out to dinner nearby--I suggest Papito! read more

See all

My husband and I booked Emily to help us with a choreographed first dance for our wedding. We treated our private lessons as date nights and had SO MUCH fun! Walking into our first lesson, Emily immediately made us feel extremely comfortable. She is amazing at teaching dance: professional, while also being super friendly and personable. We both have two left feet, so we were honestly shocked at how excited (and not nervous) we were to perform our first dance in front of our friends and family. We ended up doing 5 lessons (1 hr each) and were able to get our 3 minute dance down pat! On the wedding day, so many of our guests loved our first dance! We will remember it forever. :) Thank you so much Emily!!! Here's a video of our first dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be6Uak5Q32U read more

See all

Emily is amazing!! My husband and I aren't dancers and she choreographed a really fun first dance 6 weeks before our wedding. The dance included twists, dips, and lifts that beginners could easily do. On top of that, Emily is such a great person that made the whole process a blast. read more

Emily Coles Dance SF - Dance Studios Near Me - San Francisco, California

Emily is amazing! If you need any type of dance lesson, for your wedding or anything, book with her! My fiancé and I went to Emily just so we wouldn't look super awkward during our first dance. We ended up booking multiple sessions with her and are now learning swing dancing in addition to nailing our first dance! She can choregraph a routine for you if you want some flair, but she's also great with the basics. Emily was amazing at breaking steps down for us, reviewing our progress and making us feel comfortable. My fiancé has 0 dance background, but Emily always found ways to connect and help him understand the timing. We cannot recommend her enough! read more

Emily was a delight to work with for our first dance! My wife and I reached out to her several months in advance to schedule a series of lessons. She was very thoughtful and considerate of our inexperience in all things dance. She worked with us over a month to build, practice, and mail our first dance. Thank you so much Emily, you played a huge part in making our perfect wedding come true! read more

Emily Coles Dance SF - Dance Studios Near Me - San Francisco, California

Emily really is the best and so fun to work with. Our first dance was such a highlight of our wedding - we got so many compliments on it from guests and it was so nice to feel so confident about it thanks to Emily's help. Couldn't recommend her enough, I always looked forward to our classes and am sad they're over (for now)! read more

Emily is the best!! My partner and I worked with her on our first dance and had a blast in every lesson, and on the big day. She's so fun, can't recommend enough. read more

Emily is a great instructor. She helped my partner and I plan a dance for our big day in a low stress, fun and supportive way. She didn't pressure us to sign up for a set number of lessons and was flexible with scheduling. We loved working with her and our dance came out perfectly. So many compliments on our big day! read more

My partner and I - extremely inexperienced dancers - took 3 x 1hour dance lessons with Emily in order to create and learn a routine for our wedding first dance. It was fun! Emily was great! We successfully did the dance at our wedding, everybody loved it, and we had a great time. Have nothing but positive things to say about the experience working with Emily. She was extremely accommodating to shift around schedule stuff to find timeslots that worked (one month before our wedding). read more

Emily Coles is amazing! She was able to break down our choice of wedding song in minutes, in real time, into moves that dance newbies could do and feel. We feel so lucky to have met her! read more

Emily was absolutely amazing to work with for the first dance of our wedding! We tried out a few dance instructors and decided to go with Emily because she was super friendly + enthusiastic and was very accommodating to my knee injury. We had almost no dance experience, but worked with Emily for 4 sessions to create a routine that really impressed all of our guests on our big day. Highly recommend her! read more

Emily helped us meet our goal of performing the "Time of My Life" dance from Dirty Dancing at our wedding. With only 2/2.5 months to learn this pretty complicated dance (especially bc we are beginners) Emily met with us weekly and helped us squeeze in extra lessons when we asked for extra help. Emily is very warm, understanding, talented and helped us have fun while learning. In fact we liked her so much we invited her to the wedding! We hope we have dance performances in our future just so we can go back to Emily. read more

Emily Coles Dance SF - Our lift +kiss at the finale of our wedding performance. A success! - Dance Studios Near Me - San Francisco, California

Strongly recommend you consider Emily for your wedding dance. She was so patient, understanding and friendly throughout the whole process (we booked a total of 5-6 lessons). My fiance and I left each lesson feeling very good - we viewed them as date nights! It was just such a pleasure learning from Emily. I have stage fright and likely suffer from social/performance anxiety (undiagnosed), but came away feeling excited during my real wedding dance. If you want the crowd to see you in awe and cheer you on as you dance, please choose Emily. If I could post a video here, I would! It's important that you know that I could have never imagined looking forward to dancing - an impossible situation. Turns out I was looking very forward to dancing during my wedding night - all thanks to Emily. That said, make sure to practice, as well as tip Emily. (second photo is taken by Monica Lam Photography) read more

