First, Congrats, you found the best of the best. I mean I have only been to two classes, and I am…read morealready extremely impressed if not blown away. I have prepared two versions of my review, a short version and a long version.
The short version:
Look no further, Danaë is the best music mentor and piano teacher, hand-down, PERIOD. Although her classes are affordable, Danaë is NOT your average Piano teacher, not even your above-average piano teacher, she is an award-winning composer and a world-class pianist who is teaching out of passion and love for the music and not out of a need to teach. It is absolutely a privilege to be her student. Hers are no traditional lessons, they are musical experiences. You wanna go slow, she will slow down to your level and help you move up one little step at a time. You wanna go fast, well: buckle up, learning piano has never been this exciting.
The Long Version:
I mean, where to begin? How could one describe someone like Danaë. If music were a person, it would be in her image, her style, her passion, her energy, her voice, and her ability to inspire and calm down troubled minds. Danaë is an exceptional music and piano mentor in every meaning of the word. A music whisperer, if you will. I have met other piano instructors before, she is something else, not sure if she even falls under the same category, or she is a category on her own.
If you are reading these words, you are likely interested in signing up yourself or someone you care about, but before you move on to check another instructor's page, know that what you are looking at here are mere words and pictures, what you really get when you meet Danaë and learn piano in her studio, is something words and pictures cannot do justice to or describe, her 1-2 hours lessons are such joyful experiences that you forget your troubles and sorrows the moment you step into her studio, and you leave her studio a different person each time, a person who is full with positive energy, passion, love, and appreciation for life and music, and most importantly, you can see the beauty and joy in life, in learning, in nature, and in humanity again.
From the first hello, you know that you are in the presence of someone who cares about you, her student, and very much roots for you and admires and appreciates your love for music. And from the first lesson, you know that you are being mentored by someone who has all the skills, knowledge, and fame in the world and all she wants is to see you, YES: YOU!!!, succeed and help you achieve your most of your time with her. She listens to her students and she discusses with them their goals and their dreams, have it becoming a professional pianist, a composer, a music producer, or a music in film/tv writer, and then she crafts her lessons, her training, and her homework to her student's needs and goals.
I walked to her studio almost giving up on learning piano or even playing it as a hobby after having developed severe pains in my wrists from my day job and from playing piano (and being not remotely good at that, but out of genuine love for piano music). From the first 15 minutes, she identified the issues with my piano playing techniques and showed me, hand-on, the proper technique that would save my nerves from getting pinched or strained. I have been with her studio for a month now, during which, I had two lessons, and I am already feeling the difference and I no longer feel the pain when I play piano.
when I worked hard to accelerate my progress from one level to another in her studio, she worked harder and helped me go further. Now I can read music notes, play them, and I am playing chords and melodies and feel that the world of piano and music never been easier or more splendid. I am an adult in my 40's trying to pick up, albeit late, my childhood dream of playing the piano, and I couldn't be happier with the piano teacher I chose to help me achieve this dream (Trust me, I can afford all the piano studios LA can offer). Each time at the end of my lesson, a child is dropped off by her father at Danaë's studio for her lesson, and I see how gentle and kind Danaë is with the little ones and how she treats them with utmost respect as though they are the piano prodigies of their time. The world needs many more like Danaë Vlasse, but for now, there is only one, and her studio is in Winnetka. So, what are you waiting for?
P.S. If you decide to sign-up with Danaë, ask for any day and any time, except 3 PM on Fridays; that's yours truly.