Ballroom Dance Academy

I first found the studio via Groupon so off I went. I wanted to improve my salsa techniques and learned proper footwork since I was just dancing socially and didn’t really know what I was doing lol.
Natalia has been really great. Class is smaller so I feel I got the attention I need, which is important. I did end up purchasing a class pack of 6 lessons which is a good value. I have not been going to class consistently due to hectic work schedule but that will change… crossing fingers LOL

My husband and I took classes before our wedding so we could do a tango for our First dance. We bought the Wedding package. Their prices are reasonable. The class is fun and we learned a lot. Both Michael and Natalia are very talented dancers and teachers. Our private classes were even better — we learned a routine that Natalia put together and then Michael helped us perfect. Our performance went over amazing! We did a great job and felt so happy we did it.
thank you so much guys!! xooox
I got pregnant so we had to stop classes and then we moved across town. Eitherwise we would still be taking class.

This place is the best they put heart into the dance class you are taken. They know what they are doing. Everybody is nice there and having fun. Highly recommended

A few months ago, I made a decision that would change my life — I decided to finally take Latin and ballroom dance lessons. The process of finding a good teacher was daunting and I was concerned about looking like a fool in class. After all, I had two left feet. Was it even possible that I could dance to music without stepping on my partner’s toes? I scoured the internet (the thing that Al Gore invented) to find a good dance studio and came upon ‘Ballroom Dance Academy’ run by Natalia and Michael. The thing that set them apart from the other dance studios (that I had researched) was the way they had structured the dance program. Their DVIDA based program has 8 dances in two levels over the span of 5 months (one does not have to follow the full program. You could choose to learn just one dance if you so wish). So the first month you take one Latin and one ballroom level I class. The following month you will start level II of these dances, but can also start level I of the next two dances. Thus over a span of five months, you learn 8 dances. One can then start level III if you would like to continue learning or you could use what you have learnt in levels I and II to dance socially. Interestingly I thought I would show up for a couple of classes, but ended up enjoying myself so much, that I am now doing level III of the program.
Level I is taught by Natalia (and sometime Michael). What can one say about Natalia? She is a technically superb dancer and a wonderful teacher. She is extremely patient and will help you get the steps right, even if she has to go over them a few times. I am pretty sure I drove her wild asking the same questions a thousand times, while stepping on her toes. Not once did she snap at me — rather she always had this reassuring smile that made me feel very comfortable.
Michael is another amazing dancer. He teaches level III and sometimes level I. Besides being a great dancer, he is also very patient with a great sense of humor that makes all the classes real fun. There is nothing worse than having a teacher with attitude or one that is sarcastic. Michael (and Natalia) are just great people who really care that the students learn dancing and will not rush the lessons. These lessons are also structured so that the leaders and the followers rotate — thus one ends up dancing with all levels of dancers. This, I think is important as one is not guaranteed skilled dance partners while social dancing.
Level II is taught by Karen. Let me just say that when I first started level II, I got the shock of my life as Karen is so technical and watching her demonstrating the dance steps with such perfection made me feel really nervous. But I can confidently say that Karen being so technical and demanding the same of her students, has made me a better dancer. She is a wonderful teacher and it’s a joy to attend her class. You might notice that I use the words ‘wonderful’, ‘amazing’ a lot to describe the 3 teachers — that is because they are the real deal!
If someone asked my opinion on how to go about learning to dance, then I would say do the entire 5 months program (levels I and II of the 8 dances). It is totally worth it and even though you might feel overwhelmed at first (as I did), it will all start to make sense in month 2 or 3. By the 3^rd month you will be able to pick up steps really fast — I am still amazed that I am able to pick up new steps with ease now.
Finally at one of the dance parties, a couple of ladies I was dancing with (and who have been dancing for years), complimented my dancing — that said it all!!! Five months ago I would have laughed if someone had told me that I would be a decent dancer — not just in 1 type of dance, but 8 different types of dances.
Michael and Natalia have opened up a whole new world for me. Instead of watching television on weeknights, I now head over to their dance studio for fun-​filled hours of learning and enjoyment.
Give them a try — I think you will love it and will get hooked like I have!

