Lumina Academy

Decided to celebrate my birthday with a belly dancing class for 11 of my closest «circle of trust» friends this year. Lucky for us, Fatima is the most patient, good natured, and friendly belly dancing teacher in Pasadena. She recommended having the belly dancing hip scarves for everyone, which is a great idea. I ordered ahead through Fatima, and each woman loved her take home gift. The age range for our class was 30−79-years young, and Fatima was able to work with each person «where they’re at,» encouraging us, giving us options if one move seemed particularly challenging.
In the one hour class, Fatima gave us a move mastering section, taught us a dance, giving us the background story on the dance, and we actually were able to pretty much learn the choreography and finish the piece. She also changed into her costume and gave us a proper belly dancing demonstration at the end, which everyone loved!
Now my friends want to go back and take her belly dancing work-​out class! From beginning to end, Fatima helped me orchestrate the party and delivered a memorable evening to us all.
Tips: Street parking can be challenging depending on the time of day, so allow time for parking. If you are going to do a party, give yourself a minimum of 4 weeks if you want to order the hip scarves. You can bring water for guests but no alcohol. Bring water, they will be doing a fun, but seriously aerobic work-​out! :)

I have been a student at Lumina Academy for about 5 months now.
It is a wonderful place to learn. I wanted to learn belly dancing but had 0 dance experience.
Fatima has such a wonderful way with her students. She is a beautiful dancer, she is patient, warm, and kind and truly loves dance. She gently corrects and brings out the dancer in all of her students.
Her assistant Mahat (not sure of spelling) is also a naturally amazing dancer.
These two make a wonderful team.
I would highly recommend this studio.

If you want to learn how to dance Salsa very fast and at most reasonable rates, go here! You’ll fall in love with the teachers and fellow students who mirror the school’s ideology which in my opinion is making learning and dancing a fun experience.

Arlene is awesome! It’s a nice humble studio that provides a welcoming vibe. I met Arlene in early 2014 and now have enhanced my salsa skills in such a way that no other salsa instructor could have done.
I’ve met great people here and love coming here every week!
Omar Guttie is cool too!
–Bryan the lion

Arlene is such a fun and great teacher! I really am enjoying my salsa lessons with her! She’s so relaxed and warm. She really makes it easy and so much fun!

I love this dance studio!!! Arlene and Jeanette are the best. I enjoyed Arlene’s positve attitude, appreciated her patience with me (have two left feet), and was impressed with the amount of attention she gave to each student. Jeanette was so helpful with working on the fine details… that make all the difference. I’m telling all my friends and family. Compared to the other placed I looked at, they were the most reasonable in price and provided excellent teaching. See you there. hopefully!

This is a great place to get affordable Salsa lessons and at a schedule that the instructors design to be flexible. Like most studios, they want you to come frequently and routinely but they understand that things come up.
Great place for beginners like myself, but they have intermediate and advanced classes as well.
The dance studio is located in the old residential area on Allen street. People of all ages come down: single men who just want to learn, couples (young and old), mothers and their sons (wish my mom made me learn this at a young age) and older folk who finally want to learn Salsa.
The variety in the group helps, because you constantly rotate and switch partners. That way, you don’t get too comfortable with just one person, one type of build, one type of style. Some partners may let you lead, others will not be so easy. Lot of pressure on the guy in Salsa.
It can be frustrating for couples who want to spend the entire time dancing with their significant other but me and my girlfriend were okay with it because we get it.
They’re really encouraging and take into account how everyone learns, especially the slow learners (raising my hand).
This is a small dance studio. It’s not one of the swankier nightclubish ones where they have weekly socials. That’s the trade off for the lower prices compared to other bigger dance studios in Los Angeles.
Lumina is definately a family dance studio and that’s a great thing. For those who are trying to learn to dance, this is a place where it’s okay to be insecure. You also get the most instruction for your buck. .. and that’s awesome. The style of instruction is also very down-​to-​earth. There is no pompousness and frustration (like other studios). The instructors pay really close attention to the ones who struggle to get it.
Parking is on the street and it’s easy. The farthest I’ve parked is, like, 20 feet down the street.

Arlene and Omar are the best! The studio and instructors provide a fun and open learning environment. I had never taken a class in my life and their classes are not at all intimidating. Yes, that means a beginner’s class is really a beginner’s class.
There are many people who have attended their classes for many years. I think that says a lot!
Parking is easy and they have a lot of fun socials. Highly recommended!

