Pearl is an AMAZING choreographer!! My husband and I found her through Yelp, and requested information about getting our first dance choreographed. Within a week or so, we met and she had already conceptualized our whole dance with the song we had chosen! Even though we're not dancers, we were willing to take risks (and I'm so glad we did) as we dipped our toes into the world of lyrical dancing. She made sure to walk through each step with patience and great detail, in a way that matched our learning styles. Not to mention, each lesson was fun and engaging, and became the date night we looked forward to every other week! The final dance turned out great, and we received so many compliments (even to this day)! I'm attaching a video that our friend captured in the meantime, while we wait for our videographer to send the official one for reference. Kevin and I would 1000% recommend Pearl to anyone who wants to learn, is willing to take some risks, and have the most memorable time working on some amazing choreography! Thank you so much, Pearl! read more

Pearl is simply amazing and you'd be a fool not to book her. To get an idea, I have no dance background and have avoided dance for decades simply because I'm a slow learner, I'm easily confused with patterned steps, I get frustrated quickly such that I give up, and I look like Elaine on Seinfeld when I dance. I came to Pearl with a simple mission : teach me how to dance country in one month so that I could ask a special lady, "May I have this dance?" I was ambitious. I wanted to learn El Paso, Schottische, Sidekick, and Shadow in no more than one month to be adequately prepared to dance at Nashvilles in Rochester, NY. Pearl wasn't phased. She didn't think I was crazy for trying such a stunt and she was confident I could succeed [even though I wasn't so sure despite assigning myself this mission] Pearl didn't know the country couples dances and i was fully aware of that when I signed up with her. It's very clear on her website what she is versed in. But, she's a professional dancer and an experienced teacher. All she had to do was look at videos of the dance styles a time or two and she had it down immediately. It was unbelievably amazing to someone like me who would watch for hours just to fail. I truly did learn ALL of those dance styles in one short month. And although I didn't get the chance to ask that special lady that one night, I have since discovered that I enjoy country dancing immensely and I can thank Pearl for fostering that development and confidence. Now, I've asked Pearl to take me through her unique dance program to learn the language of dance and apply it to Country Two Step. It's not memorizing steps, patterns, or combinations. It's like learning concepts, theories, and vocabulary so that when you take your follower on the dance floor, you have all you need, to dance however you feel, in that very moment. I'm not stressed out about, okay first I turn her, then I put her in a wrap, then into a neck wrap, then switch places, then go into cape position...now, "Finish her!!" [Mortal Kombat reference] No, I do what I feel and I have fun with it, every time. I've only had a few of those lessons so far and it works. I get comments from long time country dancers who are surprised that I've only been learning for less than 2 months [which is really more like 1 month because of the other dance mission] And, I notice that I don't learn as well in other classes who are trying to teach memorization of combinations; all my anxieties return and, more importantly, I don't remember their lesson. I remember Pearl's. Pearl is very kind, patient, energetic, and effectively communicative in both her words and actions. It makes for a great lesson each time. If you want to learn how to dance, whether the style is listed on her website or not, just ask her, and put your trust in her that she won't let you fail - because she absolutely won't. PS - for all you brides and grooms to be that are looking for help with their 1st wedding dance event, I personally got to see a couple grow from rigid timidness to graceful fluid movements in 7 lessons. The choreography that Pearl created fit their chosen song so well. Altogether, it was very heartfelt, endearing and awesome. read more

My girlfriend and I have been taking group Argentine Tango lessons with Perl for about a month now. She is great at making you feel comfortable, teaching you the technique, and explaining the moves in multiple ways to make sure you get it. I would highly recommend her to anyone interested in Argentine Tango! read more

Pearl is beyond amazing. My fiancé and I decided last minute that we needed dance lessons (same week of the wedding). We learned so much from Pearl in only 4 hours worth of lessons. We have no slow dance background so we thought it would be impossible to learn in time before the wedding. Pearl's teaching technique definitely works for complete beginners like us. She is sweet, kind, and knowledgable. She does a great job of explaining dance moves and also provided us with supplement videos to watch and practice at home. Thanks Pearl! read more

