I am an appreciator of the arts esp modern dance and ballet. However, I prefer to sit back and watch other people perform, so you can only guess the pained expression that I had on my face when my fiancée, who enjoys watching 'Dancing With the Stars,' suggested that we take dance lessons to do a choreographed Viennese waltz for our wedding dance. I'm was thinking, "Why?? It's just one more thing we have to worry about on the big day, no? Can't we just go out on the dance floor and just shift around to a slow song at a jr high school dance like everyone else?" In my nervousness and frustration over the prospect of getting up in front of a large audience of friends and family to put on a dance number, I found myself blaming Walt Disney. You know, all those fairy tale princesses and their ballroom dance scenes; Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast and many others indoctrinating young girls all around the world to dream about that Snow White moment when someday their prince comes and they can be the "princess" and glide around the floor just like in the cartoon movies. Don't worry, my rant won't turn into a screed because fortunately for me, my fiancée chose to to seek out Murisa to help get us ready for our number on the big day. Murisa is wonderful instructor. As a novice to dancing/ballroom dancing, I had no idea how to properly move on the dance floor but her instruction helped me to clean up my form and movement by laying things out in terms that I was able to understand. Plus she was patient with us as we were looking for a song that inspired us (we changed songs twice) and changed the dance from a Viennese waltz to a traditional waltz then back to Viennese waltz. All in all we took ten lessons from Murisa. Each lesson is 45 mins and the lessons are held in a facility near Koreatown. The facility has a large dance floor that is shared by many other instructors and dancers of all levels. Murisa's scheduling is flexible, however, her time slots can fill up fast, so if you're in a time crunch to get ready before your wedding day, best do it soon! read more

Take My Lead - Dance Schools Near Me - Los Angeles, California

See all

If you're looking for wedding dance lessons, stop reading after this review and connect with Murisa. Murisa is super talented and passionate when it comes to teaching people how to dance. Our 1st dance at our wedding was perfect because of her. Our favorite thing about Murisa was she actually taught us how to dance for a lifetime, not just one night. She really made it an enjoyable experience and it was one of the coolest things we have ever done in our life. We had zero experience prior to this and were nervous, but Murisa made every lesson a lot of fun and we can't thank her enough. My wife and I would recommend her of the time for anything dance related‼ read more

Take My Lead - Dance Schools Near Me - Los Angeles, California

I'm way WAY below what I would consider to be an average dancer, and Murisa worked with my fiancée and I for weeks on a beautiful routine for our first dance. We chose a pretty modern song (John Legend - Surefire) and she came up with some traditional steps along with really fun touches that made it a blast to learn and even more fun to do at our wedding. We LOVED the lessons, her flexibility, and most importantly we had so much fun doing the dance. Also we have a 8-month old (sinful, I know), so it was extra tricky making it to classes but Murisa let us bring the little guy and worked with our shifting schedule. I was incredibly nervous about the dance and remembering all the parts but I'm happy to report that we did awesome, and I didn't step on any toes or drop my (now) wife at all. Almost five people said it was the best first dance they had ever seen, and it was seriously one of the highlights of our wedding because it was something we did just for fun. Thank you, Murisa! read more

Take My Lead - Dance Schools Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Mutrisa was an amazing teacher. My wife and I finally got our steps in line for our wedding! Her instructions are intuitive and she looks us through it all one step at a time. Amazing, I recommend taking classes with her for everyone. read more

