Moving to New York - need studio advice

I

ilnadmy

New Member
Hey all, I'm a recent college graduate and am moving to New York at the end of this month to start a full-time job. I've been competing for about 3 years now, and am Silver Latin level looking to move into Gold Latin. I'm looking to continue dancing/competing in New York and am wondering if you guys have any suggestions of which studios/teams I could join? My main problem is I'm going to be doing Investment Banking, which means I would highly prefer lessons be on weekends since I will have basically no free time during the week. I was looking at the NYU and Columbia teams, but they have lessons during weekdays, which unfortunately will probably not work for me...

I'm also looking for studios that offer social dance lessons (mainly Salsa and Bachata). Doesn't have to be the same studio that I would join for Latin/Standard.

Thanks in advance!
 
I haven't completely figured out my housing situation, but I will probably be living in Manhattan and looking to take lessons in Manhattan as well.
 
there are lots of great studios there... manhattan ballroom dance, stepping out studios, FADS, dance with me soho, etc. to name a few.
 
If you're going to be in Manhattan and will likely do most of your dancing there...

As far as college teams, you're right that NYU's official lessons mostly take place on week nights (although some quite late) but there are frequently unofficial lessons taught by advanced team members and alumni that take place at all sorts of random dates/times and of course there's the added benefit of once you join the team you can always ask said volunteer teachers if they'd be willing to teach on the weekends and if there's enough interest they'd likely oblige :)

I'm sure Columbia also has informal practices as well although I know less about it.

As far as studios, it probably depends on what you are looking for in terms of taking group lessons or privates, or whether you are looking for a place to kind of continue the collegiate atmosphere.

As far as offering a lot of group classes, I'd check out Stepping Out or Dancesport since they both have pretty extensive schedules (at least among social dances and the international styles), and are probably more likely to offer stuff on the weekends than other studios. As far as competitive studios there are literally tons and if you are just looking for practice space location and price might be bigger factors, but both the NYU team and CU team train with the McCallas who operate Dance Chelsea so there are frequently collegiate/post-collegiate couples practicing there (and its generally not too crowded).

Another option you may want to check out is the offerings from NY USA Dance. They aren't on any sort of set schedule but they frequently host workshops (always on weekends) with Latin & Standard pros (the next one being with Yulia this coming Sunday). This can be a good opportunity to meet other NY collegiate/post-collegiate dancers cause that tends to be the crowd that shows up (to their socials as well).
 
PS sorry for the crazy long post...but I should add, you should definitely sign up for the weekly NY USA Dance newsletter...cause it will give you the 411 on all the dance events happening in the city (it also has a partner search section, etc. etc.)

[Yang Chen in no way encouraged or solicited me to write this post on behalf of his awesome newsletter :tongue:]
 
Meagan said:
PS sorry for the crazy long post...but I should add, you should definitely sign up for the weekly NY USA Dance newsletter...cause it will give you the 411 on all the dance events happening in the city (it also has a partner search section, etc. etc.)

[Yang Chen in no way encouraged or solicited me to write this post on behalf of his awesome newsletter :tongue:]
Click to expand...

I'm going to second the awesomeness of YC's NY USA Dance newsletter even though I'm not even in the city. Direct from the website with the latest newsletter (http://www.nyusadance.org/us/news.shtml)
"To subscribe to the newsletter, please send a blank email to: nyusadancenews-subscribe@lists.neonhost.com "
 
Thanks for the info about the newsletter, I will definitely sign up for that.

Meagan thanks for the long posts. I definitely am looking to continue the collegiate atmosphere, which is why I was thinking of joining NYU or Columbia's dance teams. Do you think it would be a good idea to email their team captains, give them my situation, and ask what lessons they would have available for me?
 
for salsa and bachata, you are better served by a salsa school than a ballroom studio.

bachata - the caribbean soul studio is offering bachata classes, taught by an energetic and talented young dancer named alex morel - if i had to recommend anyplace for bachata, it would be there. it *is* in jersey city, however.

http://ismaelotero.com/

one of the major NY salsa promoters, John "Choco" Knight of Mambo Fateegz, is also starting to incorporate bachata into his long-running Friday night parties. this Friday, alex is teaching an intro class at the party at 9. if you go on Facebook and search for "mambo fateegz," you can get the scoop.

salsa - stay away from the ballroom/multi-dance studios and hit a salsa school to give you real new york salsa instruction.

(note that i have taken classes at every single place i am about to list.)

for hardcore shine-and-spin intensive instruction, with a competitive class atmosphere, check out the uptown stalwarts:

1. santo rico (santorico.com)
2. yamulee (yamulee.com)

for excellent men's partnerwork and pattern training, with a large and supportive group atmosphere and more midtown location:

3. dance on 2 (danceon2.com) - Gabe Perez is simply one of the gems for men's training in the city.

and finally, one of the best instructors in the city for guys is fairly new to the scene but firmly established already as an excellent teacher - i've watched him teach men in both group and private settings and he's very, very solid.
Joel Dominguez: joelsalsa.com.
 
Thanks for the suggestions! Question - is New York salsa danced on 2, or on 1? And does it differ from studio to studio? I dance salsa on 1, so I was just wondering if I'll have to start dancing on 2 if everyone does that in New York.

Also I checked out most of those studios, and they all have lessons on weekdays. I guess not many places have group lessons on weekends?
 
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