What do you get out of a Private?

The primary benefit is one-on-one time, rather than having to sift through information taught in a group class. There is no doubt that a private lesson will improve your dance skills!  Privates provide the opportunity for a student to get help completely specific to them, where the instructor can fine-tune aspects of a student's dancing.

Picking an Instructor

Despite the fact that most instructors teach the same Basic Swingout, each has their own methodology and uses different terminology to explain the movements to their students.

It's important to:

a) Choose someone who makes you feel comfortable.  If you're paying money, you want someone you get along with easily.
b) Find someone who is versed in what you want to learn.  Denver is fortunate to have a considerable number of experienced dancers to help you improve your dance skills.
c) To ensure you get the most "bang-for-your-buck", have a good idea of what you want to "get" from that instructor.  I suggest watching your choice of instructor to see what they are like when dancing with others:

⁃    Is it obvious that your choice is having a good time, and dances with EVERYONE? 
 
⁃   What does their partner's facial reaction convey?  Confusion or confidance? Is their partner enjoying the dance? 
 
⁃    Does your choice do movements or have the smoothness you wish you had or wish you could do better? 

In my opinion, the determining factor shouldn't only be how long they've been dancing, it's far more important to know whether people enjoy dancing with them!

My Style of Teaching

My "style" focuses on teaching social dancing skills, not on performance or competitive dancing.  There is a significant and noticeable difference in what you do when doing each type of dance. I have no problem owning up to the fact that performance and competitive dancing are not my forte — because they require enjoying fast music to dance to regularly.  I want to dance every dance, which of course means dancing every now & then to some fast songs. But after dancing to a couple of fast songs you're tired, winded and want/need to catch your breath — which means sitting out a song (or two).  NO THANKS!

It's important to note that you should have solid social dancing skills before advancing to performance or competitive dancing. Dancing to fast music REQUIRES significant knowledge of the concepts of frame and connection to properly dance at faster speeds.

I've been told that I'm a "strong Lead" when asking Follows to describe my Lead, and you know what, I like that description!  The word "strong" has NOTHING to do with actual strength, it's more about ensuring that I lead my partners with assertiveness and confidence and I don't have them guessing what I want them to do.  I believe my partners enjoy our dances more when they don't have to guess about ANYTHING that I'm leading.  It's all about confidance — confidance gained by developing my frame and connection first and foremost, not focusing on learning more and more movements.

I try to dance with EVERYONE (or as many people as I can get around to in a night), especially my students.  When dancing with people from my classes it's never to critique.  I look at it as an opportunity for them to practice what was taught and for me to see how effective my teaching has been, and refine as necessary.

Private Lesson Pricing

Custom Tailored instruction and feedback

• $45/Hour - One to Four People
• $80/Hour - For 5-8 People

Comparing these classes offer:

Personalized, flexible scheduling, discounts offered with multiple bookings