Reasons I worried about our wedding dance: 1) No dancing ability in either of us 2) Slow song! 3) Deeply unathletic, and the real kicker... 4) two women. Murisa graciously put all of those fears to rest. She built a routine that was elegant yet manageable. We did a total of five lessons, and from the very first one we were sent out with new skills, homework, and excited to learn more! She is a truly gifted teacher. As somebody who works in surgical education, I am familiar with education theory and best practices for teaching psychomotor learning. And she really practices all of them: first showing the moves, then breaking them down and demonstrating, finally providing directed feedback allowing deliberate practice, and then integrating. And while our experience proves her a great teacher for beginners, we also walked in on the tail ends of other couples' dances and can see she knows how to work with the advanced folks as well! The space she works in is nice, too! It's a big dance studio and though sometimes other classes are taking place, most of the others are pros and so inspiring and respectful of space. Also free (w/ validation from coffee shop, etc) parking in the garage next door so takes yet another stressor off the table. Last, not that this is uncommon in LA, but it was nice to see that she was excited to work with a same sex couple and liked that we wanted to play with lead / follow roles on the dance floor. Bonus points to an already wonderful experience! All in all, we could not recommend her more and are so grateful we found her. read more

Take My Lead - Great with our two women wedding! (Me "leading" here) - Dance Schools Near Me - Los Angeles, California

See all

Took a salsa class with my lover, and it was very fun. We learned the basics of Salsa. Murisa was very attentive and her teaching was very easy to apply. Highly recommend going. My lover and I will definitely be back to resume our salsa training. read more

My husband and I got married this November, and Murisa helped us to choreograph our first dance. Murisa was sOOoo much fun to work with!! She's funny, upbeat, and a great teacher. We've never taken any type of dance lessons before, but we felt comfortable with Murisa' instructions. We really looked forward to each lesson, and had a great time working with Murisa! Some advise: **Take your dress into consideration when choosing your song!** My wedding dress was very difficult to move in (heavy, lots of volume at the bottom), and it was extremely difficult to do our choreographed dance. We wished we had either chose a slower song/dance, or perhaps bought another dress for the first dance. **Practice!! You learn a lot in each 45 min lesson. You want to make sure you practice so you're ready to learn something new for the next lesson. **Book lessons earlier!! We were glad to book lessons 3 months before the wedding, so we had plenty of time to practice. With all that said, our first dance was a huge hit at the wedding!! Our first dance is now a highlight of our wedding that we'll never forget. My husband and I cannot recommend Murisa enough! read more

See all

Oh Murisa, we're so lucky we found you! I happened upon Take My Lead via a Groupon deal and had planned to just check out the studio and Murisa to see if she'd be a good fit to help Chris and I tackle a surprise first dance for our wedding. Fast forward several months and we just got back from our wedding in Mexico where we totally surprised everyone with some awesome swing choreography complete with three (count them, THREE) lifts. We couldn't have imagined a better routine or teacher for us. Thanks for believing in us, Murisa - you're our favorite cheerleader :). read more

Take My Lead - Sorry it's such a crappy quality photo, but I just had to post evidence of us nailing the "love bird lift". Thanks, Murisa! :) - Dance Schools Near Me - Los Angeles, California

This is a different kind of review. First off, I have not visited the studio, used any of their services, nor have I had any personal contact with any of the staff. No, I am not a customer and I will likely never be. In fact, I guess you could technically say that I am a competitor. My wife and I own a dance studio in Missouri and we offer the same services as Take My Lead. I called a few days ago to ask a few questions about their experience with an online advertiser. After being upfront with who I talked to on the phone about who I am and what I do, I was greeted warmly. She answered all of my questions and even offered some advice that I found more than helpful. I don't think I have ever been treated so well on the phone by anyone, much less someone who might be considered a competitor. Although this review may not be entirely helpful to someone looking for help with their wedding dance lessons, I would highly recommend Take My Lead simply based on the outstanding way they treated a complete and total outsider. read more

A wonderful instructor and genuinely nice person. We found Murisa through Groupon, intending to use her services to choreograph and train us for our wedding "first dance." I'll be honest--I'm a crap dancer. But through Murisa's patient instruction, she was able to make me look competent and in command as I led my wife through a lovely rhumba "God Only Knows" by the Beach Boys. Of course, during the actual wedding dance, I got a little nervous and messed a few steps up, but by then we had the basics of the steps and dance down, and no one noticed. In fact, there were multiple comments about what good dancers we were! I think the key is that Murisa is both endlessly patient and a fine instructor. She is able to effectively convey the dancing basics to non-dancers like me. And she's wonderful to be around. She was genuinely excited for our progress and we had loads of fun during our lessons. The service isn't cheap (once you move past the Groupon) but my wife and I both felt it was totally worth it. We even paid for extra sessions. Highly recommended. Five stars. read more