See all

Emily was fantastic! We tried a few dance teachers before her and she was leaps and bounds above the rest! She made a custom dance for our song and included a bunch of fun dance moves! Can't thank her enough - George & Paula read more

We worked with Emily on our first dance routine for our wedding, and the whole experience was so wonderful! She made us both feel welcome and at ease, even though neither of us are very intuitive or experience dancers. She was open to our feedback as we worked though how to start the dance in a way where we both felt comfortable. She made a routine that was absolutely achievable over the month or so we had leading up to our wedding. Practicing after work and then meeting with Emily once a week to show her our progress was not only fun but also empowering! How amazing to learn a new skill with your partner. We had so much fun working with Emily - can't recommend her enough! And the dance turned out great! read more

We had the BEST experience with Emily and are so grateful for her help and tutelage. She taught us the basic dance steps, choreographed a custom and super fun first dance to the song of our choice, and over just 5 lessons we went from zero to hero, with many guests at our wedding being surprised we only took so few lessons to get so good! Emily helped make our wedding PERFECT and we adore her. My now-husband who was previously uninterested in ballroom dance is now very eager to take more lessons and learn new styles. Cannot recommend enough. Easy to communicate with Emily, superior pricing and incredible value, very friendly warm and funny individual. We looked forward to our Wednesday evening lessons with her leading up to the wedding. it was the highlight of each stressful week and also brought me and my now-husband closer together. Do yourself a favor and book Emily. read more

We did several weeks of lessons with Emily to choreograph and rehearse a first dance for our wedding. We are complete newbie dancers, but from the moment we started she put us at ease and we felt like everything would be ok. She was warm, understanding but also gave clear instructions. She also had no problem choreographing to a very "unorthodox" song choice. We had a great time and looked forward to going every week. And in the end the dance went great! read more

Emily is amazing! We were a little nervous about doing dance lessons and within 5 minutes her energy made the experience so fun and positive. She is a master at compiling dance routines on the spot and truly connects with the couples she works with. Cannot recommend her enough. Also, she studio is very cool! read more

I cannot recommend Emily enough! She's extremely talented and was very patient and encouraging while working with us. We were pretty nervous about doing a first dance at our wedding since we both have two left feet. We decided to take a couple of lessons just to learn how to sway together less awkwardly, but Emily helped us even more than we thought and we threw a couple of spins and fun moves into the final dance! We felt really comfortable working with Emily, had a ton of fun during our lessons, and are hoping to come back to learn a new dance just for fun :) read more

Dance lessons with Emily were the best part of wedding planning for us! We had so much fun! She was so lovely to work with, so patient, and so talented. Everyone LOVED our dance and it only took 5 lessons (honestly could have been 4 if we practiced more). We are so happy we found her. If you're looking for lessons for your first dance, she is your gal! read more

Our wedding was an absolute success, thanks in large part to Emily! Her five dance classes really paid off, and we wowed our guests with our first dance. Emily's expertise and support were invaluable, and we couldn't have asked for a better experience. If you're planning a wedding or any special event, Emily is the dance instructor you need! Thank you, Emily, for making our wedding day even more special! read more

I recently got married and found Emily online to help me prepare for a ballroom dance routine. I would highly recommend Emily Coles as a dance instructor for various reasons. Emily is extremely patient, encouraging and technically sound, among many qualities...but what makes her truly special is the level of care she showed me throughout the process of learning. Emily would accommodate my crazy work schedule, listen carefully to my questions and requests and adjust her instruction to accommodate my requests. Emily even went so far as to recommend and help me select specific shoes for my routine. All in all, I had the best of experiences with Emily and intend to return to her for all future dance-related projects. read more

Emily is an amazing dance instructor with deep knowledge of multiple styles. She is also super creative and can come up with a great choreography for your favorite song that makes you look good, and is attainable given even minimal level of dance abilities. read more

We can't thank Emily enough for giving us such wonderful dance lessons leading up to our wedding. We had so much fun and looked forward to our lessons each week. She allowed us to be creative choosing our own moves, but also had input about what would work best. She is amazing and we can't recommend her enough. We are even hoping to come back to Emily Cole Dance SF for some other non-wedding focused type dance lessons. Thank you, Emily! read more

Emily Coles Dance SF - Dance Studios Near Me - San Francisco, California

Emily is the BEST!! My husband and I worked with her for four sessions to feel prepared for our first dance at our wedding and she did not disappoint! Scheduling with her was easy, she was amazing to communicate with, and she made us feel so comfortable. I cannot recommend her enough to future brides and groooms. It was such a fun part of our preparation process and at no point did it feel like "another vendor meeting" read more

