Cheryl Burke Dance

Wow, it was a beautiful studio with a handful of great instructors! So pity they got closed.

Very beautiful studio!
Huge dance floor with 3 different dance areas.
Stuff and treachery are very nice and friendly.
I liked the place!

Cheryl Burke studio in Mountain View is a great place to train, practice and socialize. They have a very good layout with 3 different spaces, lots of mirrors, good quality floor and state of the art sound equipment which is easy to hook your own music up to. The instructors have tons of patience and a great attitude. There are group classes for different ages and levels of dancers.
Overall, it is a convenient place to train if you are already a competitive dancer but is also tailored to newbies to obtain and develop dance skills which meet their goals (weddings, birthdays, just for fun)

We were meeting a dance teacher here and got a little confused when we tried to check in. The older white lady was rude and unhelpful. It was our first lesson and we just wanted to confirm we were in the right place.
The facility was pretty nice. It wasn’t too packed on Friday afternoon so I didn’t embarrass myself too much since I have absolutely no rhythm. Everything else about this dance studio was awesome. Our private instructor was great, the temperature was perfect, and the bathrooms were clean.

Larry was our dance instructor for our Argentina tango first dance for our wedding. He made learning tango for first time very fun and easy. Not to mention, what an awesome routine he made for us. My wife and I loved it and everyone at the wedding enjoyed it. Thanks Larry. Go see Larry if you want to be like dancing with the Stars.

I have been to many studios before and this one is so far my favorite. My personal instructor is Arkadiy and I absolutely adore him. He is meticulous and at the same time very patient. Great teacher, from whom you can learn a lot.
In group classes my instructor is Gail. She has the most creative and fun way of explaining steps. I leave her classes so happy and care free.
I definitely recommend this studio, whether you come here just for fun or you want to compete.

I am new in this area and absolutely love this studio. Saturday nights are especially great with about 200 dance enthusiasts choosing from 3 different ballrooms. The people are friendly, all ages and dance together. I plan to be a regular and take advantage of all that the studio has to offer.

Okay, so I’ve been wanting to take ballroom lessons for awhile now and finally had the guts to do it about 3 months ago. I looked for several other dance studio and this one is the one that gave me a great impression. The beginners lesson every friday is very affordable and after attending that lesson for a while, I’ve decided to take the series class.
Everything was great until I encountered some of creepy male dancers there that started flirting with me. Their hands were placed innapropriately and wont let me dance with other people. Even one of the instructor there started texting me and asked me out to lunch!!! How unprofessional is that!!!
I am really really disappointed with these experiences and I wished that it hadn’t happen because I really enjoyed dancing and really have the passion to go further.

I recently participated in the Dance Showcase that Cheryl Burke puts on every 6 months. They always go all out to put on a show. If you’ve never seen a live show before, for $ 15 you can see some fun dancing and usually at the end the Pros come out. I appreciate the commitment this studio makes in making these happen consistently. For me as a novice dancer, it is the best way to really learn as I push myself to do a performance. Thank you Ken Padron for going to great lengths in these events: the program; the dancers; the pros; the food; the judges; all the details to coordinate these important venues that us dancers really benefit and enjoy doing.
Here’s to more. Don’t hesitate to jump in a dance program over there and be sure to say to Ken — he’s the best!

It wasn’t until one Friday evenings, after a few sessions of parties, I decided to take private classes with Ken Padron. That changed everything…
We started on learning Rumba, because I love the music so much, and the techniques are challenging yet very interesting to me. From then, I started having more interests and learning advantages for West Coast Swing, and Salsa.
When I had to move away from the area to another state, it is my deepest regret to leave Ken and learning from him, who inspired me. Our lessons were serious and real workouts, yet I laughed a lot, I had so much fun. I’m forever grateful.
The missing one star was because sometimes group classes changed without prior notice, but I guess that could happen anywhere. I’m definitely visiting if I’m in town again.