Murisa was awesome. We started off with a 6 pack and ended up getting 9 more lessons. Murisa worked with us through an injury that I sustained and even her own pregnancy to help me and my wife create a one of a kind awesome first dance. Highly recommend! read more

Take My Lead - Dance Schools Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Murisa was wonderful in helping my husband and I with our wedding dance choreography! I had a history of teaching dance myself and didn't want to teach my new husband how to dance for our wedding. After doing extensive research, we found Murisa! We opted for several months of dance rehearsals (which I *highly* recommend, by the way, to help make you feel as comfortable as possible.) Both my husband and I looked forward to each lesson. Murisa is such a kind and fun teacher and person to spend time with! Together we created a pretty ambitious dance to "Thinking out Loud" by Ed Sheeran with lifts and dips galore. At our wedding we shocked our guests with what we had created and we couldn't have done it without Murisa's awesome teaching. Thank you so much! read more

Murisa is a fantastic dance instructor. She is extremely talented, personable, and made us feel comfortable and confident with our dance. And most importantly we had a lot of fun! Having no prior dance experience, we took 10 lessons within a 1 month time frame to learn a choreographed routine for the first dance at our wedding. Murisa provided us with the dance foundation to build off of, and created an elegant choreographed routine within our skill level. The result was a beautiful and memorable experience not only us, but for our guests at the wedding. She is an absolute pleasure to work with and I would highly recommend her. read more

We worked with Murisa for about 6 sessions before our August wedding and had such a blast with her. She is so encouraging and such a great teacher. She knows the dances so well and was easily able to give both of us tips to make the moves smoother. We mainly wanted to take lessons so we didn't just sway back and forth for our first dance but never expected it to be so fun. I highly recommend Murisa and taking dance lessons before your wedding. With all the stress that comes with planning a wedding, it's nice to have time for just you and your fiance that isn't all about making decisions for the wedding. Thank you so much Murisa! You're awesome! read more

My wife Jane and I decided we wanted a fun first dance to wow our guests for our wedding. We picked the classic song Don't Stop Believin' by Journey because it was something we both grew up belting out in karaoke rooms and the title reflected how lucky we felt to have found our partner after waiting so long. We looked up reviews on Yelp and picked Murisa because past students were so enthusiastic about her. We were not disappointed. Murisa was on-board and excited about our ideas from the first try-out lesson. She was a fan of Journey as well and loved the idea of choreographing a dance routine for us. Jane and I were both impressed with how quickly she came up with the first steps of our routine - a simple tango - and how well it fit to the beats of our song. In later lessons, we added cha-cha and west coast swing to our routine and then flourishes like dips and lifts. Murisa was full of enthusiasm and encouragement each time we saw her. She truly loves what she does and it's hard not to get infected with her love of dance. We were able to laugh at our mis-steps as we learned and celebrate our successes together. Jane and I looked forward to every lesson. She was also very professional and accommodating - setting up a schedule that worked with our busy lives and quick to respond to our needs to make changes. We actually invited Murisa and her amazing co-teacher Amy to crash the wedding to see the dance. Despite some scares from some last-minute wedding dress pinning and a slightly slippery floor from the fog machine (yes, of course there was a fog machine), we were able to get through the dance to a roaring response from our guests. We found some seats at the reception for Murisa and Amy and they stayed to help us celebrate; which seems appropriate since they had become our friends over the course of our lessons together. Without Murisa we wouldn't have had one of the highlights of our wedding. Jane and I can't recommend her enough. We had such a great experience with her that we're planning to take future lessons with her as we continue to explore our new-found love of dance. read more

