I commute to Houston for school and am thinking that I could use working with a good teacher.

How does one find a GOOD teacher for Waltz?

I'm interested in all the ballroom standard, mostly American but I also like Quickstep.

I'd like to learn the basics really well and I'm not feeling all that well served in my small community. Too often I get stuck in class partnering the worst dancers--and while I don't mind when I am repeating a lower level class, I get really annoyed when I don't get to review the previous week's steps because my partner should still be in the previous level classes.

I want to improve. I do not want to learn or keep doing bad habits which I will only later have to unlearn.

So, how do I figure out a good instructor without wasting my time and money going through instructors who are no better than our local instructor?

I figured this would be a place to ask

Check your ph, book for schools and see who has Qualifs, that suit your needs ( ISTD DIVDA etc, )ask Q

I've done that, but the issue is that our local gal is a good teacher and I don't know if she is certified or not, just because someone is certified doesn't make them a good teacher.

I was hoping that as large a city as Houston is, that there would be people from there on here who could recommend teachers and tell me something about them from their personal experiences.

I guess I will just email my local teacher, ask her about her certifications and sign up for a few private lessons.

I just thought there ought to be someone even better to take some lessons from to enrich my efforts to learn well.

I've looked up DVIDA and there is very little offered, just one studio listed on the pages. The entire city of Houston only had one studio listed. A city this size must have someplaces that focus on ballroom. But the web sites I have found seem to only focus on salsa and swing and hardly mention Smooth or Standard--which is my interest.

Are there certification programs that actually keep a listing of all certified instructors available? Where the student to be can go find a list of who is in their area?

If you commute to Houston, where are you commuting from? I know there are quite a few studios in Katy, but I have no personal experience with them - I've only seen the pros at comps. I believe Rosendo Fumero (281.856.9421 - last number listed) and Kathryn Schaffer are still in the Houston area, and they are both fabulous coaches.

I live in Louisiana, so I can only speak to the instructors around here. I do know of a great salsa teacher in Houston, but that won't help you much.

Good luck!

You asked for competent teachers who would be knowledgeable and then you reject my answer in your 1st para.

You then contradict yourself by asking the SAME q at the end of your diatribe !! .

The answer i gave, indicates that the person has had training to a specific level ( isnt that what you wanted ? ) you dont need a top coach for basics !!

I cannot imagine where you got the idea that my response was a "diatribe" Long communication does not always mean rant.

I merely wish to develop my basics without the typical bad posture and poor technique that then must be unlearned. I am a disciplined person who is quite able to be patient with myself and work on many aspects of a dance step at once, even if this slows the over-all pace of learning steps.

My experience is that "basics" teachers focus on basics for getting one out on the floor at social events. While I enjoy this aspect, I'm not satisfied with so low an expectation.


I'm not a beginner, at our local studio I did level #1 over and over again to get ready for level II. I tried going to level II classes in order to dance with the more skilled men in the classes, but I get stuck over and over with the guys who need to repeat level one a few more times. One does not improve one's skills without a partner capable of doing their part.

Hence my question.

And I did take your advice, and only found one studio anywhere within 150 miles of where I was looking on a list of schools with certified teachers.

And that studio's web site did not mention the certification, not even in the instructors blurbs, anywhere on their web site. If they care so little about certification, perhaps they are not particularly serious about quality dance instruction either?

From my research: Salsa and Swing are VERY popular in the Houston area if the web sites for studios there are any indication.

In a city the size of Houston there must be more than this.

There is also the point that I am NOT a total beginner. I've come to recognize that polishing, learning the rise and fall correctly, is not happening where I am at. Another class that is no better--will not do what I want to do.

I want my bronze level steps to progress until the unthinking habit looks professional. This is not the focus of our very solid local teacher. This does not seem to be the focus of the other teachers I am finding either.

I see no contradiction in what I am saying.

Seeking the advice and perhaps occasional lessons from a professional who is exceptionally good, might be below them, but it could help me very much by helping me to FEEL the highly polished.

Years ago, I rode dressage. Loved the precision of it, it was FUN. But to partner well my good horse, I had to know how it felt to get my part correct, so my instructor would put me on an advanced horse and work on me. Her highly trained horse and that instructor were the professionals of highly polished skill and those occasions where I was able to learn from them made the dance with my own horse all the better.

I seek a good instructor. This is defined as one serious about highly correct ballroom technique. The average instructor of basics is not going to give that to me.

And at this time all I would learn at another round of social dance step classes would be bad habits.

Terence . I have to disagree there with your statement You do not need a top coach for Basics.
If you were to go to the people I go to 25th In the last major competition in London. Even with the time that you have been dancing she would take you to the Basic Waltz and you would not get past a Closed Change untill you did it correct. That is how bad some of the teaching is that she has to rectify. There is another lady very well know here who kept an A Grade dancer several weeks on the Samba Bounce before letting them move on.You might say . If I did that I would loose them as pupils. These teachers wouldn't worry about that. Your place would soon be taken by the next one in the queue..

Kaiara. I should add to that bit of information. You will eventually I would expect find yourself a Technique book. If you read Alex Moore and study the foot positions on a Closed Change on the charts you will see there are three. It hasn't been taught that way for years by our leading coaches. Today over the three beats there are six. Richard Gleave and John Wood both on their tapes split the three beats into six by using an and count between the solid beats. So on one we step. On the (and) count the foot comes under the body and we compress the standing knee.From there you should be able to work out how the rest falls into place.I would recomend on youtube you watch Luca and Lorrain Waltz Demo. If you had a lesson with Andrew Sinkinson he would in practice have you bring your moving foot under the body and have you lift that foot from the floor to illustrate the use of that (and) count which includes the bending of the knee and the commece to rise at the end of one. Good Luck

I have one book by Alex Moore. It is very different from the DVIDA books I purchased.

I'm a teacher by trade, so the temptation of a "curriculum" was too much so I have the ballroom books for American style.

I also picked up the DVD's for bronze level because my husband is more likely to learn at home that way. I drag him to class, he watches the DVD on the same step in slow motion over and over until he understands it for practice.

He is finally ready for a basic waltz class!

Nice thing is while getting him to learn is a painfully slow process, he is actually a wonderful partner when he does dance.

Why do you assume that people with comp. credits , are the only ones who are capable of in depth instruction ?.

The majority do not have anywhere near the time and backgound of many of the profs teaching ( including myself ) on a daily basis .And, i have in the past encountered those who could not teach their way out of the proverbial paper bag !

You know little or nothing about my teaching methods,and all the many others... and ,I have seen and heard 95 % of the worlds top dancers and coaches teach.. I seldom, if ever , heard anything that has not been said before, and some are not what I would consider " outstanding" ". And dont even mention the Latin .

Thats my opinion which is as valid as yours .