Fred Astaire – New York Midtown

I have been a student of the Fred Astaire Midtown location for over ten years. While I have always enjoyed the studio, the current owners have brought the studio to a new high. Students have the opportunity to compete, learn dances to perform in front of an audience at annual showcases, exercise or simply have fun. They enhance the experience by having nationally known Fred Astaire coaches come to help improve your dancing and choreograph personalized routines for competition or showcases. The staff are pros who compete themselves and take their teaching very seriously. The studio has a warm and friendly vibe and is a great community of dancers of all ages and experience levels. There is no pressure to purchase lessons and their packages are designed to fit any desired level of commitment. If you’ve ever toyed with the idea of learning ballroom dances, this is the place to give it a try. They will not disappoint!

My husband Rob and I took lessons here for 2 – 3 months before our wedding, and even had a whole first dance put together. We absolutely loved our lessons and nailed our first dance! The dance set the tone for the whole wedding and our guests are still talking about it a month later. We worked with Petra, Mae, and Hector, but were truly welcomed by all of the instructors and greeted by each of them. The studio is awesome and it is definitely worth it to make your first dance amazing!!!

I have been taking dance lessons at the midtown dance studio for 2 years and have learned SO much. All of the instructors are wonderful talented people who love dance, and teaching it in a positive way to their students. Learning a new skill as an adult has had its challenges but has been well worth it. The benefits have surpassed my expectations. Being a dance student has enriched my life both mentally and physically, and has overall made me a healthier person. I can’t think of anywhere else I would rather go than Fred Astaire Midtown Dance Studio’s. These people are just AWESOME!

My wife, Jackie, and I took dance lessons here for two months before our wedding and couldn’t have been happier. We were assigned a two-​person instructor team: Yuriy and Mae. Each taught alternating lessons with a few private lessons in between. Yuriy is definitely more technical and I learned a TON, and Mae is an absolute sweetheart who made the learning process a blast. It is obvious they are both total pros and passionate about what they do. (We also had the opportunity to get to know the other instructors, Alex and Artur, who also know how to crush it on the dance floor.)
Jackie wanted a non-​traditional, fast-​paced dance routine (we rolled the dice and chose «Get Ready» by the Temptations as our first song). Based on that, we first were taught the foundations of three dance styles. Then Yuriy and Mae revealed the dance they had choreographed for us. We were blown away — the routine was awesome. As we became more familiar with it, Yuriy and Mae began adding more special moves (catering to Jackie’s request) until our final routine had spins, lifts, switches and ended with an inverted lift. It was absolutely bananas. We had the opportunity to practice our dance at one of the Studio’s «Practice Parties» which was a great time in itself.
The dance was a total surprise for our guests and we nailed it thanks to Yuriy and Mae. Afterward, our guests came up to us wide-​eyed telling us we should try out for Dancing With the Stars. It was hysterical. We still bust out some of the dance moves at parties and friends’ weddings — it’s definitely raised my cool factor by a few points. Check them out; you’re going to have a great time!
Strong points: Choreography, Expertise of Instructors, Fun Atmosphere, New Life Skill!

Instruction was good, but I was pressured at the end of nearly every class to buy more classes — even when I had 8 left. Constant upselling created a rift here. It just wasn’t fun anymore. I remember the first day, I heard a woman arguing at the counter that she wanted a refund on the single’s package she bought because she could no longer dance with the instructor she originally worked with — I suppose he was leaving the studio or was competing elsewhere. I thought she was being unreasonable, but now I know just how hard it can be learning from multiple instructors and always getting roped in to spending money you’re unsure of.

We took lessons at the Fred Astaire Dance Studio on E. 34^th Street before our wedding and we couldn’t be happier with the experience. Unfortunately, we planned bit late and we were only able to get in 7 lessons, but in that time they were able to teach us the rhumba, foxtrot and waltz and they helped us choreograph and practice our dance for our wedding. Not only were they incredibly welcoming and friendly, all of their instructors were helpful in their own ways, as we rotated across a couple people over the course of our lessons. If anyone wants to get trained enough not to make a fool of themselves in front of all their guests, plus learn a few extra steps that you can use throughout your marriage, we highly recommend this studio.

Will and Alex transformed us from clumsy dancers, to graceful and elegant on our wedding night. The team is really friendly and explains the moves easily. They make it seem so simple and break it down, they match your song to a dance to fit it, and make it unique. Each week, the time flew by, and we enjoyed every moment. It filled us with so much pride and joy when we actually pulled it off in front of 130 people — and finished our dance flawlessly. It was worth every second of our time, every penny. Hope to go back and learn some more!

My now-​husband and I took lessons at the East 34^th street location of Fred Astaire Dance Studio in NYC. Since we were in a time crunch before the wedding, we were only able to fit in 8 lessons, as opposed to the recommended 10 – 15. The staff worked with us to help us learn dance steps as quickly as possible, and to create a routine that was feasible. The facility was nice, and there was plenty of room for multiple couples to practice simultaneously. My only criticism is that I feel as though 2 or 3 of our dance lessons were not efficient, because we did not have the same instructor for all sessions. Each of these times, we would learn different sequences, that varied from what we previously learned, making it difficult for us to nail down a specific routine and have enough time to practice it. I felt that the lessons were expensive, although I do not really have any other dance studio prices to compare them to. The staff was so friendly though, that we plan on going back to the studio to tell them about how our first dance went and give them a picture of us dancing. I would definitely recommend Fred Astaire Dance Studio to any engaged couple who is interested in making their first dance a bit more interesting than just dancing in a circle.