My husband and I are so, so glad that we chose Murisa as our dance instructor to prepare for our wedding. We both had no experience in dancing and was super nervous and awkward at first. However, as the lessons flew by, we had so much fun. If you wonder about doing a special First Dance, go for it with Murisa! She's awesome and makes you feel at ease. Being nerds, we wanted a choreography for the theme song of Game of Thrones. Done and done! We had so many compliments from our guests!! They loved every minute of it. So did we!! I actually posted myself dancing on Facebook!? Thanks Murisa! read more

Murisa is the BEST!!! We started off taking her class as way to learn some moves for our upcoming wedding. Since my wife and I have (very amateur) dance backgrounds we thought we could get away with learning a few moves and winging it the day of. Murisa was so much fun during our class that we decided to sign up for a pack and learn a whole routine for our dance. She quickly found our strengths and choreographed something amazing to our music. We even ended up with 2 LIFTS!! Everyone was totally impressed and it was all thanks to her. Did I mention that Murisa is the BEST!!! Just had to say it one more time. read more

Murisa was such a pleasure to work with for almost the ten sessions we had with her. She's very professional. She really knows the dances. I mean, she could switch back and forth from the girl and guy parts so smoothly. Definitely helped out my fiancé. In addition, she totally keeps it light and fun and gets you excited for your dance. I really appreciated her teaching analogies like the elevator, beach ball and so forth. Helped me to definitely understand how I should be moving or standing. I think she definitely has the gift of teaching. This is coming from a former teacher. All in all, we loved Murisa. She's a beautiful person inside and out! read more

Murisa was fantastic, even though we had zero dancing experience, we wanted to be a bit more adventurous for our first dance and went with Bachata. She was super excited about the direction and took us step by step from basics to choreography. Very happy about the result and definitely well worth it! read more

Murisa did a fantastic job preparing me and my husband for our first dance. Our guests absolutely loved the dance and we had a great time during our classes. Murisa is a great dancer and a great teacher who patently deals with newbies like us. Highly recommend her! read more

Murisa was a fantastic teacher! Personable and patience, funny and wise. My wife and I did many lessons with her and learned a variety of dances. Can't recommend her enough! Would rate her 10 stars if I could. read more

Murisa was amazing! We came to her with no real vision and very little skill. She was positive, patient, and super creative. We had a great time in all of our lessons and a fantastic time doing the dance at our wedding. Our guests were blown away by how well we did, as was I! I would recommend her to anyone looking for a dance instructor! read more

My husband and I were looking for a unique way to spend a few date nights as we planned our wedding so we purchased a Groupon for four dance classes. Murisa made classes so much fun we ended up coming back nearly every other week for more than a year! Though I had some prior dance knowledge my husband had none; Murisa has an incredible ability to present the steps in a way we could both understand. She never made us feel dumb or let us be defeated if we were having trouble with a new dance step but instead worked out a new way for us to think about things in order to get it right. She's talented, enthusiastic, and inspiring--and she choreographed an epic first dance for us consisting of our newfound skills in cha-cha, hustle and swing (with a few of our own signature dance moves thrown in there, too!) to wow our wedding guests. It was one of the day's highlights and a moment my husband and I will cherish forever. Whether you love to dance, want to learn, or are convinced you have two left feet, Murisa will guide you to success! read more

See all

Everyone says this when they write a rave review, but I really DO wish that we could give Murisa more than 5 stars!!! My husband and I started taking dance lessons loooong before our wedding because neither one of us had any experience dancing and were very nervous about doing our first dance. Murisa was always SO encouraging and SO patient, that dance lessons were always fun...not the fearful chore we were anticipating. She is able to break things down so that even the most uncoordinated person (that would be me) can understand, but she somehow does it without making you (me) feel stupid :D When you are certain that there is NO way you can do a particular step, she steps in with her tiny frame, and whips you around the floor without any effort whatsoever, proving to you that, yes, you WILL move that way!! (I'm still mildly baffled by this...) There are SO MANY wonderful things I could say about Murisa! Just know that if you are lucky enough to study with her, you will have an amazing and patient teacher, a skilled dancer/performer/actress, and an all-around awesome person to help you make your wedding (or any) dance the best it can be :D read more

