The Viscount Dance Studio

My husband and I signed up for private dance lessons with Sarah at Viscount prior to our wedding this year. We had no dance experience and wanted to do more than the middle-​school two-​step for our first dance as husband and wife. Sarah helped us to select the perfect song and then created a routine that was easy for us to learn and yet contained enough little flourishes to wow the crowd. We both loved working with her – she helped us to overcome any self-​consciousness we may have had at the beginning, clearly and patiently explained the steps and techniques, and brightened the whole process with her fun and easygoing personality. We both came away from the experience wanting to do more dancing – an unexpected benefit of her instruction! I would definitely recommend this studio for anyone who wants to learn the skills of partner dancing in a welcoming and positive environment.

We took the Partners 101 class and learned a lot and had fun. The instructor made everyone feel at ease and her techniques for getting us dancing was well planned. We were all moving to music right from the start and the instructor built on basic footwork by demonstration and then having us do it. Each week we reviewed at the start of class and then added on another concept (like turns). After 4 classes we felt comfortable to be able to dance on our own and we look forward to taking more classes to refine our techniques!

I love this dance studio! I’m taking Salsa for the first time and the space is beautiful, the class is really fun, and Sarah is FANTASTIC. She puts everyone at ease and explains things really well. I can’t wait to take more classes there (the Bollywood class also looks great, from what I see before the Salsa class starts).

I’ve been learning vintage swing from Melissa since April. Melissa and her lead instructors are amazing as they inspire and promote a fun atmosphere. Most sessions, I forgot I was learning a new skill and not just dancing for fun.
A fellow social dancer once told me it was cheaper to just go to social dances. She’s right. But what’s missing and what Melissa’s vintage swing classes have is personal instruction that is catered to your strengths and weaknesses. Melissa also throws herself into rotation so you get personal assessment and direct feedback on what you’re doing. Also, she and her lead instructors, Colin and Rod, are very knowledgable and open to questions. (Word of caution: Colin’s sound effects get stuck in your head. I find myself doing them at social dances which has the odd effect if promoting smiles and better rhythm from follows).
All in all, if you’re interested in learning to enjoy vintage swing, the Viscount is for you
PS– Sarah also needs some props for making registry smooth and painless

As a present, I bought my wife (and I) the Couples Dancing 101 class. I have to say I enjoyed the 4 week class 10x as much as I expected. Sarah was the instructor and she was just great. The classes were typically about 20 people, she would teach us something, we’d rotate partners and just try it. She would wonder around and give pointers. But mostly what made it great was that she was very very upbeat and personable and that was infectious and just made the whole experience a whole lot of fun.
I looked at my wife at the end of 4 weeks and said: I should have done this when I was 20… AND… let’s take the next class.

Recently we surprised my sister-​in-​law with a private dance session for her 30^th birthday. We had a large group, but were never able to confirm exactly how many people would show up. Selena was able to come up with a STELLAR hip hop routine for our group of all abilities, and was flexible to the variable of numbers. An important component for anyone trying to throw a surprise party!
She was fun, outgoing and talented (and supportive for non-​rhythmic people like myself!). I would, without doubt, go to viscount again… And, while I’m sure there are other amazing instructors, I would ask for Selena by name.
I was super impressed by the lesson, and very happy with the routine she came up with.

An unbeatable experience. The building management was very responsive and helpful. The dance instructor was incredibly fun, professional and obviously knew her craft very well. To top it all off she was an amazing teacher. Not a single bad comment about my experience.

Great experience here. Wonderful space, nice people in my class and a funny teacher. I was nervous at first but quickly felt at ease and welcomed. Registration online was straightforward and easy. I had a couple questions and called and my questions were answered. Looking forward to the next level of classes!

Just finished the Partner Dance class taught by Sarah! We had a fantastic time with two other couples. The small class size was perfect for learning and offered a comfortable environment for us. Sarah was a awesome teacher, she was very knowledgable and always encouraged questions. The facility was nice as well, very open and inviting.
I would definitely recommend Viscount to anyone looking to learn how to partner dance. Our confidence grew each week and we really had a lot of fun.

Took Salsa classes with Sarah and had a blast! She makes everyone comfortable and moves the pace of class along so that no one is left behind and no one gets bored, which is not easy to do. Great place to get started or to sharpen your already existing skills.