My husband and I were looking for an instructor to help ease our first dance nerves for our upcoming wedding and give us some guidance. After reviewing a few instructors and options, we chose Emily for her flexibility (availability & cost). We couldn't have been happier with our decision! My husband was more nervous than I was and can at times have two left feet . After a single class, we felt so much better and so excited for the next two (we opted for 3). Emily was kind and knowledgeable; she asked us all the right questions we hadn't even thought about. Our first dance left guests at our wedding amazed and we were so happy (didn't trip, fall or miss a step)! I definitely recommend Emily. Shoot for 3 classes minimum and you will not regret it! read more

See all

My partner and I have been taking Salsa lessons with Emily for a couple months now. We started out taking remote lessons while we were out of the area. Once we were in the city we started them in person. We can wholeheartedly recommend Emily for both remote and in person Salsa lessons. The amount of energy and positivity that she brings to each lesson has pushed us so far in our practice. While teaching us new moves, Emily has also worked to ensure that we have the foundational techniques and subtle strategies to make both our moves, and dance as a whole, the best it can be. We absolutely love working with Emily. 1. Extremely empathetic 2. Lots of confidence in her craft 3. High amounts of patience read more

When we decided to take dance classes, my partner did the research on the instructor, and I went along for the ride. Wd couldn't have found a better fit. Emily is incredibly knowledgable, patient, and fun. She is an expert, structuring classes to help you achieve your goals no matter what style of dance you want to learn, what your skill level is, or what your timeline looks like. Moreover, she is a lovely human--kind and wonderful to be around. I now look forward to our dance class every week, largely due to Emily. Couldn't recommend her enough! read more

My wife and I got married in March. One of my Christmas gifts to her was two dance lessons with Emily to help prepare for our wedding dance. We danced to Genuine "Differences." Working with Emily was amazing and doing dance lessons in general was one of the more fun parts of the wedding planning. Neither of us has dance backgrounds, but are both fit, not shy, and wanted a routine that fit the moment, but was fun. Emily taught us a 3 minute dance routine that went perfect with the song. She made the entire process really fun and helped us both feel comfortable with the dance. She sought our feedback on how we liked the dance and gave really tailored advice to each of us on how to perfect a move. If you are a couple and looking for a dance instructor for your wedding (or any purpose), I'd highly recommend Emily. read more

We met Emily January 2018 when I arranged a couples Salsa dance lesson as a 40th birthday surprise for my wife. What fun! We quickly arranged twice monthly regular sessions, which we continued for the rest of the year and are sorry to suspend temporarily due to family drama. Emily is fun, positive, funny, and patient. She taught us many individual steps and then pulled it all together into choreographed short routines, sure to impress at any party we attend. We moved from Salsa to Meringue, incorporating both into our own style of Latin social dancing (no performing or competition for us!) Emily knows just how to teach, at whatever level you are at. Personally, I had no dance experience at all, while my wife has been dancing Latin all her life, so Emily had to deal with both of us at once, and found just the right balance of challenge and lighthearted fun that we needed. What a break from our everyday lives, and such a joy to dance together and with such a sweetheart as Emily. We always had a fun time and both of us learned a lot. I am no longer afraid of dancing, because I have some "vocabulary" to work with now, and dancing with my wife is a pleasure I would not have had without Emily's deft and patient teaching. Thank you for everything, Emily! We love you! :) read more

Emily was absolutely wonderful for helping us plan out our first dance. We showed up with zero idea what this should look like, and zero dancing experience. She did a great job of teaching us the basics and helping us feel comfortable and confident heading into the big event! She was incredibly warm, patient, and knowledgable throughout the entire process. Highly recommend her to anyone looking to choreograph a dance! read more

I know Emily from riding AIDS lifecycle with her a few years back. I reached out to her about 2 months prior to my wedding for First Dance lessons with my fiancé. We have weekly lessons at a studio space on Missouri street in SF. She is easy to work with and schedule lessons. Her prices are very reasonable and she even donates $10 of every lesson to a charity close to her that you pick! (we choose ALC) Emily is great. She is very knowledgeable and very aware of teaching same-sex partner dancing. I knew she would be a valuable instructor for that reason and refused to go to a stock dance studio. We have choreographed an entire song, and every week we get better and better. The hour spent with Emily is full of smiles, laughter and overall great time. My partner and I look forward to dance lessons every week! She is a joy to be around and very helpful. I highly recommend Emily to anyone looking for dance lessons! (We even drive up from Palo Alto to see her!) read more

My wife and I have been studying with Emily for around 2 months now. We originally engaged her to help us avoid embarrassment at the wedding of our daughter. When I say embarrassment, I mean ignominy: neither of us had any skills beyond 80s club dancing or, in my case, what I would call "dad-dancing." My wife had some ballet as a child; the most that could be said for me is that I can count. Well, Emily has been a delight. I could talk about her evident skill, professionalism, and joyful personality, but for us the key has been her infinite patience. We don't always get in the practicing we aspire to between lessons, so our progress has been, ahem, measured, and a good part of every session is review. Nevertheless, Emily has been endlessly encouraging and challenging (and maybe a little amused), retracing our steps (so to speak) without any hint of exasperation, and ensuring that we try something new every time. The hour session flies by. The wedding was a great success, but we are continuing our weekly lessons (we have a second daughter). Highest recommendation. read more

