The Best Ballroom Dancing Lessons

Tuesday, March 21st

2023 Ballroom Dancing Lesson Reviews

Ballroom Dance 101

• From $40-$50 DVD purchase
• $17-$27 monthly membership online
• $150 for weekly in-person lessons in Tampa, FL
• Three learning options
• 90-day money back guarantee
• Video lesson previews
• Award-winning instructors

Offering instruction with 40+ years of experience, Liberero's Ballroom Dance 101 school offers three different modes of learning: DVD lessons, online lessons, and in person lessons. The instructors have been producing instructional dance videos since 1979, and they focus on patterns that help students build on concepts and transfer their skills from one dance style to another. With award-winning instruction, this is a great option for both beginner and serious ballroom dancers.

Learning methods

There are 3 learning methods offered by tBallroom Dance 101. These include:

• DVD: With DVD courses ranging from beginner all the way to advanced, Liberero's Ballroom Dance 101 provides a truly complete educational experience at a distance.
• Online classes: A membership-based lesson plan for online learners. Watch video lessons at any time and use PC or mobile devices. Monthly payment required.
• In person: For dancers in the Tampa area, Libereros's offers beginner and intermediate classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and advanced classes on Mondays, along with group meet-ups for dance practice. In person education is one of the best ways to get really comfortable with ballroom as you get to work in real time with real partners.

Tiered payment system

While their teaching sounds great, it's a little difficult to find all their prices (and they are different depending on what you want). We've organized it all here for you:

• DVD Lesson pricing
• $50 for beginner lessons (all styles)
• $40 for basic to intermediate lessons (all styles)
• $40 for advanced lessons (all styles)
• 90-day money back guarantee for DVDs
• Online Classes
• $17 per month for a standard access membership
• $27 per month for a premium access membership
• One month money-back guarantee
• In Person
• $150 standard tuition for two 1/2 hour private lessons and 1 group class per week.

Professional, friendly atmosphere

One of the best things about Liberero's is the family atmosphere. Customers are singing their praises, talking about how comfortable it is to dance there and how easy it was to get started learning. Rated five stars on Google reviews and on Facebook, Liberero's has a very happy customer base willing to recommend the business - even the online courses. Several reviewers talked about the "community" of Liberero's and finding new friends through "their love of being active and learning new things."

Award-winning ballroom dance

Reviewers can't say enough good things about Liberero's. No matter which learning style you choose, they have something comprehensive, level-specific, and a variety of price options for different learners. If you're looking for an at-home learning option, you can use the video lessons or DVD options. If you're looking to dance with others (and live near Tampa, FL), you can enjoy the community and in-person classes with award-winning instructors with over 40 years of experience. All of this adds up to a first-place finish for these fantastic ballroom dance lessons.

Passion 4 Dancing

• $197 for a yearly subscription
• Weekly live lessons
• 5 free videos with email subscription
• 30-day money-back guarantee

Passion 4 Dancing is the next step for learners who started on the Learn to Dance blog site which is a free option in our review. Passion 4 Dancing offers the same teachers and courses as Learn to Dance, but with more advanced lessons and 500+ total videos to learn from. The subscription is a little steep, asking for $197 per year, but you get unlimited access to all of their ballroom dancing videos and live weekly classes.

Dancing with stars

The instructors at Passion 4 Dancing have more than 15 years of experience teaching ballroom and Latin dance styles to beginners all the way through advanced. Promising clear instruction all the way through advanced technique, Passion 4 Dancing provides instruction to every type of student. With happy customers across the US and internationally, they can back up their method by taking new students and turning them into dancers.

Is the price right?

At $197 per year, Passion 4 Dancing sounds like a lot, but when you break it down, it's an extremely reasonable $16.60 a month. Considering most in-person ballroom lessons are $50 an hour minimum, to get all the benefits of the membership for so little a month is a steal. Included in your subscription you receive:

• Unlimited Access To All Videos (500+)
• New Videos Every Month
• Live Weekly Classes
• Technique Lessons

Live online lessons

If the continuous content wasn't good enough, the offer of live online lessons each week is more than worth the price. With a focus on technique and a variety of styles, this price is a bargain. Plus, they offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, just in case you get going and decide it's not for you.

Free trial

While the free trial is a little slim with Passion 4 Dancing, you do get access to three free videos in most dance styles before you purchase. These are the same videos that appear on Learn to Dance, so if you want to save yourself some trouble just start here. The videos cover the bare-minimum basics, but you get a sense of the teaching style and the in-depth detail the instructors use in the rest of their courses.

