Salsa with Tomaj

We took 8 of 10 beginning classes in Orinda. The positive: Tomaj knows his stuff, is very clear and challenges you. The negative. His classes are big so no time for personalized instruction and new people are allowed to enter all the time at any time. The problem with this approach is that it interrupts the flow and progress since we are changing partners every couple of minutes and in our case it caused my wife injury: A newcomer tried a difficult move on her (Hammerlock) that we had done for a few weeks (but that he did not know) and yanked her shoulder socket hard injuring her. So it would be nice to find a class where you start and finish with the same people progressing at the same level. But I realize that is less profitable for the instructor.

What a dick! If you’re looking for a pompous, arrogant asshole of a teacher he’s the one! I asked a simple question and was ridiculed, like he really took pleasure in humiliating me. And I’m no expert but his dancing looked to me to be lacking any rhythm or creativity.

I took a class with Tomaj last Friday at the Allegro Salsa Party with live music and 3 djs spinning bachata kizomba and salsa. His partner for that night was Ava Apple. I have taken classes from both of these instructors before and I think that last Friday was the best class I have ever seen.
We did crossbody turns left and right. The presentation and tips to improve our dance were excellent. The party was also a huge success plenty of food wine and sangria.
A friend of mine also came to do her first salsa lesson and she very much enjoyed it so its for everyone.

My boyfriend and I have been taking salsa for four months now at a reputable dance studio. We decided to drop into one of the classes with Tomaj to see what he was like. The first comment he made was we were probably a beginner as most people coming from other studios are not up to his level. We decided to take the beginner lesson and the intermediate lesson to see where we would fit best. The first thing that stuck me as odd in the beginner class was he said by the end of the 7 weeks you would be good enough to go out and dance in salsa clubs. No teacher can guarantee this as people have different learning curves. His beginner class was very easy for us and we continued on to the intermediate class. I found that he is extremely aggressive and over bearing. At the end of class he put serious pressure on us to sign up for his whole series even though I told him I didn’t know if his class was a right fit for us. Most of the time he spent self promoting. Very commercialized. There are much better teachers to learn salsa from don’t waste your time with Tomaj.

Tomaj,
Thank you so much for making our wedding day even more spectacular than we could have ever imagined. Adding the element of our own unique and memorable wedding dance was by far, the most stressful, but most worth it experience. The dance was fun and we still to this day receive compliments on how well it was choreographed.
You were an amazing instructor to both of us. You showed us patience and gave us hope. We had absolutely no dance background and considering I had two left feet and my husband was super nervous. We were your biggest challenge. You made us feel confident and comfortable to stand in front of all of our family to show them how to have a good time. It was blast learning how to dance and the best part was learning how to dance with my the love of life.
Thank you Tomaj!
You were so awesome. I recommend everyone should have him teach them their very own unique first dance. He is worth every minute.
Oh, by the way… his Bachata lessons were awesome too.

I highly recommend Tomaj’s classes. I’ve had lessons at 4 east bay venues (allego ballroom, shboom, etc.) — all are run by wonderful people, but Tomaj is the best — hands down. You just have to try them out and it will be immediately clear. He is focused, explains things very clearly and knows how to pace the class so that everyone learns.
He’s also the only one to have his classes on DVD so you can practice at home — this alone has immeasurable value as it’s virtually impossible to take notes in a dance class. (Do yourself a big favor — if you’re going to put the time investment into taking classes, start watching the DVDs and practice at home. They’re inexpensive and you’ll progress much faster.) He also has a wonderful staff that always jumps in to help balance out the gender ratio when needed — something more dance studios should do. And hey — he’s a really nice fellow on top of all that!

