Sway Dance Chicago

Best place to go for Ballroom, Latin, and Swing classes in the city! Teresa really is the best of the best

Our first contact with Teresa and team was several years ago when we used a gift certificate we won at a raffle — six classes of intro ballroom that made both of us feel super-​capable though we knew we were barely beginners. Teresa is a consummate teacher, and is simply amazing at showing you how. Others could shout and tell you for the fifteenth time that you’re doing it all wrong, but she shows you again and again, in different ways, with a smile on her face and nothing but encouragement throughout. Her other teachers are also fantastic, patient, and resourceful, and always make us feel welcome and (more importantly) educable.
We did a round of intermediate ballroom for ourselves after that first series, and once the engagement happened a while later, we knew we wanted to work with Teresa for our first dance.
I always loved «I Hear a Symphony» by the Supremes, but never envisioned what dance we could possibly do with it, before Teresa said that it would be perfect for a foxtrot.
Long story short, we had five (?) individual lessons with her for the first dance, and though the space at Sway wasn’t as large as we knew our dancefloor would be, we had plenty of space to practice the four or five basic moves we’d be utilizing. We felt comfortable and never overwhelmed, and knew we would be coordinated, even if we slipped up on the day of.
And on the day of, we definitely did slip up, but because of Teresa’s guidance, nobody could tell and all we got were compliments on how smoothly we danced and how graceful the dip was at the end! We loved working with Teresa and her team, and would do it again in a heartbeat!

We came here for three times to learn the basics for our First Dance. The studio is far from our apartment, but we found a deal on Unilocal and the reviews were good, so we set up our appointment. The studio is quite small and not what I expected. I haven’t been to many dance studios, but I remember big ballet studios from when I was younger. This studio is basically just one big room with hardwood floors. I don’t remember our teacher’s name, but he was friendly, started from the basics for us, and worked at a good pace. Since we only went twice I don’t know how extended programs would be here, but we were happy with the progress we made in 2 weeks!

Loved it ^_^
Learned a lot !!!

I don’t like to dance so obviously I didn’t want to take dance lessons.
My daughter was getting married and we went to Arthur Murray dance for the initial 30 minute lesson where we spent 10 minutes dancing and 20 minutes trying to be sold an $ 1100 package
We found Sway on Belmont and liked it immediately. It is a private studio with no one else there which I really like. The price was about a third of another studio.
The best thing about sway was our dance instructor Richard. We never felt rushed and he never looked at the clock to hurry us out the door. Richard could NOT have been nicer or more patient. He was great!!!
I would highly recommend Sway and our instructor Richard.
mike

My husband and I took a few private dance lessons (some on a groupon and then an extra one to be sure) here for our first dance for our wedding. We weren’t looking for anything fancy, just to get more comfortable dancing. Laura (or Lara) was really great at figuring out what we needed and showing us the basics as well as some fancy stuff. Loved our experience here.

Really fun, chill, laid-​back studio. The energy is relaxed and the teachers are fun and encouraging. My friend and I took Swing together and we had a lot of fun!
I wish it was closer to where I lived– I would take all sorts of classes here. :)

We went to Sway to learn a specific dance for our wedding and it was a GREAT experience. We didn’t have any dance background (or skills, really), but Teresa helped us so much! We just showed up with a song we wanted to use, and she made the rest happen.
She picked a style of dance that would work perfectly for us, and even slowed down the song a tiny bit for us and gave us a customer copy so that we could keep up!
You can tell that Teresa has worked with a lot of brides and grooms! She even took into account the style of my dress when thinking about dance moves and taught us tips for doing spin moves, moving backwards, and dipping so that everything would work perfectly.
Because she was such a pro, and made the whole experienced relaxed and fun, we knew exactly what to expect on our wedding day and it went off without a hitch! Going to Sway was a great experience.

My fiancé, now husband, purchased an online deal for 3 private dance classes. I told him I wanted to have a few lessons before our wedding and we waited until an online deal came up, I feel like those are always popping up. Well we were beyond lucky to have chosen Sway Dance Chicago with Teresa. She is unbelievably sweet and incredibly talented. Before our first lesson, we decided that we wanted to start with a slow song and then break into a choreographed dance to N’Sync’s «Dirty Pop.» Teresa had SO much fun with us and I know she had fun choreographing our dance! I guess I thought a dance professional might think they were above doing something like this but I know Teresa definitely looked at this as a treat! We are still in contact with her today and she was the first person we sent our video to of the dance. If you are getting married and looking for a few dance lessons, absolutely go to Teresa. I wouldn’t waste anytime though, she always had lessons before and after us so she has a full calendar!

I only had one 45 minute dance lesson, so I can’t really speak for how well they do over time. I bought a private lesson through YouSwoop to prepare for the first dance at the wedding reception. Now I’m not the most graceful person out there. Sure, I can dance to club music, but that just requires some alcohol and lack of shame. But real dancing? Not so much.
For our first dance, I didn’t want anything too complicated. I had enough stuff on my mind. But our instructor did a great job of easing us into the basics and throwing in a few cute dips and twirls. Enough that we were comfortable but we still entertained our guests.

Teresa is great. We bought the Groupon and were not sure what to expect — it was my first dance lesson, and I am known for two left feet. We wanted to coordinate something for our wedding dance, so we threw ourselves at her mercy.
She couldn’t have been more helpful. We started slowly and worked our way up. She saw what we could do, offered helpful pointers and — most of all — made it fun. She is patient, thoughtful and observant, and I already have told other friends in person to make sure to go to her for lessons.
Highly, highly recommended.

