CLI Studios Review: Ballroom Dancing Lessons

CLI Studios is an online dance platform that is designed for students with busy schedules, allowing you to level up your dancing and meet your goals at your own pace. With classes ranging from dance basics to advanced choreography and training, there's something for every dancer. Along with ballroom lessons, you'll find jazz, hip-hop, and even contemporary classes. You can pick your level and choose an instructor from over 300 world-renowned professionals, such as Brian Friedman, Ysabelle Capitulé, Nika Kljun, and The Kinjaz, to take classes from. The program is modern and fresh, offering current professionals and CLI's impressive conservatory staff for you even at a distance.

Video format with on-site teaching tools

The studio classes are all offered online. With CLI Studios, you have 24/7 access to a massive library of dance content, including warm-ups, technique classes, and combinations. This on-demand library allows you to train at your own pace, whenever and wherever you want. The video player gives you complete control over the playback experience. You can pause the video to take a break, change the speed, or rewind and rewatch a section as many times as you want. The stop, rewind, and mirror controls enable you to jump ahead to a specific part or repeat a section until you master it. This level of flexibility and customization makes it easy for you to learn and practice dance moves at your own speed. There are five instructors for the ballroom program at CLI Studios, and most are award-winning ballroom competitors. Plus, you get a 7-day free trial to test out the program and styles to see if it's right for you.

From beginner to advanced learning

With CLI Studios, you can take your ballroom dancing to the next level. If you're new to ballroom, you can start with the beginner courses to learn the fundamentals of international ballroom styles, and then "dance it out" with fun combinations that you can perform on your own or with a partner. As you progress, intermediate courses will help you perfect your alignment, master fast footwork like the quick step, and work on articulation to make every performance explosive. For more experienced dancers, advanced courses offer bold choreography, opportunities to layer in textures, and training in performance skills. CLI Studios is a place where you can grow as a dancer even after you master beginner-level content.

Costs $199 per year

When you sign up with CLI Studios, you can start with a 7-day free trial to get a feel for their dance classes. After your trial period ends, you can become an annual member by paying $199. As a member, you'll have unlimited access to over 1,000 live and on-demand classes, with new classes being added every week. Considering that some in-person courses cost between $150 to $300 per month, this is still a highly competitive price for ballroom dance lessons.

Offers in-person conservatory classes

One of the main features of CLI Studios is its emphasis on professional opportunities. If you're interested in going pro in ballroom or any of their other dance styles, you can switch over to the CLI Conservatory page where options for auditions and in-person lessons are available. You can even sign up for their summer intensive if you really want to dig into your technique.

Popular with students, but not the BBB

While CLI currently holds an "F" rating from the Better Business Bureau, it's due to 6 complaints 1-3 years ago, which may be a little behind its current reputation. So, we suggest checking out the other third-party reviews. For example, the CLI app that you'll use for your courses has an impressive 4.6-star rating out of 5 on the Apple Store. The CLI courses also show a 4.8-star average rating from reviewers on Facebook. Students love how CLI blends technique with fun choreography, and some students who have been dancing for multiple years noted they learned tons from CLI Studios. So, no matter your level, they have something to offer you.

Impressive courses and techniques

Due to the massive discrepancy between the BBB and other third-party reviews, we're inclined to trust the feedback from actual students. While the price is a little higher and you do need to commit for a year, CLI Studios is set up to help you succeed at your ballroom dancing dreams. Whether you're a beginner, intermediate, or advanced, you can learn new techniques and polish up your ballroom dancing with CLI Studios' helpful videos and tools. For this reason, CLI Studios earns a high score despite the rating from the BBB, and we highly recommend you check out their 7-day free trial.

On the CLI Studios website