I just attended a wedding where the newly-married couple were ballroom dancers. The majority of their friends were ballroom dancers as well. i.e. lots of dancing.

I felt a little bit outta place, and in particular, would have loved to have taken the wife out on to the dance floor.

I'd like to remedy this situation -- I'd like to learn how to dance and surprise the mrs.

Can anyone recommend a good place to learn ballroom in the SF Bay Area/peninsula? I have at least 5 or so weddings coming up!

Thanks!

You have the option of going to Fred Astaire or Arthur Murray studios or the more popular independent studios. You might want to contact a few studios and do an introductory lesson, most offer a 30 minute free lesson. It would be advisable to ask your friends for references to specific studios.

Here is a link to a few places in the SF area.

www.metronomeballroom.com

http://www.ssmg.net/newpage31.htm#CITY%20OF%20SAN%20FRANCISCO

Metronome Ballroom -- www.metronomeballroom.com

Pick Studio -- www.pickdance.com

Allegro Ballroom -- www.allegroballroom.com

Imperial Dance Club (although this is a bit more focussed on competition dancers) -- www.imperialdance.com

Of these, my favorite is the Metronome. It's in Portreo Hill and has an extensive social dance program and plenty of free parking. My second favorite is the Allegro, as they also have lots of free parking and a large selection of group classes to choose from.

If you decided to go with a place like Fred Astaire or Arthur Murray, make sure you fully understand their "contract" costs, what you have to pay up front, and what you have to pay if you decide to break the contract. The Independent studios I list above don't have their students sign contracts, the group classes and even most private lessons are taught on a pay-as-you-go basis, so you rarely have to ever put up more than what four weeks of group classes woud cost in advance (see web sites for group class costs and schedules).

Thanks so much for your recommendations. I'll give them a go. I was a bit put off by the high upfront costs of Arthur Murray.

Do you have any recommendations in south bay (near redwood city?).

Thanks so much!

The Imperial Dance club is located in Redwood City, but as I've said before they're not as socially-focussed as some of the other places. Take a look at their web site and see if you think they might appeal to you.

You might want to try the Starlite Ballroom in Sunnyvale -- it's the hugest ballroom in the area and focusses on beginning social dancers. It used to be part of some kind of chain but was recently taken over by new management so it's worth checking out. I took lessons there years ago and the facility is very large and modern with lots of parking. Back then they had contracts for private lessons, but like I said they have new management so things may be different.

Two other independent places are the Dance Spectrum in Campbell, and San Jose Dance Sport.

www.starliteballroom.com
www.sjdancesport.com
www.thedancespectrum.com

Thanks so much! I'll get right to it!

Bay Area is pretty good place to start!

It's good to have enthusiastic beginners! Welcome!

www.imperialdance.com
www.thedancespectrum.com
www.starliteballroom.com
www.allegroballroom
www.pickdance.com
www.sjdancesport.com

My most favorite is Imperial Dance club. Try their Monday of Friday classes. I love Imperial for many reasons. Number one is they are really good professionals. It is true that it's more geared towards competitive dancing. But this how you get good fast. If you try it and fing a bit intimidating at the begining, try Starlite, but do come back to Imperial later!

I like Dance Spectrum and Allegro just as much. Depends on where you live.

Oh yeah, Laura mentions private lessons. There are 2 ways people do it: buy them one at a time or buy a block (like a contract). I personally recommend "one at a time" scheme, especially for the beginning. In my experience, "one at a time" scheme works a lot better. For one simple reason: Imagine you've met a teacher, had one introductory lesson, liked it a lot and bought a block of 8 lessons. In lesson #5 you decided that this is good, but not exactly what you like. The rest of your money is basically wasted.