We hired Larry to teach us how to dance at our wedding…
First I need to mention that we procrastinated, and asked Larry how to teach us a Viennese waltz to a difficult song 2 weeks before the wedding. Add to that, the fact that we both have left feet, Larry had a challenge on his hands.
Lessons with Larry were amazing. He was patient, he was detailed, he explained everything well.
Final result? On our wedding day we had a great waltz, I recommend taking lessons more than 2 weeks before the wedding, but with 5 lessons Larry was able to accomplish a small miracle, and now I wonder what he would have been able to do with 10 lessons…
Although I won’t need to wonder for long because I am planning on hiring Larry again even though we are now happily married and no longer need coaching on a first dance.

As promised in my review, we DID come back. We scheduled many private lessons with Ken to choreograph our first dance for our wedding, but only made it through some of them because we were stood up several times.
Still, what we did accomplish with Ken was so great, and our last minute sub instructor, Jacqueline (sp?) really deserves major kudos for pushing our first dance to the limit. What we ended up with was a breathtaking dance that we were told brought tears to people’s eyes… and most importantly, that we are super proud of.
It was fun, it was challenging, it was successful, it inspired a real love for social dance in both of us. And we got to meet Cheryl Burke!

My husband and I had our first dance choreographed by Arkadiy Polezhaev at Cheryl Burke Dance, and he was absolutely amazing!!! Over about three months, we took 5 lessons with Arkadiy… He was so accommodating to our busy schedule and so friendly. His choreography was beautiful and creative and all of our guests were raving about it. We were so happy with the dance. Thanks so much Arkadiy and Cheryl Burke Studio! :)

Went to one of the Friday social dance party on college night. The floor is really nice. There are two pools divided into ballroom and night club stuff. The music is pretty awesome, and I personally like the queue system a lot— it helps me to plan my breaks lol
Overall, fun experience and will recommend that to dancers :)

I’ve come consistently to Cheryl Burke’s for the social dance parties on and off for the past year and a half. They’re $ 12-​$ 15 per night from 9pm to 11pm or 12:30am respectively. I think they offer discount if you come later in the evening but you should call the studio to check.
Always, I come with a regular dance partner. I’ve had the most fun when I come with a group of other competitive ballroom and latin dance students. The music is great and the floor is wonderful. Dave (the DJ) also did the music for Stanford Ballroom’s Cardinal Classic Competition this past weekend and I know he does the music for a couple other local comps.
I hear they’re starting up some Sunday Social Tea Dance Parties too! I need to go check them out :)

I signed up here on a Groupon deal — a 4 week series class for 2 people.
Pros:
The teachers are super nice, helpful and patient. We originally had Kristian when we signed up for a class that was out of our league (Beginner 3 East Coast Swing) — he tried his best to help us catch up. We ended up switching to Rhett for Beginner 1 East Coast Swing and he was just as friendly and patient with us. I wasn’t able to go back because of my busy schedule, but I may sign up for additional classes in the future — solely because the teachers are really cool.
Cons:
When I called (per the information on the Groupon) to reserve, they told us to show up. The person who I talked to asked which class I wanted to sign up for and I told her which one. Nobody told me that it wasn’t an ultra beginner class at all.
When I called again a week later to see if I could switch to the Beginner 1 series, they told me to just come in and let them know. I showed up and told the front desk person that I wanted to switch and she told me that I should have called in earlier to let them know in advance — which I did.
The cons aren’t too bad overall, but just enough to dock one star. Overall, though, the teachers are all extremely nice and patient. They both broke down every dance move step by step, and kept things fun.

Very nice venue with many different classes going on every night of the week. Parking is easy. I love how huge their rooms are. You really have spaces to move around and not have to worry about bumping into people. It is especially great for the traveling dances.
They offer series and drop in classes for all skill level. The schedule is packed and they open 7 days of the week! It is impossible not to find something you like. I have had great experience with the instructors here. Wish I could find time and come here more often.