We worked with Emily to choreograph a dance for our wedding. It was the highlight of our wedding planning :) Emily is an incredibly talented instructor and dancer. She helped us choose a wedding song and choreograph a beautiful dance that our families and friends are still talking about. We were very happy with the finished product and also enjoyed the process. We looked forward to every single lesson. It was super fun dancing with Emily. She is a true professional and talented teacher. read more

If you are an absolute beginner or want to improve your existing dance skills, Emily can really help you out! She is fun and encouraging, you will learn dance and have a great time as well. She can teach a large variety of social dances. American, International and Nightclub. With her you can learn Waltz for your wedding, Salsa moves to spice up the nigh scene or Medalist figures for Ballroom competitions. I would highly recommend contacting her for private dance lessons read more

My fiance and I were looking for a dance instructor for our first dance, and we found Emily through yelp. Neither my fiance nor I had any dance background, so we decided to take other yelpers' advice and signed up for the 6-lesson package. Turns out that you do need that many lessons plus some personal practice time to pull it off. The lessons went at a pace that we can handle, and Emily was extremely patient and encouraging during the lessons. She gives clear instructions, and made all the moves easy to digest for us. We had to reschedule lessons towards the end because it was close to the wedding and things got chaotic, but Emily accommodated us, and we were truly grateful for that. In all, we had a wonderful time practicing with Emily, and had a really good first dance at the wedding. Thank you Emily! read more

I love dancing, but am a terrible dancer, so I never got up the nerve to take any lessons. Then my husband bought us some private tango lessons with Emily, as a Christmas present for me. I'm so glad he chose her! She put us completely at ease, and not once have I felt self-conscious or embarrassed, even as I lurch around the floor, stamping on my husband's feet, and overbalancing despite being in flat shoes. She uses all sorts of tips and metaphors - like a good hatha yoga teacher - to help me 'get' the right movement and alignment. We continued taking lessons after my Christmas-present ones were done, and we've been dancing now for over a year. I have no doubt that with a less patient, humorous, and fun teacher, I'd have given up long ago. Emily is awesome! read more

Emily is the absolute best!!!!! As a lesbian couple, we did a lot of research to find a dance teacher we could feel comfortable with as we learned the first dance for our wedding. We were so lucky to come across Emily! We wanted to do a fun, cheesy, over-the-top dance to an 80s banger, and she was ALL FOR IT! She fully choreographed our first dance with all of the flair we wanted, and she taught us how to do a lift, multiple dips, and coordinated moves that truly wowed our family and friends! We went in with hardly any experience, and she broke down each part of the dance in very easy to digest pieces where we learned the proper body mechanics (so we didn't bust a knee or a hip lol). We are so incredibly grateful for all of the time we had with her during the lead-up to our wedding. Our lessons gave us such a breath of fresh air during our wedding planning, and after the big day we missed her so much that we decided to go back and learn Salsa with her!!!!! Thank you so much for making our special day the best ever! We still hear so many of our guests say that we did the best first dance they had ever seen read more

Emily is a creative, patient, and joyful teacher. Her style makes it fun to learn something as challenging as partner dancing. She coached my dance partner and me through several competition seasons in International Latin, and constantly worked on our skills and technique, as well as choreographing fantastic routines. When I was being competitive and self-deprecating and fatalistic, she was great at gently reminding me that dance is meant to be fun, and getting me back on track. Emily celebrates the wins and listens to the frustrations. She allows for mistakes and encourages excellence. She will do that turn with you 25 times until you get it, or she will know when to leave it alone and try again next week. She also gives really great hugs. read more

I have always enjoyed the dance lessons taught by Emily Coles whenever she has been the featured teacher at Bay Area dance functions. Step by step, she is able to break down a dance pattern and help you connect them back together in manageable chunks until, voiala-- there you are joyfully bopping to the east coast swing, or gracefully rising and falling to a dreamy waltz. It is a pleasure to be in her company --she is light-hearted and playful and makes learning something that might be difficult and irksome into a delightful memory. Having attended her dance classes, as well as witnessing her prize-winning performances in numerous international dance competitions and shows, I was confident that Emily had the right mixture of patience and skill to take on the challenge of choreographing and preparing my third grade class to perform a salsa number at our annual Multicultural Talent Show one year. Talk about herding cats! She transformed even the most reluctant little dancer into the coolest cat who proudly sparkled on stage with the parents wildly cheering. So, whether it's a boost to your social life or a special occasion, treat yourself to the best: you are in good hands with Emily Coles! read more