My fiancé and I LOVE our Friday night salsa lessons with Tomaj. We have so much fun, and it’s amazing how much you can learn in a progressive series class like his. We had occasionally dropped in at Allegro for salsa classes about two years prior to our beginner series with Tomaj, but neither of us remembered a thing by the time we started Tomaj’s classes. By the end of the class, we actually knew a pattern and immediately signed up for the intermediate session. We’ve made a lot of new friends, and we’re very excited to sign up for the next series.
We are of the opinion that Tomaj is a very good instructor. That being said, there are plenty of people who disagree – we’ve had quite a few dropouts in our class, and a couple of the other students sticking with it complain about him. My observations are follows: people who take his criticism personally or want only «positive reinforcement» don’t do so well with his teaching style. I don’t think he’s particularly harsh, but it can feel like he’s picking on you at times. My fiancé just laughs it off every time Tomaj shakes his head and stops the music because of some mistake he made.
There is a really big difference between his beginner and intermediate classes. He’s extremely patient in the beginner class, and it moves very slowly with lots and lots of repetition. Once we hit the intermediate class, we spent a good portion of the class confused and tripping over our own two feet because the degree of difficulty skyrocketed.
To be fair, he does warn you in the beginning that the intermediate class is no joke. Also, from his perspective, he really does have to ramp it up, because he has people who have taken his intermediate class several times – if he kept it at the same slow pace, he’d never have repeat students. As a result, his intermediate class is definitely not for everyone. You have to be willing to keep trying and making a fool out of yourself. You can’t give up or get too frustrated. And you absolutely cannot take his criticism personally. I also think that it’s ultimately you who determines what you get out of the class. As I said before, we’ve gotten to know a lot of our classmates, and I think that’s made a really big difference with our experience. There’s a real sense of camaraderie when you’re able to commiserate AND get advice from classmates.

I have only taken TOMAJ’s class once, but I have personally danced with him in club. He’s a great leader, and have great choreography, style, every woman who dance with him would feel like youself are a great dancer even if you are just a beginner, he can bring a lot out of you.
He is strict, will not hesitate to point out what you need to improve, but this is what you are looking for when you go to a class, isn’t it?

This is my first time taking salsa lessons with Tomaj and I am thoroughly enjoying it! Greater than that is my passion for learning salsa. One thing that I would encourage Tomaj to do is to dance with his students when possible, because that will actually help everyone improve… just a thought! I took salsa lessons before and my previous instructor used to do that with us and it really helped us refine our moves.

I was feeling «good» and signed up for Tomas’ beginning Salsa class, here in Castro Valley. It was a good $ value.
I’m a «married» dancer — sadly married to a «non-​dancing» husband — and this class advertised that a partner «was not necessary.» Indeed, they did sort of step-​by-​step– session, and then, paired folks off if they were not already paired. I started out with his able assistant, Flor (which I don’t have an issue with — I’m cool dancing with another lady in a class/​party setting — the most important part is getting to dance!)
Then, it was «switch to the right» and you had a new partner to work on your latest move/​combination with. And that is good thing, as you either learned what you were doing right (or wrong) and had the experience of working that out with a variety of partners. Much like a «real life» club setting would be. Plus, knowning the sad dearth of male partners available in most of these settings, I «think» they brought in a bunch of «ringers» who more than made the experience both valuable and enjoyable!
This was a great intro class with the option of hanging out for the intermediate/​advanced lesson to follow for a little bit more.
Plus, they plan lots of parties/​events throughout the bay area so you can strut your stuff in a social setting.
I would recommend highly to those partnerless dancers who are holding back for that reason alone. Good age range too — From the 20s on up to the 60s (?) with plenty of folks holding the 7-​count in in between. I’ve taken a LOT of dance classes in my day. This was comfortable, fun and not a bit pretentious.
Besides, if you are dancing on a regular basis, think of all the additional calories you could be consuming!
I Unilocal you Tomaj! Dance on!

I think Allegro Ballroom on Sundays is a much better place to learn and more fun. Tomaj is very aggressive when it comes to money and arrogant. He has offended several people I know so I am not a fan of Tomaj. I also think that Juan Gil at the Lake Merrit Dance Center is a great teacher with small classes and great dance parties the 3^rd Friday of the month.

Salsa with Tomaj is pretty much the best way to learn Salsa step by step. I have been trying to learn comfortably for years, but signing up with him, I already feel like going out to clubs and showing what I’ve learned.
He is clear, repeats his steps, and his character is great. I think hostile people project themselves onto others, and Tomaj is not arrogant at all. He’s funny, understanding, patient and encouraging.
Take this class if you are nervous, buggy or on the fence with learning. It will make you feel awesome and it’s worth every cent.