I’ve always known about Cheryl Burke’s studio in MV but never really had any interest until recently when I started doing Zumba on a regular basis. It’s football season and when my 49ers aren’t playing, I look for the opportunity to take a Zumba class in the early AM if possible when the 49ers are playing at home.
I usually go to 24 for my classes but Cheryl Burke has two weekly Zumba classes on their schedule for $ 10 per class, a reasonable amount for an hour workout and not too far from where I live. I thought, WTH, give it a shot.
I met the instructor, Joyful, and she was super nice and inviting. Unlike 24, the class size here is small so you don’t have to worry about running into someone next to you or running out of space. Another nice thing about doing a class at this location is their super bouncy wood dance floors that have those springy like things underneath. And the floors are super smooth and immaculate clean… not usually the case at 24.
Although I’m paying extra to attend a class here, I really do like the smaller class size and the convenient drop-​in system. At some point, I may even consider taking a proper dance instructional class which is of course, their strong suit.

Ah yes, I finally made it to Starlite. Of course, it was bought by «Dancing With The Stars» pro dancer Cheryl Burke, who grew up a few miles north of the studio, so now it’s Cheryl Burke Dance. I read reviews ranging from «it’s tops» to «it’s terrible», how would I respond?
It’s similar to the famed Allego in Emeryville, albeit quite a bit smaller. I took a rumba class with Larry, he was as good as I’ve read. More emphasis on privates than at other studios. Wide mixture of demographics among the dancers. Two party rooms, one mostly latin and the other is everything else. More American tango than Argentine tango, grrrr.
Yes, the owner was there. She taught the cha-​cha class, it felt to me like she’d rather be somewhere else.
In a way, after its reputation several years ago of being the premier dance studio in Silicon Valley, this night was a letdown. It did have good parts, some okay parts, and it could work for you. I don’t see myself traveling that distance just to dance there, though, especially when Allegro is just over the hill.

So, I really love dance. Learning while juggling classes at college wasn’t always easy, and I’m an impatient student, but Dan managed to keep my interest in Latin.
This part will be just for Dan: he offers a free 30-​min lesson to have you test things out. The information he gives is well worth it though and he makes it a fun time. He puts in a lot of effort to create the perfect lessons for any student. Outside of class, he’ll be willing to answer other questions about dance and he’s always busy writing out a curriculum or syllabus for the classes /​lessons he’s teaching that week. Age and experience does not matter at all! All the students he works with vary in either /​both and still have shown an enormous amount of improvement in such a short time. He’s also got fun group classes, if you want to get a feel of his teaching.
If you’re willing to be a competitive dancer, he’ll definitely train you well and help your preparation pre-​comp. I noted that at the most recent Cheryl Burke Showcase, he made sure all his students were ready and finished their makeup and personally led them to warm up. From personal experience, he helped me pick out my competition dress and made routines for me and my partner.
To summarize the raving, he’s a caring and professional instructor. Hit him up, homies.
A few misc. notes for the STUDIO:
— First lesson at the studio is free.
— Zumba is very popular here as well. They have fresh towels to use so you don’t have to drip your sweat everywhere. Bonus: complimentary fresh fruit.
— There are social dance events every week. CBD has their own weekend parties, but the most popular one is the independent Wednesday Night Hop, which always takes up any and all spaces in the parking lot.
If you want recommendations, you can always message me and let me know what dances you’re interested in. I’d be happy to give suggestions for appropriate teachers!

I’m not a regular ballroom goer. If i had hips and feet that naturally moved without so much concerted effort, perhaps I would be.
Having said that, we were here for a night of free admission to Burke’s studio. First impressions: where the heck am I? where did he just park? are we in warehouse district of Mtn View?
The whole set-​up is difficult for me to get. Layout wise, it’s a bit of mishmash. Spatially, it’s wonderful!!! Lots and lots of room for many to swivel their hips and bust a move. The instructors were doing their very best. Controlled chaos it was, and I lent myself to it (in the hopes of getting a few more steps to my repertoire) for a few hours.
Fun overall. Not sure I would make the trek down there from upper East Bay, as we have a few near Oaktown. But happy to have come and enjoyed the visit.
PS I have since purchased 4 series salsa dance classes. Gotta get some true fundamentals down.
PPS. bring change. Inevitably, you’re going to get parched. Avail yourself of the multitude of vending machines for drink. Or. bring your own BPA-​free bottle!