Fred Astaire Dance Portland Dance Studio

Shame on Fred Astaire portland… Dance is an inclusive and joyful experience for all… except at this studio.
They do not welcome newcomers and would not let me take a group class because they were afraid I would slow the class down. They made the decision that I was not good enough based on nothing. Although Im a four time champion pro am dancer with a world ranking still not good enough.
As a public figure part of my mission is to encourage others to try new things. I will be sure to let my dance community know this is not a place to train and I will alert my agent to not send people here.
I can’t think when Ive been so hurt… especially by other dancers… shame on you Fred Astaire Portland

Started dancing here a few months ago and absolutely love it. It is a non-​threatening environment so it’s a great place for true beginners. The teachers are all professional, competition dancers and have been trained in the Fred Astaire curriculum. They have all been very patient and do an outstanding job of both explaining and demonstrating the dances very well. The classes are designed to teach techniques that generalize to all dances, as well as build more complicated moves onto the basic steps.
After completing our intro package purchased on Living Social we happily signed up for the Beginner package and are now into the next level. Packages include private lessons, group lessons, and parties. The group lessons reinforce what you learn in private class and the parties provide an excellent opportunity to try your skills in a social setting. The community of people we have met, including staff, have been exceptionally welcoming and friendly. Highly recommend this dance studio!

My boyfriend and I signed up for a special intro package ($ 25/​each for 2 privates, 1 group lesson). We thought it’d be a fun and relaxing way to spend time together.
The first lesson involved learning the basics of 3 dances. It was perfectly fine, even though the instructor kept stopping to introduce us to the strange cast of characters that seem to hang around the studio.
The second lesson was TERRIBLE. We learned another 3 dances, but the instructor spent the entire time hard-​selling us on signing up for their $ 199 intro package. «Pick your 3 dances, pick your 3 dances!» he kept reminding us.
With the harsh lighting, the same cast of characters swirling around us, odd music, and total emotional exposure of trying to dance together for the first time ever, it felt like we were in an alternate reality staffed by cylons. Super stressful!
We told him we’d think about it and ran the hell out of there as fast as we could. We got home shaking from the stress of it all.
If you aspire to be an über-​tanned, bleach-​blonde pro ballroom dancer, I suppose this is the studio for you. But if you want anything less than that, stay far, far away.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I’m a dance novice — never taken lessons anywhere but here.
I’ve been taking lessons here for a few months now. I never did any ballroom dancing at all before coming. I’d have to say I feel pretty good now, after only a short time! I LOVE the way they offer the students an array of types of classes to attend. The students get private lessons, group lessons at the beginner level & at the intermediate level, practice parties with other students, & a guest party each week. I’m not limited to just one type of group lesson or only a certain amount per week. I can attend as much as I want with my package!
One of the things I LOVE is that the teachers rotate for the group classes so I learn from different people, who are all FANTASTIC & make it loads of fun, & it helps me understand what’re the core, most important elements of the dance that I need to focus on & what’s more a styling choice. Plus the different teachers each notice a different element about MY dancing that can use improvement, so I get variation on fine tuning my own style while rapidly improving the most important elements of the basics of the dance. Then I get to really focus on the main thing I need to really work on in my private lesson with my primary instructor who knows me best.
THE GROUP LESSONS offer two dances in each class & are 45 minutes. Here the students constantly switch partners & the teacher participates in the dancing, so the students get a real feel for their own moves & consistent situations in moves as well as how varied the world of dance is with others. The intermediate lesson starts right after the beginner lesson ends & usually the intermediate lesson of the same day focuses on the same two dances, so I can get an hour & a half of focused work, first on the basics of the core principles of the dance & then at an advanced level, (ie: a special move like a turn or fine tuning for more ease & grace, the way a pro does it.)
THE PRIVATE LESSON is initially a spread of six dances: The Fox Trot, The Waltz, The East Coast Swing, The Tango, and The Cha Cha, The Rumba. The student will learn initial basic steps & learn about form & the partnership of dancing as well as timing & rhythm in music for the dances. Then as the student improves, the private lessons focus more on the more advanced elements of the dances including extra moves & the specific dances the student prefers. The instructor, regardless of which one you have, ALWAYS makes it fun! Everyone I see in a lesson is having a blast. They work with couples too & the instructors can dance the part of either gender in any dance perfectly so they’ll demonstrate what your part is supposed to look like regardless of which you’re doing.
REGARDING COST… The intro package is an AMAZING deal! $ 20 for 3 classes!!! The cost is a little high for the student packages, compared to other hobbies, but they’ve been known to work with people on a payment plan, so don’t let that stop you from dancing! If you take advantage of the classes, IT’S A STEAL! Some people have 3 lessons a week… others have 2 lessons a month… obviously their monthly cost is going to vary dramatically depending on their choice. You choose. It is hard to keep up though without the consistency of attending. I’m liable to lose what I’ve learned & waste my lessons relearning if I skip a week, so they encourage people to have a lesson a week. The point is… They want the whole world to be able to dance IF THEY WANT TO. It’s like an addiction… & You choose how much or how little you indulge. :}-
If I had to pick ONE negative thing about this place I’d say the parking — WHAT A JOKE!!! I’ve missed 2 lessons completely because of this & been late to 5 – 6 classes, & this is when I KNOW it’s an issue. The studio is in a prime area of NW Portland, so it’s convenient & nice, but I’ve got to plan about an extra half hour of time to FIND a spot, then WALK just to be on time, otherwise I won’t be able to get parking.
One cool thing though is that when I missed those lessons because too much time had passed & it would have wasted my lesson to go through with it, they didn’t charge me for it out of my package. They just rescheduled with a smile & said, «Yeah, I know it sucks!» They’re really easy to work with.

I’ll start with the positive. We signed up for an introductory special where you get private lessons to start and then group lessons. Our private lessons were so much fun! The instructors here are phenomenal. Our experience with them during the private lessons were first class and we can’t say enough about them. This is unfortunately, where the negative part begins. After our private lessons ended, we were walked into a tiny room with the owner, where she jumped straight to the financial end of things. To continue our experience we would need to pay around $ 380 per person– and this was a special that was discounted. We know this is not an inexpensive activity, but there was nothing inbetween offered. $ 760 a month for something fun (we don’t want to compete or become professional) is VERY costly. There was no further breakdown of cost if we wanted an option to simply continue with lessons on a week to week basis. The next issue we had was when the instructor called to confirm. I received a message to call back and did so. When I did– Jan– the owner answered and said she would call me back after checking on something. There was confusion around the time we were asked to come in (a bit late), then she left anothe message indicating we needed to pay first. This was communicated to us that it was the group lesson part of our intro package.
I called back today to cancel and a receptionist answered. She did not know what I was referring to (intro package) and did not seem to understand that we were not happy. When all was said and done, I just politely requested to cancel our appointment. Her response? «Excellent». Mine? «Thank you, but losing a customer is not exactly what I would call excellnetl.» For a second she backtracked but at this point we’re done. We are so disappointed. Since we had so much fun and wanted to continue– it would have taken very little effort on their part to retain us as paying customers or even a follow up call to straighten things out. This is a new business but customer service should be common sense. It’s where you begin and end when running a business. Especially with that kind of cost.