Dancing classes can be one of the most intimidating experiences for new comers; I was one several months ago. I researched multiple schools in the area and attended them at least once to get a sense for the classes. I am not expert on dancing, but I was looking for a school that would welcome people that had no dancing experience, and would be detail and patient enough to teach a non-​professional how to start and improve with time. My interest is Salsa, and this review is meant for those courses, as well as the instructors.
Salsa courses at BDA are 4 week long, there are 4 levels and group practice at the end of the night. Salsa 1 is the absolute basic, where I started. I have taken this level several times and will continue to do so, why you may asked? read on. The first level teaches the basic Salsa step, Side step, Cumbia step, Cross Body lead, men’s and women’s right and left turn, the pivoting mechanics, women’s outside turn, etc. When I started, this was a different language to me, but each class takes the time to review each step in detail. Each move is broken down beat by beat, how the body should be position, in what foot your weight should be and equally important «why» it should be that way, how you are supposed to be leaning or turning and why; all those details, that a beginner like me must have to start learning; it is not just about following someone moves, it is about understanding the combination of the steps, the mechanics and the why; Michael and Natalia teach the classes. First a few words about Michael, he is a professional dancer, but from what I have observed over a few months, he is also an incredible patient and detail teacher, that has the ability to transfer his knowledge of his art to others, this is a subtle, but important point in my opinion; it is not just enough to see someone dance to evaluate as an instructor, like anything other skill to be learned, it takes someone with the gift of teaching to be really good on this aspect of their career; he covers all the steps, mechanics, why, etc. The classes are also taught by Natalia, a professional dancer herself too, Natalia is also an amazing instructor, and she goes in detail on many other areas of the classes: how to lead, what should the pressure feel like, how it should be applied, how ladies can style at each step, the ladies steps, etc. I think of Michael and Natalia as the yin and yen in the classes, both unique and combine provide their students a great learning experience. Last note on the basic Salsa 1, it is that it is a class worth repeating, even if you move to advance courses as you progress; why? every class you will learn something new, more details, little things that you did not capture the first time, which will make you a better dancer.
For more advance students, there are three other levels, Level 2 and Level 3 are like inter-​medium 1 and 2. Each class is 4 weeks long, and even so the courses repeat every month, Michael and Natalia they teach new moves, techniques in each class, keeping the level of difficulty the same at each level. As you repeat each level, you learn more and more steps, you increase your Salsa repertoire of moves and begin to progress to feel more and more comfortable with the beauty of this art. Then, there is Level 4, all I can comment on this level is that it seems for professionals or near-​professionals, you can judge for yourself by looking at the videos online.
Last but not least, and this is critical in my opinion to learn. All the fundamental steps, moves that are taught in each class are recorded and publish on Facebook and Youtube for students to review and practice on their own time. Anyone can view these videos, making it convenient to review and practice with friends no attending the classes. Regarding the environment at the school, it is pretty friendly, all group classes do not require a partner to attend, all students dance with each other, rotating; these encourage men and women to get familiar with how to lead and follow others. There are students at all level in most of the classes, and even so many of them are what I would consider advance, they are friendly and willing to help the new comers like myself without getting irritated.

Love these guys! My wife and I have been taking private lessons from Natalia (half of the BDA team) for five years and have attended some larger group functions at their Highland Avenue studio, and we recommend them without hesitation. We were total novices and were COMPLETELY intimidated by the idea of ballroom dancing when we started; within five minutes, Natalia had us totally at ease. As a teacher, she’s a dream: patient, funny, thorough, exacting, and kind. She knows how to push you forward without making you feel pushed. And she’s flexible: when we discovered and fell in love with tango, she adapted our curriculum, set up lessons with a visiting tango master from Argentina, and helped us through the terror of our first milonga. We’re now lucky to consider her not just a teacher, but also a friend. (We have less direct experience with Michael but have always found him to be a careful teacher and gracious host at the BDA weekend dance parties.)
If you’ve ever thought about learning ballroom dance but were too shy or embarrassed to try (been there), take a leap and take a lesson. We did and never looked back.

