Dance Manhattan

We had a month to get a great rock'n'roll dance together to perform at a large event, and Elena made sure we were our best. She worked hard to create a fun choreography within our intermediate abilities and tweaked our moves until we could do them with finesse. Not only did we end up with a routine that garnered cheers, but we improved our dancing in general. A wonderful experience.

I rung in the New Year here once...
The night started with 2 hours of beginner Argentinian Tango classes and rolled into an all night into the morning Milonga (dance party.)

Two amazing couples presented some wonderful numbers to the crowd... I just LOVE the Tango -- it's so...sensual.

You Should Be Dancing shares studio with Dance Manhattan - the staff is great and there's tons of opportunities to practice - dancing is a great way to socialize and work out at the same time!

I had a unique request for Dance Manhattan and Elena made sure all of our needs were met! I wanted to celebrate my friend's birthday with a Justin Bieber themed dance lesson to the song "I'm Sorry"! Elena was friendly and extremely helpful in booking a location at a reasonable price. Elena also connected us with our instructor Exenia! Exenia was fun, laid back, and an excellent dancer. We had about 11 girls participate and we had a blast! Exenia also sang my friends Happy Birthday at the end of class! We all want to come back for another lesson!

I would highly recommend Dance Manhattan for whatever your dancing needs may be! If they could make my Justin Bieber dance lesson happen, they can surely do it all!

YES! Just YES! Dance Manhattan is professional, has top of the line instructors as well as great leadership to helping you plan the perfect event from birthday parties, to personal dance classes to anything you're looking for. If you are looking for professional, relatable and fun instructors this is the place!! Just in one class you are able to feel as if you have been dancing Tango or Salsa your whole life. No regrets here! I love it!

hmmm... not sure if this was what I expected on a guest night. I don't think I'ma slow learner but two kind of dance within 40 minutes just didn't do it for me. I got the first dance, but the 2nd one I didn't know what I was doing and the guy that I got matched up with didn't know what he was doing. Therefore he couldn't really lead me... and I couldn't "follow"... so my overall experience wasn't that good. I didn't get to switch my partner.. and I wish I could...

The instructor was friendly though and made jokes as he went along. But there was one lady that didn't have a partner. The instructor just said "pretend like there is someone there..." I think she should have been his partner! because he didn't have a partner. So he should have been like aww it's okay come to the front/middle with me. She obviously wanted a partner if she sat down while everyone was partnered up. This is just my opinion..

so here is the deal, there is a free class at the last friday of the month usually, its a good way to determine whether or not you want to get into dancing, a small sample to get your feet wet, boy dancing is tough, u have to have quick feet and put lots of effort into it

its a good place to bring a date, but also a good place to look for a date, LOL, but if u bring a date here, BE prepared, u have to switch partners every now and then, if you go enough months, you will get a feel of what are all the different types of dances

the studio is quite large, has a nice atmosphere and the teachers are good

so beginners, don't be afraid and shy, just do this, u don't need alcohol to get your nerves out, remember who cares what people think, its what you think

Great space here. Have been to many different events (West Coast, East Coast, Tango, Salsa) always a nice group and plenty of instructors available for private / group lessons.

Date Rating: 5
Pick up Scale: 5 (The dance community is pretty small, be careful if you're a newbie trying to date within the community isn't always the best thing to do)

Strong Suggestions: Check out their calendar and sign up for a group class to meet people interested in the same type of dance that you are.

This is a good place if you want to learn how to dance-- however, I wouldn't call the folks who work here "friendly"-- especially the administrative staff... The teachers are okay-- and some are even absolutely great!

My husband and I have been coming here for regular lessons for a few months, but just do not feel comfortable with the staff-- for example, we signed up (and paid for) classes that were not the same as what we were told on the phone... and when we told the folks at the front desk, they said "that's not possible"-- apparently it is impossible to be told the wrong thing over the phone.

I've been taking classes here for about two months; I'd describe myself as an intermediate-level Lindy hopper/East Coast Swing dancer. I probably dance 3-5 nights a week; I'm not Serious Business about it but I'm extremely hard to teach (klutzy and slow learner, haha) so I do it a lot.

Before I moved to NYC, I studied for about 6-7 months with GottaSwing and the Jam Cellar in Washington, DC, which are amazing places mostly focused on social dance, and I was a little freaked out at the idea of going to a proper dance studio for lessons, especially one known for ballroom. I was afraid it'd be one of those situations where their swing lessons were either halfassed, or taught by people who knew swing from a ballroom perspective and were going to teach it like we were on Dancing With The Stars or something (Jive != swing and all that). Basically, my previous experiences regarding swing in a ballroom environment were not necessarily productive; since swing is so lazy and improvisational, there's this sort of culture clash that often exists between the two.

I am so pleased to say that's definitely not the case here. The instructors are extremely qualified in their areas, and while the lessons are super-technique focused, they're also practical, way fun, and have the style that I really wanted. My main problem was figuring out what levels to take (I come from an environment where your class options are "beginner" and "everyone else")! I also love the large variety of instructors, because especially for social dancing, I think it pays off to learn from a wide variety of people in order to get the best detail-oriented technique.

Also, bonus: the more lessons you take, the cheaper they become. Woohoo! Plus for swing dancers at least, there's a free practice session every week which is basically like a mini-dance. I haven't been to the social dances/parties here but everyone says they're fantastic.

The only thing I dislike is the setup of the school itself: there is not nearly enough soundproofing, or else there just must be some inconsiderate instructors elsewhere, because during some of my classes you can CLEARLY hear the really loud music from classes going on next door. It's distracting and obnoxious. Also there are precious few bathrooms and only one water fountain for like a zillion students.

I have taken classes with Michael, Evita, Joe, and Elena so far, and I highly recommend all of them.