Stylistic choices

If you were worried about finding a particular style of dance with Passion 4 Dancing, don't be. They have all the big ticket ballroom styles available for you on their site. You can learn:

• Cha Cha
• Rumba
• East Coast Swing
• Waltz
• Foxtrot
• Tango
• Viennese Waltz
• Salsa
• Bachata
• Merengue
• West Coast Swing

Along with the international styles for each of these dances, they offer comprehensive step-by-step classes that break down the style and steps you can do with your partner.

Excellent option for a great price

Passion 4 Dancing has a great system for learning right from the comfort of your home. With live videos, you don't have to feel like you're missing out too much on in-person instruction style, and with the video lessons, all you need is a computer and free time to get started. With free trial videos and a money back guarantee with all of the features of their lessons, Passion 4 Dancing deserves its place near the top of our list.

Take Lessons

• Free search engine
• Limit by price
• Find teachers in your area
• In person and online options
• Safety features include background checks

Take Lessons isn't a ballroom dancing course, but rather a database to find a good ballroom teacher. Divided into private lessons, group lessons, and video lessons, Take Lessons offers a streamlined way to sift through different teachers, studios, and private instructors to find exactly the right fit for you. It's an amazing site to look at if you want something personalized.

Multimodal options

Since this is a search engine, it allows you to find whatever you need. For students looking for something in person, this is a great way to search for teachers in your area. You can limit the options by location, day, and price, so you can have as many or as few choices as you'd like - including having the teacher come directly to your home to teach private lessons in your comfort zone.

Safety first

Since we're talking about people coming and going, it's important that you feel safe. Take Lessons ensures that you know which teachers have completed and passed a background test before you even get to the point of chatting with them about lessons. Take Lessons also allows teachers to put up photos and videos of themselves and their lessons so you know exactly who you're looking for if you meet up.

Student-focused

The focus of the site is to provide an easy way for students to connect with instructors. The reviews for Take Lessons reflect just that. Students find it easy to discover new teachers in their area and online, and are thrilled with the safety features and price limitations. It doesn't cost anything to join, and you only pay when you book with a particular teacher.

Amazing database, but doesn't offer lessons itself

If you're looking for a course that's predetermined and ready to go, Take Lessons isn't the site for you. However, as a database for online, in person, and in your home lessons this website is amazing. You can really get into finding a personalized learning experience, and there's no pressure to continue booking with the same teacher. Take Lessons is a great website for exploring your ballroom dance options.

Learn and Master

• $250 single purchase
• Professional instructors
• Asynchronous video lessons
• Dance-along CDs
• Online community

Learn & Master created their Ballroom curriculum based on the popularity of shows like Dancing With The Stars and So You Think You Can Dance, and designed the lessons for the absolute beginner. With a 13 DVD package of dance figures and ballroom choreography as well as workbooks and an online community, Learn and Master offers a comprehensive and community-based video lesson option that you can work through on your own time.

Dancing on your own time

While some dancers prefer synchronous lessons with real-time teaching, Learn and Master knows that many students just don't have the time to attend full time dance lessons around a teacher's schedule. Instead Learn & Master offers the Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, Rumba, Cha Cha, and Swing all in pre-recorded DVD lessons. They promise "the most extensive video instruction" anywhere with 6 CDs of approved ballroom dance music to dance to outside of the DVD lessons, and access to an online community for support and questions.

Full package for practice

The full course costs $250, so it's not too easy to jump right in and give it a try. However, for continuous access to the lessons and with instruction from top ballroom dancers Mark and Jaimee, Learn & Master promises you all the tools you'll need to become excellent ballroom dancers. And there are no monthly fees. The package comes with:

• 13 DVDs of video lessons
• 6 CDs of dance tracks
• 75+ pages of workbook material
• Access to an online community

Focus on technique

The DVD lessons focus heavily on technique with the videos spending much of the lesson slowly and clearly learning the posture and weight emphasis on the feet. This helps ensure you'll be able dance with flow and grace, which shows that they're treating their online students with the same care as in person students would expect from private instruction.

Great single purchase option, but a little dated

Learn & Master is a trusted education provider. So long as you have a working DVD player and somewhere to play the dance-along CDs this could be a good deal for a comprehensive lesson package. However, $250 in one go is a little steep if you don't know anything about ballroom yet, especially with no refund policy or free trial.

iDance

• $11 for a Monthly Pass
• $9 for one-day access
• Options for single class purchase
• Class previews before purchase
• Online classes
• 2 instructors
• Good for beginners

iDance is a comprehensive website that offers video lessons for many styles of dance including Ballroom. For $11 a month you have full access to their website and all of the available dance lessons they offer.

Full range of ballroom dance styles

Their ballroom department covers the full range of ballroom styles with 137 individual video lessons across 28 lesson packs. If you're only interested in one type of dance or a small range of classes you can purchase those on their own too, starting as low as $1 per class and you get to download the classes you purchase to practice again and again.

