Salchata Dance Company

Been going here for the past 7 months for salsa classes and love how much dedication Sam and his fellow instructors put into making lessons accessible, fun, and educational. You always get lots of time to ask questions, repeat moves, and practice. My fellow students are great to work with and you really feel like part of a community here. Cannot recommend Salchata Dance enough!

Sam and Claudia are great teachers! Very passionate, enthusiastic and knowledgable. With smaller class sizes, you get a lot of one on one time and focused practice! Would strongly recommend to anyone wanting to learn salsa and don't want to be crowded in a generic class

I’ve been taking bachata classes here for almost 6 months now and I love it! The classes are taught in a way that’s easy to grasp the moves. They encourage dancing with everyone in class which allows you to explore peoples’ dance personalities while strengthening your own practice.The teachers Sam and Oriana are so friendly, patient and inspiring. They teach from the heart which shows their passion for dancing through their years of experience. They work with all the students individually to ensure everyone picks up the dance steps. They practice with the students during the free weekly practice class. I look forward to going to dance class every week since it’s lots of fun, a great way to social & meet people and I get a bit of a workout!

I started learning salsa and bachata at Salchata back in February. It was something that I had wanted to learn my whole life and I figured that this would be a good opportunity to learn. A good friend of mine recommended me to Sam and Oriana’s classes and I haven’t looked back since. To say that I have learned a lot is an understatement and I still have a lot to learn. Sam and Oriana are not just amazing dancers and instructors, but they are fantastic people as well. The environment that they have created with their classes are very friendly and not intimidating at all. They are not teachers who teach a generic set up of routines. They both are unbelievably knowledgeable from their training, experiences and travel. You don’t just learn to dance but also get insight into the musicology, the history, difference styles and how salsa and bachata differs in geographic regions. They are also very patient with their students and work hard to help them progress with a great attention to detail. I would highly recommend anyone who wants to learn or even just has a curiosity to come check out their classes. You will not be disappointed.

I came back to salsa lessons after a three-year hiatus. In my earlier classes, at another school, I was only at the very beginner level. I had taken a couple of “one off” classes with Oriana elsewhere, and realized from the get-go, that she was very precise in her instructions.I’m now in the beginner classes at Salchata Dance Academy and have only positive things to say about their teaching methods. Sam and Oriana teach dance with an open and fun approach. The couple, both Masterful dancers, are impressive teachers, in that they have the patience and understanding to illustrate (and perform) each ‘move’ in precise detail allowing students to grasp the technique. Thanks to Sam and Oriana’s belief in me, and their generous teaching, I have overcome one of many challenges already, reaching my own goal earlier than I’d thought. (in this case, leading the lady through a double turn)I highly recommend Salchata Dance Academy without any hesitation. I’ll be taking further lessons with Sam and Oriana, and encourage anyone with a desire to dance, to work with them too. In my opinion, they’re the Best in the city!

Great place to learn. Sam and Oriana are awesome teachers. I have been taking their advanced classes for the last 4 months. The moves that are taught are not only fun, but are meant to challenge you as well. They also provide constructive feedback on what you need to work on. Aside from the classes, they hold a 1 hour practice session each week (at no additional cost) to review the moves that you learned or anything that you want to work on.

Amazing dance school, I would highly recommend this place. Sam is a very passionate teacher and makes the classes fun, even for those, like me, who are not natural dancers. Sam and these classes have inspired my partner and I to dance a lot more!!

Cannot recommend Salchata enough! Whether it’s out of your comfort zone, a casual hobby or something you’re extremely passionate about, Sam, Claudia and Oriana will meet you where you’re at.We loved our group class so much we returned to ask Sam and Claudia choreograph a routine for our wedding to our favourite song from the classes.It was one of our favourite moments of the whole day and something we’ll remember forever.Sam and Claudia were patient, kind, and so helpful in encouraging us to create and bring to life such a special moment.

My friend introduced me to the Friday night socials and while I loved the environment, I was intimidated by the experienced dancers. So I started attending lessons at the socials. Many of them I could not follow, the lessons moved too fast and I couldn't understand what was happening. There was one though I could follow: Sam and Oriana's. They explained things carefully, were very methodical and everything made sense. The next time Sam taught a lesson I made sure to find out where he was teaching: Salchata Dance Academy. I've been taking lessons since July and Salchata replicated all the best things that attracted me to the Latin dance community in the first place: a positive, friendly, happy environment with enthusiastic teachers whose number one goal is to help their students.Sam's a funny, patient, experienced teacher with extensive knowledge of Latin dance. He give you background, teaches you how the music connects with the dance and makes sure you have a very solid foundation. Oriana provides a totally different perspective as an experienced follower and between the two of them all your weak points get dealt with. Beyond that there are a number of experienced dancers that regularly come in to assist in practices and the lessons. It’s a group lesson but the classes are so small that it feels like a private one.Something very special is going on at Salchata dance academy with the people and the teachers that is much bigger than the dancing. Sam and Oriana have created a community around them. Happy positive friendly people attract other people in an expanding circle and when you become part of it, it can feel almost magical. Your life can change in a large surprising positive direction in a short period of time.I highly and unreservedly recommend it.