«All she did was tell us how to do it… we didn’t listen to music the entire semester of salsa class!»
That was what my fiancé told me about his experience taking salsa at another place in PDX. sounds horrid and i’m glad I started my lessons as Viscount. On the first day of class we learn moves, learn theory (which is so far beyond what most instructors know), and we…(drum roll please) DANCE! Yes, you dance on the first class, and it is lovely. You may only have the 3 basic steps, but that is your foundation to learning and how lovely to do it to music.
I knew a few steps before coming here, but never felt confident to trek out into the salsa-​world on my own.
I took a few series of classes at Viscount and am able to rock it on the dance floor (salsa style!). I love Sarah and the attention to detail that she can provide in her lessons. She can have a full class and still pinpoint little errors that are holding you back in progressing and them help you in correcting them.
What a gem of a studio! A few more notes… this is affordable, this is quality, and you will get better if you stick with it a few sessions. If you want to dance in a non-​competitive/​non-​snooty environment, this is the place.

The issue with the vicount is, for the most part, the rotating teachers. All the complaints really come from the fact that they often get the subpar teachers– and I will admit I find the best teachers at other locations.
That being said, as a venue is spot on. It has two rooms that are divided well and a lot of spare room. Its open at great hours and do a great job communicating with me when I am confused.
That being said, I do feel their website sometimes is misleading (Like saying everyday on thursday this month, but having it closed for holidays) but they always get back to me right away.
I could complain about the teachers and the community but that is no vicount’s fault. They have to rent the rooms out and the pros of the pros don’t need to rent the room out. Since they are very open door and welcoming its possible to get some very discouraging people– but its also how a lot of people get into the community. If it was just tango berretin the portland scene would of died by now.

Well I’m always happy to add some contrast for a more realistic view of a business, so my opinion is going to be a lot different when what you have read here, although its more concerned with conveying things not discussed here, rather than contradicting all the other reviews.
Things started out pretty poorly from the beginning of the salsa class. We were told, via the website, to arrive 10 – 15 minutes early. This is a waste of time, the only purpose was to make sure you are all paid up (which is smart considering a lot of people probably don’t come back after day 1). Even with the extra five minutes it took to process checks and we waited an additional 8 minutes past start time for the instructor, Sarah, to come out of her office as she seemed to be very busy in there playing Minesweeper as best as I can tell. I found the lesson to be desultory although not disorganized, it seems the instructor believes in the immersion technique, which I’m not inherently opposed to, but I thought she did a poor job explaining what we were supposed to be doing before we dived right in. After forty minutes of too much doing, and not enough explaining, we were told to get with our partners. Whoops, I thought I was told we didn’t need partners, and as a single guy, who was already shy, I didn’t want to dance with some other guy. There were like 2 guys to ever girl. I really don’t think the first lesson in Salsa has any business requiring a partner to be honest. There is plenty of stuff to learn besides leading and following, like the basic steps for instance?
Well unfortunately it seems that the modus operendi of the place encourages more advance students to come to the prior classes to help out the previous class. For whatever reason the dynamic was pretty poor as I alternately had to dance with a stern, minatory, and acerbic old lady followed by an uncommunicative and frumpy younger Albanian woman. Dancing Salsa with frumpy Albanians is always problematic in my experience. Later we were leading our partners around the floor with our hands with our eyes closed to the music, which think this was a very poor idea for a day one intro to salsa class. Sarah seemed nice and earnest but she really needs to come up with a more normal lesson plan, but that’s a layman opinion but I know I thought it was pretty silly way to instruct a class of noobs.
A couple more points. At $ 65, assuming you stick around and you can deal with the odd immersion curriculum, and sloppy lesson plan, the fee is very reasonable. For whatever bizarre reason, although all the woman in my class were very friendly, it appears that the social dynamic dictates that the (sic hardly) more advanced students will treat the beginning students like idiots, and they seemed to have a too cool for school attitudes, so if you go without a partner, and you a dude, be prepared. If you are a woman the more advanced guys just looked sleazy and lecherous, but you’re likely used to that with guys and dancing so that should come as no surprise

I took a beginner’s swing class here, one month long.
I’m an absolute beginner in swing, but I’ve got rhythm and have always been a dancer, yet I’ve always been weirded out about partner dancing with strangers.
It was mostly fun,
the instruction could’ve been better
— it felt kind of «sink or swim» to me.
Not much individual instruction, and often felt like we were moving on to the next moves before I understood the previous move — (what can I say? I learn at my own pace). Each step builds upon the last one, so I fell behind, and felt very «challenged».
I also wish I could’ve danced with my partner more — I understand the logic of switching partners…
the downside is each follower was a beginner (like me) & had their own idiosyncrasies & learning curve, & a number of them wanted to lead! I would’ve rather been focusing on learning the steps than negotiating who’s leading. Am I right, guys? :P
As soon as the class ended, another class started. It would’ve been great if there was open studio for 15 minutes for people to practice or receive feedback from the teacher.
I wasn’t totally dissatisfied. The people and studio are pleasant. Great location. Price isn’t horrible. I mostly enjoyed it. Compared to other dance classes I’ve taken, I would rate it average.
In an ideal situation imo, there would be like 3 or 4 couples in a class.