Ballroom in your family room

The video format offers previews for the lessons. The videos show both partners, allowing you to learn either the leader or follower position. The benefit of these lessons is learning in a safe environment. You don't have to share class space, but you'll still get professional level dance instruction. The videos allow you to pause and replay the content so if you get lost you can review as much as you need.

Best for beginners

A good middle of the road option for very beginners. While iDance offers a good variety of ballroom styles, including Cha Cha, Rumba, East Coast Swing, Bolero, Mambo, West Coast Swing, Merengue, Hustle, Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, Viennese Waltz, Samba, and Salsa, they have almost nothing for more advanced dancers in the ballroom section. Although other styles of dance go all the way up to professional, ballroom lessons here only go up to Level 2: knowing your basics. Still, if you're getting ready for a wedding or just want to get a little extra workout with your partner, iDance isn't a bad option.

Worth checking out if you're new to ballroom

Overall, iDance is a "good enough" ballroom dance program for beginners. It isn't too expensive and you get to keep the lessons you buy to review over and over. However, if you're looking for more advanced ballroom steps and lessons to take you beyond beginner level, iDance isn't the place for you.

Udemy

• Database for finding online classes
• One time purchase
• Multiple course options
• Get a certificate of completion from courses

Another database option, Udemy provides a place to start looking for courses. However the only learning modality is online or video lessons. With significantly fewer options available and many of those courses offering under 10 hours of content, Udemy doesn't stand out next to our other options which are more comprehensive.

Not so original

While some of Udemy's online ballroom courses are new, others can be found on their own sites, blogs, or YouTube channels. It's important to decide if you want to go through a proxy site like Udemy or find the courses from their original instructors instead.

Inclusion criteria

One of the nice things about database sites are the ways you can limit criteria to find the best fit ballroom course for you. The level limitations are particularly helpful if you're only looking for something that covers beginner, intermediate, advanced or expert level material. It does help you know exactly what you're paying for on Udemy. You can also limit by ratings, features, and video duration, to best fit your learning style.

Fluctuating prices

While Udemy is a nice place to try out small courses, you have to keep an eye on the price. At the time we were writing most of the courses were on sale bringing down courses that cost around $70-$90 full price to somewhere from $16-$20 per course. However, it's not clear how long and how often these sale prices are available, so keep an eye on Udemy and catch them when they're on sale, and you could get a great deal on an online course.

Decent database for online courses

There's nothing bad about Udemy, it just doesn't excite us either. Compared to other fully realized courses and databases on our list Udemy just doesn't stand out for ballroom dancing lessons. If you can catch them on a sale day, it might be worth the low price to check out a quick online class.

Learn to Dance

• Free video lessons
• Asynchronous learning
• HD videos

While Learn to Dance doesn't look like much, it has some great options to get your feet wet with ballroom dancing. And, did we mention it's free? While there isn't a lot to offer, Learn to Dance is a great place to go if you want to decide if ballroom is for you. With a collection of video lesson packets covering 8 of the ballroom dance styles and a 101 on partnered dancing, there's a great selection of basics for the brand new ballroom dancer.

Package deal

Learn to Dance offers their free options in little packages for each dance style. Each package is a blog page with 3-4 dance video lessons inside. The lessons cover basic steps in general and then a few specific moves each before offering you access to lessons on the Passion 4 Dancing (one of our highest ranked lesson programs) site behind a paywall. So keep in mind, this is just the bare minimum of dance lessons, and if you want to progress with the teachers you started with, you'll have to move on to another site entirely and begin paying for lessons.

Decide if it's for you

If you just want to decide if ballroom dancing is for you, the Learn to Dance program a good way to get your feet wet. They offer (limited) video lessons in the following styles:

• Partner dance 101
• Waltz
• Cha Cha
• Swing
• Rumba
• Salsa
• Foxtrot
• Tango
• Merengue

Beginner-friendly teaching style

The videos offered on Learn to Dance are in HD and deliver clear step-by-step lessons. There are two partners in each video, allowing you to learn the leader or follower position (or both). Each style is taught by the same instructors, so once you get used to their style the lessons feel very familiar. However, they only go over the very bare minimum of the dance styles, and the pages will lead you to a separate website where you need to subscribe to continue, so don't expect more than one class worth from each style.

Not much different than YouTube

Learn to Dance's ballroom selection is nice as all of the lessons are from the same instructors, and if you like them, you can pay to continue learning on their website. However, you could find some of the same instruction (also for free) on YouTube. The only thing Learn to Dance did for you was collect the videos in advance and offer them in HD quality. Learn to Dance is a decent place to explore the ballroom if you've never tried it before, but it barely meets the expectations for free lessons.