Society Hill Dance Academy

Reviews 3

DA

Darren Bolton

Two months before our wedding, my then fiancé Jessica and I went to the Society Hill Dance Academy to choreograph our first dance to Michael Jacksons "Rock With You." Neither of us had ever taken a dance lesson. Upon arriving, we were introduced to Ro, who promptly moved us into a private room. We discussed what we had in mind for our dance, so he listened to our song, and informed us that we would be doing a dance known as "the hustle," which is a common style of partner dance. After a good first class in which Ro began to show us the movements involved in the hustle, we signed up for a series of 8 lessons, with the final lesson being 4 days from our big day. Partner dance requires learning a new skill, and in order to get comfortable with it, that necessitated a great deal of practice. Our lessons were spent rehearsing and repeating our moves, and Ro would add something new each lesson to keep moving us forward. We were always assigned homework, which was to practice our moves at home to our song. Believe me, if you are reading this review for purposes of choreographing your first wedding dance, or any other reason for that matter, you will need to practice. If you have never partner danced, you will be a fish out of water and will require constant, perhaps even daily practice in order to legitimately feel all of the moves and know you can execute without having to think too much about them, especially during an emotionally charged day with an audience. Ro hammered us about practicing, and like any good teacher he could tell if we had been putting in the appropriate amount of practice between lessons. Practicing your dance is not as easy as it sounds, because when you are planning a wedding, you have a lot going on, and you will probably need to be disciplined enough to schedule time to do it. After our ceremony, Jessica and I were able to spend a few moments in the bridal suite practicing one last time, especially some of the tricky movements that we hoped to incorporate into our routine, and the opening/closing sequences that Ro created for us. We rehearsed our dance up to within 30 minutes of actually performing it. I can say with certainty that those final rehearsals made all the difference for our confidence in our ability to perform the dance with a large audience and a sea of distractions. At any rate, we went out there and pretty much killed it. Everyone was very impressed, and it was apparent to all in attendance that an amount of work went into the finished product. Aside from having a great knowledge of dance, Ro was simply a good teacher. I myself am a golf instructor, and I know that the effective teachers teach people more than they teach golf. Ro had this approach to dance, as he built a relationship with us, and held us accountable to work on and perfect what he was teaching us. He was invested in our success, and truly wanted us to perform well. I personally had the sense that if we did not do a good job with our dance, we would not just be letting each other down, but Ro as well. I was very impressed by his instruction, professionalism, and how well our dance came out as a result. We were even given the opportunity to do a dry run of our completed dance before a small crowd in the studio in order to mentally prepare to have eyes on us. Looking back, I feel that the experience was good for us as a couple. We had to work on this dance together starting from absolutely zero until we had a finished product that we were ready to put on display in front of 200 people. Learning dance can also do a lot of good in forcing would-be dancers out of their comfort zones, and to develop a self-deprecating sense of humor. We did not just learn a dance- we grew as a couple as well, and managed to have a lot of fun doing it, too.

RO

Robert Cole

If youd told me last year that dancing would become a big part of my life, I would have laughed at you. Im 45 and had never danced a step in my life, and on top of that Im a 265 pound weightlifter - my physique doesnt scream "graceful." But I went to one too many weddings where everyone but me seemed to be having fun on the dance floor, so I decided to try to learn. Six months later, I can now do a creditable job at waltz, foxtrot, tango, salsa, hustle, and swing, and can kind of fake bachata, rumba, and cha-cha. As important, though, as what Ive learned, has been the process. Ive really enjoyed it - without that I would certainly have quit. And I attribute that mostly to Society Hill Dance Academy and my instructor, Cat. I took a lesson with Cat and after one night had an idea how to hustle. She didnt make me feel embarrassed by my awkwardness; she didnt teach steps I couldnt follow; she just jumped into the dance, watched where I had trouble, fixed it, and moved on. And laughed with me a little at the same time. Thats how it has always been. Ive taken lessons now with almost all of the staff at SHDA, and Im continually impressed with their quality. Im no judge of dancers, so I cant say how good they actually are at dancing (though many are or have been serious professionals and competitors so I have no doubt they are VERY good). But I have some experience teaching and I have an idea of what makes a good instructor. And these instructors are terrific. They are really able to tailor the lessons to their particular students, and they have great presentation skills and senses of humor. Derek, in particular, has an amazing teaching style. Hes fixed my timing on two different dances and just seems to know how to get me to learn stuff. Private lessons are really only one piece of the instruction package. Taking private lessons gives one access to group lessons and to Friday night dance parties. I was a bit slow to embrace all of that, but I think its hard to improve a lot without it. You could find a group lesson to take practically every day if you wanted to, so thats a great resource. And through the group lessons and the parties they have built up a bit of a community of students that is fairly close-knit and that Ive gotten to know. They have a little bit of everything - married couples learning to dance together, older people looking to stay fit and interact, younger guys trying to pick up a skill that will help with girls, and even a few hot girls (if thats what youre looking for). Its a fun group. So if youre interested in learning dancing, or just trying something different and meeting some cool people, Id give Society Hill Dance Academy my highest recommendation. Its been a great experience for me.

KA

Kate Berninger

In the beginning of this year, my girlfriend surprised me with a private dance lesson at the Society Hill Dance Academy. I was a little hesitant because I didn’t want to dance in front of other people, but as soon as we got there I had a blast. We spent about 45 minutes with our instructor, Cat, who I can’t talk up enough. We learned some basics and had a great time. Following the lesson, we decided to sign up for 15 classes. Over the next few months, we learned a myriad of dances including, but not limited to, the Salsa, the Cha Cha, the Bachata, the Waltz, the Tango, and more. Each time we arrived at the studio, we were welcomed with warm smiles. Our instructor, Cat, was phenomenal to say the least. We always had such a great time learning from her and we really appreciated her flexibility and patience when we had difficulty with certain moves or had to reschedule a lesson. We had a great experience at the Society Hill Dance Academy and would highly recommend it to anyone looking to learn a few new dance moves or to become a more serious dancer. It’s great location allows you to walk around before or after your lesson to get dinner, a drink or just walk around South Street. They also have fun Friday night dance parties where you can meet the other dancers and practice some old or new moves. We were lucky to have gotten to know the instructors and the owner, Shana, at the studio.

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