This review is way over due and we owe Pearl a lot more than just a Yelp review. She was phenomenal right from the beginning! She was quick to respond and following our first lesson with her, she had our entire dance choreographed and ready to start practicing a couple days later. Her choreography is so much fun and she doesn't give you anything she doesn't think you will be able to perform. Our families and friends were shocked when we came out and performed our surprise first dance. We're are still hearing about it 4 months later. Pearl is ball of fun to work with and our time with her was much needed comic relief in the stressful wedding planning months. I can not recommend her enough! read more

I can't dance. My fiancée can't either. At least, until we signed up with Pearl. Her teaching style is so intuitive, and she's not going to judge you if you don't know what you're doing. It's so cool to be able to actually put things together and realize that yep, you can actually look good while dancing! We are so excited to show off our first dance for all of our family and friends, and I never thought I would say that. Don't hesitate. Go see Pearl - she's amazing. read more

Go see Pearl, she is the best. The dance she choreographed for me and my wife for our wedding blew our expectations out of the water. We did not consider ourselves dancers, and everyone after the wedding said it looked like "Dancing With the Stars". She is also just a very fun person to be around in addition to being an amazing dance instructor. read more

Pearl is a professional all the way. To prepare for my trip to Argentina, She helped me learn the basic techniques and etiquette of Argentine tango in a very limited time. Pearl uses a variety of methods to explain basic moves. And allows time to practice the steps. Her critical eye was just what I wanted to help me learn correctly, so I could build on the basics once I master them. She is patient and motivated to teach! Private lessons were extremely helpful since I am a dance beginner. read more

Dancing with Pearl has changed my life! For the past 4 months, I have been taking lessons with her twice a week. And while I initially intended to learn the basic steps of Latin dances, I realize now that I have not learned that at all. Instead, I have learned so much more! Pearl does not teach dances and dance steps per se. She teaches the dancer. Rather than teaching steps of a dance in a mechanical way, Pearl teaches the dancer to feel out the unique, distinct heartbeat of each dance style and, at the same time, to recognize, understand, and play around with the patterns that are universal to every dance, no matter the style or music. Maybe the biggest lesson that I have learned from Pearl is that there is a dancer within each of us. And it has been so liberating to uncover and discover this part of myself. But, there are on all these smaller, little life lessons that I have picked up from Pearl, like the importance of communication. I am reminded from Pearl that, just as two dancers must communicate clearly (through the "push" or "pull" of their hands, the opening or closing of their bodies, etc.) in order to create shapes in the air, I must also communicate clearly with my teacher colleagues (co-planning, sharing insight and resources, etc.) in order to create dynamic instruction and assessment. I was reminded, too, from Pearl that a good leader is also a good follower. And, so, I began to think that, just as a dance lead has to lead and be one step ahead of the follower and simultaneously respond to, follow, the dance follower, a teacher leader also has to lead and be one step ahead of her team and simultaneously understand and know when to follow the lead of other team members as well. It goes without saying that Pearl really, truly has changed my life. It is such a blessing to be able to learn from her. Over these past 4 months, she has taught me to nurture the very inexperienced and young dancer within me and, at the same time, helped me grow as a human being. One day, I hope to be able to dance like Pearl, who dances like water, with grace and strength. I would also love for my boyfriend and I to work with her to choreograph a wedding dance at some point in the future! Until then, I am really just thankful and appreciative for all that Pearl has taught me. She has taught me about being a dancer. She has taught me about being myself. Pearl is a very special dance artist and teacher. read more

Amazing! Pearl teaches not only moves but the reasoning behind it as we'll as how to vary the move.

I have danced tango all over the world, have been intellectually influenced by many from Gavito onwards and have taken lessons from many well known instructors. So I think I can frankly say (from a tango perspective) that Pearl is very special. While it is true that there are many great instructors in the DC area, they are not all equal. In my opinion what makes Pearl stand apart is her ability to teach you the inner workings of the dance rather than just the steps. If you are just looking to learn the steps this may frustrate you but if you are looking to learn the magic behind each move then Pearl's the girl. She is one of DC's best kept secrets. read more

Great lesson as always. I find it interesting that Yelp determines the length of my post. Maybe that is why more people do not post.

We decided about a month prior to our wedding that we wanted to take dance lessons for our wedding. Pearl did not disappoint! Pearl is friendly and responsive. She reassured us there was plenty of time to learn a dance. She teaches dance in a manner that is easy to understand and pick up. Our guests raved about our dance and commented on how how much fun we looked like we were having. You can't go wrong with Pearl! read more