Fatima is a wonderful teacher, good at breaking down the technique for belly dancing. The only thing that kept me from giving the studio 5 stars is that the dance space is small, Even so, highly recommended.

I love Arlene’s Ladies Styling class on Monday nights. It’s a great time to learn the little things that make a difference, like how to make your arms look graceful, what to do when you’re not in hold, and ideas to play with for the 4 & 8 counts. Each class we learn a pattern, and each time you can walk away with something you can use out dancing socially.

Arlene is fantastic. Patient and teaches well.

This is a great studio, and Arlene is a fantastic and patient instructor. There’s something for everyone here, from the beginning dancer to the advanced. You’ll have a blast, and will be ready to hit the Salsa clubs confidently.

I am so happy to have found this dance studio! Fatima is an amazing dancer and a wonderful instructor. It was with her encouragement that I branched out of my usual ballroom style and gave belly dancing a try. Dare I say that it has changed my life! I have gained so much more confidence in myself while learning the beautiful movements. I’ve even had the opportunity to perform, which I never thought possible. My friends cannot believe how much weight I have lost all while having such fun! A year has gone by so fast and each week I look forward to the new things I will learn.
I highly recommend this studio to anyone who wants to learn how to dance or improve their technique. Fatima’s passion and high energy will draw you in and her clear instruction will have you moving in no time. You won’t be disappointed.

This is a great dance studio. Seriously. Five stars.
I found this place in January courtesy of Unilocal LA. Team Unilocal seems to cater to my seasonal needs. In December, there were new sales to compliment my Christmas shopping worth browsing. In January, Unilocal knew that I wanted to drop a few pounds put on because they offered fabulous fitness bargains.
I had driven by before, but was not moved to engage this studio until I saw an advertisement for their fantastic sale offered on «Yelp deals». Buy one class get on free! Plus! I would get the chance to dance with Vince V. (one of my favorite Unilocal authors) who signed up for a Unilocal event there.
The studio is located on the east side of Allen in northeast Pasadena. Next door to a top-​notch bakery, in front of a school, street parking only. Not metered.
Oh how I miss going out seven nights a week just to dance. (I was a semi professional cheerleader in my youngest days) There is no fitness substitute to five hours spent on the dance floor. Outgrowing clubbing will not do wonders for my waistline. No sir.
In the other countries I’ve traveled, it seems that dancing is not the sole property of the pre-​21-​year-​old crowd. So I vow to learn how to Salsa dance. Because. YOU are never too old to dance! And neither am I!
And so I ended up here for my first official lesson. But I lucked out. Because this is no ordinary dance studio.
The soft lighting cascaded on the hardwood floor visible by the windows facing the moonlit street prior the the class starting. On Friday night, there is a table set up outside where the studio greets newcomers with a sign-​in sheet.
I could overhear conversations in English and Spanish by the mixed crowd of locals anticipating the class. Men, women, young, old and of of varying ethnicity sign in. Salsa is for everyone.:-)
There are a few chairs set up near the windows to sit at while you wait for your class to start. And free refreshments available to all participants. But wait. Free Sangria?!!
OK. Do the math in your head. Parking + club entry + drinks = a whole lot of money. My Friday night clubbing costs even more when you add up the inevitable vandalism charge for parking near any cool dance club.
$ 5. is what a Friday night spent dancing will cost you here. With drinks!!! WTF?!! You could forgo one foot long and end up here friends.
Several instructors walked around the class which started with «Raise your hand if this is your first salsa lesson.» About 75% of the hands in the class were raised when posed this question.
The instructors displayed a few of the basic moves for the class with each other before making rounds around the class to check on us all. The participants were rotated again and again, to keep everyone with a partner.
I was given personal attention, as was everyone in the class. Dips, spins, and steps galore were made easy. OK, maybe not that easy. But we did all get the hang of a bunch of pretty cool looking moves eventually.
I have been back to this studio for other classes since finding it. Belly dancing too! Let me break it down for you friends. Value. 5 stars. Instructors. 5 stars. Classes available. 5 stars. Floor, lights, room ambiance. 5 stars. Free sangria? What more do you want? Five stars.:-)