My fiancé and I started taking group lessons with Teresa at Sway Dance in January 2012. We are getting married in July and we wanted to learn the basics before we jumped into private lessons for our first dance. Neither one of us had ever taken any dance lessons and I was VERY nervous. Teresa made us feel completely at ease! The beginners ballroom Level I class (waltz, foxtrot, tango) was awesome. We continued and completed Level II as well. The class size is small and you get a lot of personalized attention. We’ve had two private lessons so far and we are continuing to enjoy it. We are so excited to show off our new dance skills to our wedding guests!
Teresa is such a great teacher. She knows exactly how to explain things and will take as much time as needed to go over any question or step, as simple as it may be. She turned something that I found intimidating into a much loved new hobby.

If you have little or no dance experience and you’re looking try something new, Sway Dance is the place for you! If you know how to dance and you’re looking to expand your skill set, this is the place for you too!
I’ve never been particularly athletic or graceful, so I felt very self-​conscious about the prospect of social dancing. When my roommate invited me to take a salsa class, I went along reluctantly, but it wasn’t long before I started to relax and actually enjoy myself. Teresa, the instructor, is a fabulous dancer, but also a friendly, knowledgeable instructor who makes everyone feel at ease. She’s great at explaining new concepts and demonstrating steps in a way everyone can follow. Because classes are small and you have the opportunity to dance with the same people week after week, you feel totally comfortable trying new steps, messing up, and trying again till you get it.
Sway offers classes at different levels of difficulty and tailors them to fit her students’ experience and needs. Whether you’ve never danced before in your life or have taken classes elsewhere, Teresa will find the best fit for you.

Let me start by saying that I am a current student here, and have been attending class with my girlfriend for over 1 year. I have taken dance classes in college (as a course), group classes at other studios, attended dance conventions, and received private lessons from friends that were dancers. I also screened 4 other dance schools before I selected Sway.
My experience with Sway has been amazing! The lesson plans are structured, catered to the individuals in each class, and are always fun and clear to learn. Unlike other schools that have amazing dancers who «try» to be instructors… Teresa is an instructor who just happens to be an amazing dancer. This is THE BIGGEST and most important detail I have learned in selecting a dance school… very similar to the effect of having a good teacher/​professor in college. Regardless if you are an experienced dancer or have two left feet, she instructs clearly and makes sure that every last person in the class gets-​it. She constantly reviews past lessons which helps you retain things better, and is a great feature if you miss a class.
Private and/​or group classes are extremely affordable. The class, as a whole, is laid back, down to earth, and completely void of pretentiousness and diva attitude that you find at other studios. I have already recommended at least 4 of my friends to this studio.

My fiancé and I took several private dance lessons with Teresa before our wedding so we would have a few «moves» and be more comfortable generally. I reached out to Teresa initially because her prices were so reasonable. We had so much fun working with her to get ready for our dance. We picked out our song and she cut it down for us to it was a bit shorter. We were able to give the shortened version of the song to our DJ. Teresa is a fantastic teacher — she showed us the basics and then helped us expand and improve on our dance steps. She does a great job of modifying different dance moves and steps if you are struggling or don’t like the way something works.
She is very flexible with scheduling and her website takes paypal which makes it a breeze to pay for lessons as you go or to purchase packages.
We really enjoyed our lessons with Teresa and I will be recommending her to all of my engaged friends :) Our first dance turned out wonderfully and everyone was very impressed!

We are getting married and desperately needed help to do our first song. She was very accommodating, enthusiastic, laid back and very patient with us. She listened to what we liked/​disliked and was willing to put creative spins and steps into our dance. Teresa also went out of her way to cut our music so that our song was short and sweet and to the point. She even gave us a CD to take home and practice with! Everything she did for us was personalized to our song and we loved that. I would definitely recommend Teresa for couples looking to get some help with their first dance!!!

Sway is a relatively new studio, so the class sizes are small and the instruction is very personal. I’ve taken two beginner level latin classes and I’ve been impressed with the quality of the program. My prior experience with latin dance was spotty — learn a move, forget a move, repeat… However, in classes at Sway I’ve been able to retain what I learn and make progress in multiple dances simultaneously. I can finally go to a salsa club and feel like I belong!
I’ve only had one private lesson, but I would love to do more. Teresa, the main instructor, is extremely personable and knows how to adapt lessons to your skill level. Sway also has a punch card system where you only pay for classes you attend, which is very convenient in the busy summer months! It’s a comfortable, casual place to learn how to dance, and we mix in social outings to make it even more enjoyable. It’s definitely worth checking out if you’re hunting for a place to take dance lessons.

To start off, Teresa (@Sway Dance) is a terrific person, intelligent and creative choreographer, and you won’t be disappointed with her lessons. We were quite enthused when my fiancé and I wanted to start taking private Waltz lessons to learn a choreographed dance for our first dance at our wedding. She was so accommodating for us even before our first lesson, and also to mention her awesome rates/​packages! She expressed excitement when she heard the song we chose for our first dance, a song not many people have heard before. Teresa had so many great ideas in her head already before we started which made us even more excited to know that she truely cared about choregraphing our special dance!
Her new studio is sooooo cool. It’s so spacious and in a really awesome mansion! Waaaay cool!
Teresa has a lot of patience and great skills at teaching. I would definitely recommend her for private lessons and also for her various dance classes (which I haven’t tried yet, maybe soon though after all the wedding stuff). :) She’s tons of fun and also dedicated to her students. Teresa will make you feel right at home for those of you who might be shy dancers.
Whatever skill level you are, she’ll help you learn to become a great dancer!