Very fun and professional business. Some of the best dance instructors in the area, and very friendly staff. Absolutely recommended!

Having a great time learning swing. I like the casualness of the program. It is easy to casually join different classes at the appropriate level.

«Let’s dance.»
These two simple words are capable of striking more fear into hearts of men than confronting a mama grizzly bear in heat. No other phrase is capable of eliciting a larger stammering string of redirection and excuses. In fact, I think more men would rather endure being aggressively frisked by a clumsy, unattractive TSA agent than hit the dance floor.
Men, you owe it to yourself to learn how to dance. Contrary to popular belief, straight shots of tequila do not enhance your dancing abilities, nor do they make you more appealing to the females in your midst. What you need are some dancing lessons!
I’ve never really had much fear of making an ass out of myself on the dance floor, but the prospect of finally taking some formal dance lessons couldn’t help but elicit some nervousness on my part. However, like I imagine the military boot camp experience to be, any apprehension that you may feel is quickly thrown out of the window.
You don’t need to bring a dancing partner to these things; in fact, doing so does not serve any purpose because you rotate partners frequently. This is important, as it was explained to me, because you will pick up bad habits if you dance with the same person all the time. You may think that doing turns with a six-​foot-​four male airline pilot may sound a little unusual, but it sure teaches you how to lead properly! In addition, the pilot kindly gave me some good tips along the way.
My preconception about West Coast Swing was that it was an old-​fashioned dance, but that really isn’t the truth. West Coast Swing dance can be applied to almost any kind of music with a dance beat; it is quite fluid and adaptable.
Chris Jones has being doing this type of instruction for a while, and also DJ’s some of the group dances around town. He definitely takes an acute interest in the success of his students and it shows! Watching the group transform from complete neophytes into passable swing dancers over a couple of months was interesting to watch.
Although I’ve just completed the first string of eight group lessons, I feel good enough to practice the art in non-​formal settings. I’m sure that a trained West Coast Swing practitioner could pick out dozens of flaws in my technique, but I’ve found that in real life it doesn’t really matter that much. The ladies are perfectly happy to get out there and be twirled around.
Stop making excuses, get out there and dance!

Located just east of MLK on Burnside between the Farm and Le Pigeon restaurants Viscount Dance Studio (Viscount) was my first exposure to dance as well.
My experience with Viscount began with West Coast Swing (WCS) and Chris Jones. Being new to dance, I was unaware of some dances being considered harder to learn than others, so WCS may not have been the best choice. Lucky for me and the rest of Portland Chris is one of the best. And one hell of a DJ I found out!
Since then I have traveled from Seattle to Palm Springs for dancing conventions and private instruction and I still love Viscount.
While I have repeatedly taken instruction at Viscount for WCS (with Chris), Salsa (with Sarah) and Quickstep (when offered) I continue to return as what is taught is always rotating, the instructors are active in the dance community and what I learn I can actually use when I go out dancing.
There have been times when one of the instructors was unable to make class (rare), but they have always sent a replacement to ensure the class continues.
As already mentioned, you do not need a partner and if you want dance as a lead or follow it makes no difference. In fact, it is encouraged as it actually will improve your dancing the more you understand what the other side is experiencing.
Looking to start dancing or gain more exposure to various forms of dance you can actually go out and do in and around Portland, then come here.
I forgot to mention they have two studios, so if you and your partner don’t even want to take the same style of dance (I can’t imagine why), you can each attened a class at the same time in the two different studios. Both studios are right next to each other and connect through a door.

I just started my first dance class (since my first foray as a ballerina when I was four). I am taking a swing class and the teacher is great. Plus, even if you don’t go with a partner Viscount has a policy to rotate partners, so you are never left out.
Overall: Check them out. They offer a lot of classes and are very friendly. Plus, is there a more fun workout with better music than big band? I think not.