Salchata Dance Company

This is the friendliest studio! You will feel like part of the dance family right away. The instructors ( Sam & Oriana ) are wonderful teachers! They are patient, kind and exceptionally gifted at teaching students, giving personal attention and ensuring that everyone is on the same page. I am enjoying the challenge, and I can see my improvement over time.

I've been taking classes at the Salchata Dance Academy every since the school opened in January 2019. I signed up for the Bachata Intermediate class and the Bachata Beginner class on Sundays and the time I spend learning and practicing my Bachata steps is the best time of my Sundays and well worth the drive from Mississauga. Sam is a wonderful, patient and very knowledgeable instructor and the classes are educational, detailed-oriented and fun at the same time. Claudia and Oriana who also teach at the Salsata Dance Academy are always helpful, very enthusiastic and they provide ongoing feedback so all the students can improve. In addition to the modern Bachata basic step, I also learned the traditional (Dominican) step which is not always taught at other schools. Sam also teaches us how the dance evolved over the years, what musical instruments define the rhythm and talks about various musical performers who define bachata musical scene. Each week, after classes, the school offers a Social Practice option when students can join in and practice Salsa and Bachata steps. Sam, Claudia and Oriana join the Social Practice as well and this way all get the chance to practice with the best, ask more questions and go over the steps and we've learned in class. I highly recommend Salchata Dance Academy to everyone and the time spent at school allowed me to improve my Bachata steps as well as to learn interesting facts about the dance itself.

Everyone has a different taste in food or music. Even in salsa, people tend to develop their own style . I took a class because I like Sam's style. Then impressed by his teaching style. Doing well is different from teaching well, but he does both. He is full of humor and super friendly. He often switches to a follower for the leaders then catch how you can improve. Even Oriana does in vice versa. You guys are awesome! I took more from a group lesson than a private lesson somewhere else in the past. Strongly recommend!

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.

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’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!

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.

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!