Lessons with Vanessa

ble energy, warmth, patience, and positivity to every single lesson. From the very first session, she made us feel comfortable, confident, and genuinely excited to dance together. What stood out most was her amazing communication style. She explained everything so clearly, encouraged us every step of the way, and somehow made every lesson feel fun, effortless, and unforgettable, even when we had two left feet at first. She has a rare gift for making people feel relaxed while still helping them improve so quickly. Our lessons quickly became one of our favorite parts of wedding planning. We left each lesson feeling more connected as a couple, more confident in our skills, and smiling ear to ear with how much fun we had together. We looked forward to every session, not just because we were learning choreography, but because her energy was so uplifting and joyful. She created such a special experience for us that even my parents wanted to take part in their own lessons and joined virtually all the way from California to learn dances to their favorite love songs. That alone says everything about the atmosphere she creates. By the time our wedding day arrived, we felt confident, connected, and completely present during our first dance, and that’s because of Vanessa. She gave us more than dance lessons. She gave us memories we’ll cherish forever. Austin is so lucky to have someone this talented, kind, and passionate. We cannot recommend Lessons With Vanessa enough!

d fun to learn. Now we're ready and confident to hit the dance floor on our wedding day. We could not recommend her enough!

g lessons is also a breeze! Cons: the only con is if you don’t book her you will miss out on all she has to offer! Full review: We booked “The Natural” package for 5 lessons and a choreographed dance, dancing to “L-O-V-E” by Nat King Cole. I’m so glad we chose her as our teacher! She is kind and patient, and does not make you feel criticized if you mess up or don’t understand something right away. She goes over things in steps (literally! haha) slowly and builds on what you learned already. The first lesson really set the tone. Vanessa first asked us about our vision and any ideas we had, and she also asked if we had any mobility limitations she should be aware of (LOVE that!). She gave us a brief overview of her ideas to see if we had any comments. For example she discussed that we could do some lifts and/or dips in our dance so we could confirm that we were interested in learning things like that. As she taught us our dance, she always checked in with us in how we felt and made sure we liked what she had come up with, offering to make adjustments if something wasn’t working for us and our style. I also appreciate that she very intentionally uses inclusive language like “leader” and “follower” rather than “man and woman” when referring to the roles that each person takes on.  Every week starting from lesson one, Vanessa was prepared with notes and ideas of what she wanted to teach us. She had clearly already thought about what she wanted our dance to look like before we got started (while still leaving room for our input). I’ve had teachers who come up with everything on the spot, which can really waste time. With Vanessa, we were always able to utilize our time fully and I never felt like we wasted a moment.  Her dance space is great also. She does work out of her home, but has clearly remodeled the front of her house with dancing in mind. She has nice hardwood floors and big mirrors everywhere she could fit them. I didn’t feel like I was intruding on her personal space since she has this area closed off from the rest of her home. It was nice to have a private space without worrying about other lessons happening around us or other music playing that would throw us off. I have to mention that she also has great climate control. We had lessons from November-March and in Texas you get every type of weather in that time. She has a separate heating and cooling unit in the ceiling that is independently controlled from the rest of the house (so smart!) and multiple fans available. If you run hot, I promise she has the means to help keep you cool! Lastly, she has a great online booking system. You schedule your own lesson with her calendar, so you don’t have to reach out and wait for confirmation or ask what she has available. We could also reschedule through this calendar if we had a need for it.  All in all, we were able to learn a choreographed dance that is fast with turns, Charleston steps, dips, and a lift all in 4 lessons (with 1 final lesson to clean up the details) which I never expected to do! I would not have thought I could learn as much as we did in so short a time. We accomplished a lot very quickly and had fun doing it! She made us feel like stars, always encouraging us and celebrating our successes!  10/10, would book again!