I surprised my fiancé with lessons for his 30th birthday and Murisa was GREAT! She was really thorough- asked questions about our experience to get a sense of our abilities, then chose a dance she thought would be appropriate for us. We're both mostly untrained dancers, so she was good about explaining things in a way we could understand, and was very patient. =) We both had fun, learned some new things, and will definitely be going back for more, when we're not in the middle of wedding craziness! read more

My partner and I look forward to dance class with Murisa every week. We have been taking dance lessons with Murisa for a few months. She is such an excellent, creative, positive, and supportive teacher. She has a sense of humor and keeps things fun and relaxed, but also can teach you a lot in a short time. She's also terrific at explaining difficult dance concepts, which I really appreciate. We learn so much every lesson and leave feeling more confident and excited about dancing. Murisa takes time to teach the fundamentals, which has helped us tremendously. We're so glad we found her! Can't recommend her highly enough. read more

This review isn't for the actual dance class services provided, since we didn't even make it that far. There was a miscommunication about times/dates, and we got rude/terse attitude on the phone when we called to clear things up. There was a promise of a callback to reschedule, which never happened. read more

Murisa was an amazing dance instructor! We got 10 lessons to learn the dance for our wedding. Not only did Murisa helped us put together an amazing routine, but she made it into a fun learning learning experience. Me and my husband were very busy at work, so we didn't practice at all, in spite of Murisa's recommendation. She was still very patient with us and made sure we learned challenging but not overwhelming dance moves. Overall, we had a great combination of both slow waltz and fast cha-cha. We were impressed by how much we learned in 10 lessons. Murisa is very talented and we would highly recommend her to anyone! read more

My parents gifted by now-husband and I dance lessons for our wedding First Dance. We were a little intimidated when they gifted us 6 lessons! And, we had no expectations since we hadn't planned on a major dance moment at the reception. But, meeting with Murisa for 6 sessions before our wedding became THE PERFECT wedding check-in for my fiance and I. It's physical, romantic, and fun. It gets you out of the planning daze you experience in the 3 months before the wedding. Murisa explains everything clearly and gives you homework. Lessons are short and sweet - 45 mins, and we brought her a song before we knew what choreo we were doing. But what's magical is somehow she gets your bodies to do moves beyond your wildest dreams. We felt like Dirty Dancing or Silver Linings Playbook!! The night of our wedding, as we hit the dance floor, I was so excited to show our friends and family these moves. People literally gasped and cheered. Plus, it made the first dance an memorable part of our tradition, instead of this awkward thing where everyone has to look away. So many people posted pics and vids of us dipping, twirling, and rumba-ing all night. Murisa may be teaching you classic dances but her studio and teaching style is so modern. We had so much fun, we even booked a 7th session. Thanks Murisa! read more

I had purchased a Groupon to use for my fiance and I to take a dance class before our wedding. When I had called to schedule the class, Murisa was extremely helpful, gracious and accommodating with my schedule. Once at the actual class, Murisa was not only extremely patient, but she was very clear and simple to understand. Her illustrations were helpful and we both quickly picked up the steps with ease, thanks to her instructions! I would absolutely return to her in the future, as both my fiance and I were impressed with her! Highly recommend her to those seeking help with even just being more comfortable on the dance floor for your wedding. read more

I grew up dancing however had very little training in ballroom. When I got back into the dance world after being away from it for many years, I decided to expand my horizons and try ballroom. I contacted Murisa and met with her for lessons. She is a truly gifted teacher, working patiently and steadily to make sure you know which step is which along with ensuring you feel comfortable and confident! I highly recommend working with Murisa, she is the best! read more

