Dancesport Academy

disclosure: I vaguely know Scott the studio owner and am friends with one of the instructors and the studio manager.
This is a smaller adult oriented studio that offers both group and private ballroom instruction for both social and competitive dancers (not so much standard though). I’ve seen group classes but not personally taken them and people look like they’re having fun. They also do seasonal showcases for people interested in performing without the pressure of competition.
The studio itself is L shaped with several walls of mirrors and is fine for latin and social dancing. It’s not a great space if you need to practice full on ballroom routines on a normal sized competitive floor (this comment is geared mainly towards s/​s dancers) because there isn’t the square footage you might need.
The studio instructors who I don’t know already or am not taking lesson with usually ignore me– they’re not unfriendly but they don’t say hi either.
Social dances are not crowded, and the last time I went there was a relatively high girl to guy ratio– but snacks and drinks were included, yay.

I visited this place because an old acquaintance now teaches here. Although I was not able to make it early enough to experience the free lesson, the dancing was quite nice. The group of people are one of the friendliest around.
The ballroom is a touch small and irregularly shaped, but there were lots of great mirrors. There was also plenty of free water, and nice people to chat with when not dancing.
The dances currently are the last Friday of every month. It is definitely worth a visit to this conveniently located friendly place!

Dance Sport Academy is, hands down, the best dance instruction I have ever received. I have been dancing swing for nearly ten years and ballroom for six years, I have taken lessons from national and international champions, I am a certified teacher in my own right, and let me say no one else has provided instruction of such high quality as I have received here. The instructors, in addition to being accomplished dancers themselves, have a phenomenal understanding of the teaching process and produce consistently outstanding results among their students. The past few months I have been at the Academy have produced some of the best growth I have ever experienced as a dancer.
That said, there are three downsides. The first is that the lessons are the most expensive of any studio in Philadelphia (though they are well worth the price). Second, the group classes are often at inconvenient times and focus on a very narrow range of dances. Third, the parties are rarely attended by the school’s better dancers and are seriously weighted towards inexperienced women, with very, very few unattached men in attendance. None of these downsides, however, has even remotely dissuaded me from taking lessons here, and I highly recommend you do the same.