The Dance Loft

We worked with Nick and Val in preparation for 2 wedding dances (one was a classic slow dance and the other was a choreographed hip hop dance). My wife wanted us to make a big splash at our reception (especially with the hip hop dance, which was a big surprise to everyone) and we were able to master the dance, have confidence and execute it almost perfectly during our reception thanks to The Dance Loft. We had never taken dance lessons before, so we (1) didn’t know what to expect and (2) didn’t have a ton of past practice or dancing skill building, we were starting from pretty close to scratch (in terms of dance training).
We started working with Val, who was a good teacher but wasn’t able to get super involved in showing us moves (in part because she was very pregnant). She then had to go on bed rest and her colleague Nick took over our remaining lessons.
Nick was SO AWESOME! He was creative, supportive and did an amazing job of showing us dance moves while explaining how to do them ourselves in a simple way. He was able to gauge our skill and comfort level and then taught us at our pace. We scheduled an intro session and then a 5-​pack and were cutting it pretty close to our wedding day toward the end– Nick was great about working with us to fit the last few sessions into our crazy pre-​wedding schedule. At one point he came in on his regular day off, on another he let us schedule a session at the end of the night after he had been working for 6 hours straight.
Nick was also super versatile. In some of the sessions we went back and forth between hip hop and our slow dance and Nick was able to lead us through the technique and choreography without a hitch.
We know that we wouldn’t have been able to do it without Nick. We recommend him to anyone who wants to learn a dance for their wedding or other special occasion or if you just want to improve your dance skills.

The private wedding dance lessons that my husband and I took were the best part of the wedding planning process – hands down. Yes, putting together a dance that is unique, a reflection of you as a couple and a fun spectacle for your guests is amazing enough in and of itself. But I think what we enjoyed more was the experience of having this special time together in the midst of the craziness of wedding planning – and Val was a big reason that it was so much fun and so special.
«Our song» was pretty unique in that it was more of an alternative rock number. We wanted something fun and non-​traditional. Val was definitely up for the task. She started by learning how comfortable we were in our own skin dancing and also dancing together. Once she had a good idea of our abilities, she started choreographing the dance. I loved how with each lesson, she would build on the dance, adding new moves here and there to pull it together in a way that reinforced what we had already learned, and added in a new fun challenge to practice until the next lesson.
Before we went to our dance classes, we would usually go out for a bite together and have a drink to make it a date night. It was a full evening without any stresses of the wedding planning just for us to spend together. Dancing with Val felt like a really natural part of date night because she really focuses on the connection between dance partners. After all, what is more of an expression of your connection and relationship than the first dance at your wedding!
Val is a really wonderful person who just wants to share her love of dance with others. She wants you to feel comfortable and confident and just have a great time dancing together. She definitely accomplished this with us.
We haven’t yet been able to go to some of the Dance Loft salsa classes, but this is high on our list of things to do because we just had such a blast with Val!

We’ve been taking private wedding dance lessons for our first dance with Val. She has been absolutely wonderful. She spots the difficulties we have with great accuracy.
She is great at explaining the dance moves and the feelings behind them.
We had a lot of fun and learnt a lot.
Every time we left her studio we were feeling super, filled with positive energy.
I would recommend her to anyone from beginner to proficient.