Moving Image Dance Academy

Reviews 6

A

Anonymous User

So, my lovah and I decided to start taking dance lessons several months ago, as we have a large event coming up, and we didnt want to 1. Grind on each other in front of my grandmother (she collects knives), 2. Look like were being electrocuted, 3. Resort to using my go-to dance moves (it looks like the hokey pokey mixed with the robot, but not nearly as sexy as either of those dances) 4. Dance only to the electric slide or cha cha slide 5. Do the prom dance shuffle. All those sound awful right? Anyway, I began a search for ballroom dancing lessons and after a thorough browsing of reviews, speaking to several companies, I met Ken Kalowy (owner of Moving Images) (also, I may spell his name wrong. Every single time I write him a check. Its pronounced Callaway! Like the golf people. We had a long discussion about how the spelling of his name confused me and he should do something about it). We are learning several types of dances (you know, cause these events generally play more than one type of song). Weve been going once or twice a week for several months now! Its $90 per private lesson - AND WORTH EVERY PENNY!!! Hes incredibly patient with us, funny, doesnt mind touching me while dancing even though I get a little sweaty. Ew. What a champ. My paramour, who I thought would be awesome because hes generally never afraid to get in the middle of a dance circle and make his butt clap, has been having a little more trouble, but its because he wants to do it right! Hes a perfectionist. Anyway, Ken is always patient with him. He has an amazing eye - catching things we do incorrectly and nipping that bullsh*t in the bud before they become a habit. At first we started off just marching/walking/moving to the beat (like for 5 minutes when we were first learning how to salsa), but as weve continued, weve realized how important it is to get the timing perfect, and how even though it looks easy - every little motion is taken into account in order to make the dance (and you) look good. And that is how it has gone for each type of dance hes introduced to us - he breaks it down to the basics, provides constructive criticism, and even lets my sweet SO lead him (but thats only when sweet SO is doing something really wrong). The pacing of his lessons is perfect. At first I was worried we were going too slow, but after our first lesson, I realized just how much we learned! He teaches us 1-3 new things at every lesson - depending on how well were doing each move. Lessons are 45 minutes - pretty standard for all the dance companies I spoke to. He does have a policy where he asks you to cancel 24 hours in advance, because he pays to rent the room he uses for private lessons (its separate from his studio). We once had to cancel the day of because I was sick, but he let us off the hook :) Otherwise, you have to pay a cancellation fee. But honestly - canceling at least 24 hours in advance should be common courtesy for any business/person you are working with. Anyway, we unwisely rescheduled for right after I got better and I was clearly off my normal "only kind of bad" game. The next lesson, he spent asking me if I needed water, if I was ok, and generally keeping an eye on me to make sure I wouldnt pass out on him. It really meant a lot to me. Honestly, Im just sorry we didnt start taking lessons earlier. Anyway, because we love it so much, Sweet SO and I have decided to continue taking lessons after the big event (a wedding)! It gives us an excuse to take a break, go to beautiful Center City, dance, followed by a dinner date :) Ken gives private lessons in a building on Rittenhouse Square - perfect for a date night! At our last lesson (we just left it) he told us that his company got an award - Best Of Philadelphia 2011!!! Congrats and you totally deserve it :) Ive never had so much fun exercising!

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JE

Jeff Katzin

My fiancée (now wife) and I called Moving Image Dance Academy a month before our wedding and by the time we had our first dance we felt comfortable and proud of what we could show off—a very nice 3-minute waltz. In all, we fit in six lessons with Ken that were 45 minutes long apiece, so we certainly felt that we made fast and efficient progress. Ken rented a large private room in the Philadelphia Ethical Society for the lessons and that gave us lots of space and the chance to dance to music of our own choosing (played from my phone). As suggested in previous comments, Ken takes dance seriously, has high standards, and is honest and direct in pointing out areas for improvement, but we never had trouble accepting his feedback and felt that all of it was very much to our benefit. Thanks to his guidance, which went far deeper just teaching us the basic steps of our dance, we had a thorough sense of how we should move and feel while dancing. We had a lot of fun learning the dance and practicing it together. Thanks Ken for making this aspect of our wedding an enjoyable success!

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JA

Jared Remster

Ken took two people who didnt know how to dance (well, one of us didnt) and made it look like we knew what we were doing. Our first dance at our wedding was a fairly difficult song that we couldnt just shuffle through so he taught us the moves and routines to get through it and impress our friends and family.

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RA

Randal Policare

My partner and I are in our 50s and have zero dance knowledge. Ken made us feel comfortable and at ease in an interesting setting located at Rittenhouse square. Ken can be demanding but that is what a good instructor does. We are very pleased with our progress and a few short weeks!

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AS

Ashley Marks

I have never been spoken to so rudely in my entire life. I encourage people to not give Moving Image Dance Academy business. There are other places to go, where dance instructors and the people answering the the phones have a heart.

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PI

Piya Wannachaiwong

What an incredible school. Fair pricing, good instructors, and a lot of fun.

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