Salsa Swing Connection Dance Studio

Eddie’s Zumba classes are the most fun and challenging around. Great energy and he cues very well. This workout is great and the teacher is the reason why!

I never give reviews… EVER! But Janel is just so Oh! inspiring, that I just had to. Her energy is just INCREDIBLE and the way that girl moves her body. it makes you wonder if that is even humanly possible to do!!! She knows latin music VERY well, she is boricua, and you can tell that she is having a blast as well teaching the class! Sweet girl :)
No…I am not related in any way to the studio or to her ;)
Two thumbs up… FINALLY a great Zumba class in OC! :D

I go to the zumba classes with the instructor Janel. She is fabulous. I have brought three different friends with me to Janel’s zumba classes and they just love her. She is high energy, fun, motivating and choreographs a great workout. She is always changing it up a bit. The place is a bit hidden behind a Leeds. I am not sure how the other dance lessons and workout classes and trainings are, but I highly recommend anyone to go to Janel’s zumba classes.

I am giving this place 5 STARS because of the Zumba classes I have taken with Janel. She is one of the best group exercise instructors I have taken a class from. I don’t know much about many things, but I used to teach and train instructors, so I am qualified here.
That said, this is a small community dance studio, not a gym. If you are comparing it to an Equinox, Sports Club Irvine or even a 24 Hour Fitness atmosphere, they could not be further apart. Which brings me to my next 5 STAR point.
I bought 30 Zumba classes for a TOTAL of $ 150. This is an insanely inexpensive price for one of the best instructors in the area.

I hope to report back with a better review, but for now they get 1 star for having me drive 30min. on a blessed Saturday morning in the rain for nothing.
I want to try the Zumba class posted on the Salsa Swing & Zumba websites. I decide to call ahead to see how much this booty shaking class is gonna set me back and if it’s worth missing a free Spinning class at my local gym plus driving 30minutes. When I call the day before the lady on the phone says the class IS going on and to show up early since it’ll be my first time. Early? The class is at a dance studio at 8am on a Saturday, would someone really be there early for me to register? The lady assures me to show up BEFORE 8am– the class is happening even though it’s the Saturday after New Years.
So I drag myself there in the rain, listening to horrible AM radio infomercials the whole way, wondering how much it would cost me to take this class regularly if I end up liking it (cost of the class + plus gas money + I’ll probably want to sign up for the other classes they offer like Belly Dancing and Salsa… this is getting expensive). No one’s there except 2 regulars waiting in the car– they tell me the instructor said «See you Saturday» when they were in class earlier that week. We wait for awhile and leave.
I decide to drive back to Long Beach via PCH thinking «Yay– I’m going to the Secret Spot for breakfast!» But on my way I notice Jack’s and HSS are having sidewalk sales, and no ones out ’cause it’s only 8:30am by this time, it’s raining, and the rain ruins UGGS. I stop, spend a bunch of money on crap I don’t need at HSS, including imitation uggs, and now I’m mad at myself.
And that’s why they get 1 star for now.

My parents started private dance lessons here to prepare for my upcoming nuptials. My father wanted to learn a father-​daughter dance and was lucky enough to secure Greg, one of the founders/​owners of Salsa-​Swing to shepherd our way through a short choreographed dance. As I live in San Francisco, it was up to my mom and dad to soldier on through with practicing and I would drop in on the dance lessons on the one or two occasions when I would be in town for a wedding dress fitting.
Greg is extremely patient and good at what he does. On the first day, I didn’t have it together enough to bring the music — Louis Armstrong’s «What a Wonderful World» — to the 1^st lesson; he tried YouTube at first and when the quality available did not work, he used a reasonable facsimile in another Ella/​Loius song and gave us a nice set of steps for about the song. By the next rehearsal (my last visit to SoCal before the wedding) he had burned a CD from YouTube and had choreographed a series of steps for the second the song. A note — this way of learning an entire dance may not be for beginners, but if you &/​or your partner (Dad, fianc, etc) have any prior experience with partner dancing, you might be fine. I’m a long-​time lindy dancer, and the steps/​patterns we requested from Greg were fairly simple, but graceful and varied enough so that I and my Dad were not doing the standard step-​touch, step-​touch throughout of the song. Greg is also very patient and very thorough with my parents, which I really appreciate.
Some learnings:
If you find yourself in a situation where you won’t be rehearsing with your father on a regular basis, you should probably write down the sequence of the choreography and videotape the dance to help your memories along — the partner who is not all that familiar with social dancing may not lead as well as you need.
Greg also runs a personal training business out of the Salsa-​Swing studios, and my mom has found this component also very enjoyable as well as a nice supplement to the partner dance lessons in getting fit/​ready for the wedding.

Ok, this place is hard to find as their sign is not neon/​lighted and it’s behind a furniture store. If you’re going south on Harbor, you’ll pass Wilson and make a right into the furniture store lot (not sure what the furniture store is called).
I’ve only taken one lesson in salsa and it was o.k. They offer a variety of lessons from salsa, swing… to ballet, tap, exercise, fitness classes.
Their website isn’t up-​to-​date so you’ll have to call and hope someone is in to answer the phone.