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update 08/​13/​2011
I give props to Arlene and all the staff there. I wanted to write this update to give a shout out to Brian who helped us learn.
Brian is awesome, very sociable, good at giving instruction to newbies and loves Salsa. Salsa, with origins in Cuba, is a unifying force for people of many cultures. The class itself was very culturally diverse and friendly.
I would highly recommend Brian and I will be back again to dance more Salsa.
«Dance with unity
Show love for community
Opportunity»
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I enjoyed Arlene’s open house yesterday as my first salsa dance class ever. I had a great dance partner, Mary B and I hope to get more practice into a great art and quite the calorie burner.
Arlene and the gentleman helping her did a great job. The evening started off with snacks and drinks before the class was underway. The class was fun, though I admit I fumbled at times but I did learn a few new steps. We spent an hour going over moves and preparing to becoming better salsa dancers.
The Lumina Academy is a small first floor studio on the corner of Allen & Casa Grande next to Marshal Fundamental School right off the 210 fwy. I saw parking in the back and on side streets. I parked in the front and did not get a ticket thankfully. Arlene was very freindly and good energy. We were greeted at the door and given a great dance lesson. Overall I enjoyed this experience and would love to come back.

I just started taking Samba lessons here, and I am loving them! The instructor, Diane, is very authentic. She has lots of energy and makes the class fun. At times, she goes kinda fast, but it’s easy to catch up. The classes go about 1.5 hours. The only thing I would change is to have a larger dance floor, as this type of dance requires a lot of moving around the dance floor and it would be nice to have more room to do that.

I’ve been taking Brazilian Samba classes here for about three months now with instructor Patricia, a Brazilian native, and I absolutely LOVE it. Patricia is an awesome teacher of both Brazilian Samba (Samba no Pe) and traditional Belly Dance.
I can personally vouch for the Samba, and had a friend take the Belly Dance classes and we both agree that the instruction is both personable and professional. Patricia does a thorough warm-​up and gets right to the basic steps immediately, which she then weaves into the teaching of routines that she has choreographed for her dance company.
It’s true that the facility is quite small, limiting the number of students that can becomfortably accommodated here, but because of that, there’s an intimacy and opportunity for one-​on-​one instruction that would not be possible to experience in a larger class/​facility. Plus, if I weren’t coming straight from work, I could walk here in about 10 minutes, as the studio is just blocks away from my home.
The one downfall is that if you pay for a block of 10 classes all at once and have to miss one due to travel or illness, you can’t make it up at a later time. On the one hand, it encourages a commitment to participation, but on the other hand, if you occasionally have to travel for business or personal reasons and know ahead of time that you’ll be away, it would seem like you should be able to make up a class that you’ve already paid for.
Still, as I’ve been searching for a place to take classes in Brazilian Samba (as opposed to the ballroom style), you can’t beat this place for convenience and quality instruction!

Lumina Academy is just a few blocks from my home so I decided to walk over and take a bellydance class on a Tuesday night. Even though it was a beginners class (I guess I’m considered intermediate), it was a lot of fun and very high energy. I like Fatima’s teaching style. She breaks down the movements in a way that is easy to understand and follow. I’ve taken a few other bellydance classes and Fatima does a really good job of keeping the class fun and easy (not to mention an incredible workout). I’ve signed up for a month’s worth of classes, which was quite affordable.
The only reason I’m not giving Lumina a 5 star review is because the dance space is small and not as open as I would like. It’s not been a problem really because the classes have been fairly small in number. If you have more than 7 – 8 people in the space, it would get very cramped.

Lumina Academy is a smallish dance studio and tutoring school just about 10 blocks north on Allen Ave. above the 210 fwy.
I decided to try belly dancing as my new year’s resolution to get more in touch with my body. Naturally, I was very hesitant when I first tried it because Arabic dance can be taught incorrectly and often the teacher can make you feel bizarre in an uninviting way. When I took my first class under Fatima Mendoza, my fears were pretty much entirely dissipated because of her upbeat positive energy and technical skill at dancing. I decided to sign up for a month…
When I found out Fatima opened up her own little studio (only weeks after I started her class at «The Dance Family» (on Colorado & Allen), I decided I ought to support her cause and try out her studio on Allen.
The studio is small, however, Fatima pretty much makes up for any building inconsistencies with her rather amazing and comfortable teaching style. She tells me she also teaches Argentinian Tango, Spanish Ballet & Flamenco dance. I was not at all surprised to see to that she has a master’s degree in dance… she is really good at teaching.
The belly dance class is on Tuesday nights and it’s $ 10 per class when you by a full session (it’s like a couple month’s worth). I highly recommend giving it a try. :)