I started attending the Sunday Master class series earlier this year. This is the BEST place I have found in L.A. that teaches advanced classes — covering all ballroom dance styles, in a group format, at a reasonable price.
Michael & Natalia are both amazing instructors, and students get the benefit of their different teaching styles. I have also taken private lessons with Michael, and through his expertise & patience I truly feel like I’m becoming a beautiful dancer. I highly recommend BDA!

We went to Ballroom Dance Academy for the Wedding Package. We had 8 group lessons and then 3 private lessons in our package. We took our group lessons with Michael and Natalia. Both were great teachers and a little different teaching styles. I really like that Michael filmed the steps we learned that week and posted them on Facebook so that you could refresh and practice during the week. We want to come back and take more group classes.
The reason I think the service is a 3 is that we needed more than the package to put together the choreography to our First Dance Song. We ended up paying for another 3 to 4 hours of private lessons which I had not anticipated. That could have partially been our lack of experience. I felt it was also partially because it took Michael a while to understand that I did not want a dance that was faster paced and turned in tight spaces with a big heavy wedding gown on. We had to change up the choerography a few times. The Choergraphy was very original and definitely was for our song. Michael even marked the different spots of the song on his computer so we could easily go back to them during our lessons.
Over all I think our dance turned out great and we lot of compliments from our guests, but it took more time and money than I had originally thought it would when I signed up for the package.

«Dance Lessons» was a nagging itch on my half of the wedding planning list. I knew we should do it, I knew my fiancé even wanted to do it, but it just seemed like such a chore. I stalled by convincing myself I could pick up an adequate sequence of steps by watching YouTube couples first dancing their way through our song, but that quickly became depressing and my fiancé started raising his eyebrows. I chose Ballroom Dance Academy for its variety of classes and the range of ages they teach, the impressive backgrounds of Michael and Natalia, and the coherence of the website.
We had our first class on a Sunday morning with Michael (he was completely gracious even when we were 15 minutes late) and the first thing I liked about him was that it took him all of 20 seconds to listen to the rhythm of our song and identify what kind of dance it should be paired with. This guy was not about to put us through the same kind of shop the YouTube couples had gone to. He met us at our level (we were both very much beginners) and he was beyond patient in teaching us steps and hitching them together in sequences that made sense to both our ways of learning.
Each time we leave the studio we don’t stop grinning for hours (seriously) – we love it. There is no part of taking dance lessons with Michael that resembles doing chores; he’s witty and engaging and it’s still not clear to me which we like more – learning to dance together or hanging out with him while he teaches us. In addition to our private lessons we’re going to start taking Michael’s variety class in August (Tuesdays at 8:15p at the Highland studio) – this experience has been one of the very few that has had me asking, «why has it taken me so long to do this?»

The teaching program is challenging, not so much because of the dancing but because of the book and the counter-​intuitive way in which you have to learn things in order to pass the certification exam. That being said, Michael is a god sent. You might struggle a little at first, but you have to give it a few months and things become clear. Michael really helped me in understanding the material and making the difficult things easier. In addition to being a generally warm and kind person, he really knows how to teach. He understands the problems people might have and addresses them until they disappear. He is wonderful. I recommend him as a ballroom dance teacher in general, not just for this program.

If you want to learn ballroom dancing or brush up on your dancing skills, go to Ballroom Dance Academy. Michael Kuka is amazing!!! He is very patient, professional and great to learn from. He’s the best!

Michael is brilliant!!! In a short amount of time he taught my finance and I the Waltz for our wedding. He is patient, dedicated to his craft and his students, always on time and an all round excellent teacher. What a professional!

Ballroom Dance Academy is a great place to learn how to dance. I walked into the studio one year ago, knowing nothing about dance, and have since learned the basic fundamentals of more than 10 different styles. Michael, Natalia, and Karen (level two instructor) are wonderful teachers who take a personal interest in every person who steps inside. They do a great job of moving everyone forward together, while offering personal tips helpful in improving individual performance. I couldn’t have imagined learning so much in a year, and look forward to moving up to the master classes soon. If you are interested in adding the joy of dance to your life, the Ballroom Dance Academy is the perfect place to start.