Murisa is a really fantastic instructor for dancers at all levels. My husband and I took a total of 15 lessons from her before our wedding, and we could not be happier with the results. We got so many compliments on our first dance! My husband had never really danced before in his life, and was very doubtful of his ability to master even basic steps. Murisa was very patient and encouraging, and we learned moves from her that were definitely way more advanced than we thought we were capable of! Can't recommend her highly enough. read more

See all

I don't know where my wife found Murisa, but I'm GLAD she did! We took the 10 lesson package from her and it was a lot of fun. We always looked forward to our lessons. She's patient, sweet, and an awesome teacher. It was bittersweet after our last lesson, but I must say my wife and I will forever remember the dance moves we learned. Thanks Murisa! read more

We took 3 classes with Murisa. She's a great teacher who doesn'tget impatient with slow students. She celebrated with us when we got a new move down and made the classes fun. I would highly recommend her and would go back if we ever need to practice for a special occasion. read more

Murisa is such a cutey! It was my idea to take lessons for our upcoming wedding and my fiance was the hesitant one. After the first trial class he was the one who wanted to do it more than me! Murisa made us super comfortable and went at our pace. We ended up loving going to class each week! We did the 10 class special and mastered out first dance! With Murisa's encouragement we even were able to do a lift where he spun me in the air! With no previous dance experience, I was pretty impressed with us. it was so much fun and our first dance was so memorable because of it. Thank you Murisa! read more

My husband and I knew absolutely nothing about ballroom dancing and within just a few classes we were twinkling and shassé-ing like pros! We had so much fun learning the waltz for our upcoming wedding with Murisa, she made it seem so easy and was incredibly patient and knowledgeable. Hoping to take some extra classes with her in the future after the wedding! read more

Fun, friendly, accommodating, patient, understanding and a great sense of humor. These are some words to describe Murisa as a person. We went to Murisa for our very first lesson (and first date ...) about a year ago, just to see if dancing was for us, but we soon realized with Murisa as a teacher we had nothing to worry about and we could knock it out of the park. She showed us the tango, mambo, east coast swing and salsa, and came back every week with new moves just challenging enough to make sure we progressed to the next level. She could fulfill the role of both male and female in every dance move with great ease and always tried to explain what was going on in a way we could both relate to. We will always remember the "momentum vectors" Murisa :-). We recommend Murisa as a dance instructor to anyone who wants to take dancing just for fun or as serious business. It doesn't get any better than Murisa, and you will have fun and learn a lot!!! read more

I started taking one-on-one sessions with Murisa a couple months ago, and I have zero regrets about it. She sat down with me on our first session and asked what I was looking to get out of dance. Bottom line is she cater's to your specific needs, and helps you get what you want out of the sessions. Whether you're a couple looking to learn a dance for a wedding, or just looking to hone the craft and have some fun, I highly recommend signing up with her! read more

Murisa was unbelievable. Our wedding was April 11th and we started with her ~4 months beforehand - she was patient, fun, inspiring and made sure that our dance reflected us as couple. I would recommend her to anyone and she helped make our day so much fun! (Additionally I now have cool dance moves and lifts to bring out at other weddings!) read more

My husband surprised me with private ballroom dance lessons as a gift, and we absolutely loved Murisa! Neither one of us had ever ballroom danced before, so we didn't even really know what we wanted, but Murisa made us super comfortable right from the start. After describing what kind of feel we were going for (we wanted to be able to have a great go-to dance for weddings and the like), she helped us pick out a great dance that would give us what we wanted and be straight-forward enough for beginners! She is so patient in explaining everything and switches back and forth between the male and female roles beautifully, which makes learning all the easier. She's professional while also being fun and very enthusiastic when you get the steps down! The pace was also great - if we were picking up a move faster than expected, she would move along at a faster pace, allowing us to learn more. All in all, we are so happy with our experience with Murisa and hope to return again in the future! read more