Leon’s Dance Center

I had zero dance experience before going to Leon’s and he easily made the dance moves understandable and learnable to me.
I took 5 lessons for my wedding and the dance went great. People at my wedding enjoyed the dance and the dance went smoothly.
Leon’s teaching style was great for someone like me. He was patient and knew just how to demonstrate the moves to me.
I would definitely recommend Leon for anyone trying to learn/​improve their dance.

My fiancé and I were interested in putting together a choreographed first dance for our wedding. We visited Leon for an initial meeting to review the song choice, dance options, and set up our lesson (keeping in mind we had zero dance experience). Leon was more than helpful the entire way through. He did not try to oversell us on lessons. He knew that it would only take 5 and he could make it the best possible dance for us in that time frame. Each time we went in for a lesson, Leon could listen to the music once and know exactly what dance moves would work best with that particular rhythm. He didn’t try to make it too difficult, but made us look way better than had we just stood up there and swayed back and forth. If we had any issues or wanted to do something a little bit different, he listened and adjusted/​added accordingly. I only have positive things to say about our dance lessons and highly recommend him for anyone looking to upgrade their first dance or dance for any occasion. Great experience!

My husband and I got married early October, we did Leon’s package of 5 private lessons to prepare for our first dance. We started off knowing absolutely NOTHING about dancing and finished with a gorgeous, fun, and upbeat first dance routine. By the time our wedding rolled around we were completely comfortable and relaxed with our dance and it looked amazing! Everyone at our wedding was very impressed and Kevin and I continue to impress ourselves as we are more comfortable with dancing at events since our wedding.

I have taken many lessons, and I would consider my wife and I much better dancers than most. Leon absolutely took us to another level. He was creative, patient, and allowed us the space to shine. Our wedding dance was a show stopper, and that is due to Leon. Although we have not sent the video of our dance to him yet, he is still in our thoughts, and can not thank him enough for giving us the extra MOJO for our special day. We had people at the hotel asking us if we were professional dancers, imagine if they saw Leon and his partner! Thank you Leon, so very much.

My (then) fiancé and I took wedding dance lessons at Leon’s Dance Center in Newton. We are both beginners and chose the 5 class package. Leon started from the very basic steps and worked with the song we had chosen to put together a choreographed routine. The dance wasn’t super complex, but had enough variety of moves to make it look interesting. The best part of the routine was the dip at the end– lots of pics of that! He made us look GOOD!
Leon was easy to work with and has a good sense of humor. We plan to go back and take lessons in salsa– we really enjoy taking the dance lesson together.

My fiancé and I worked with Leon for our first dance preparation for the upcoming wedding. As a instructor, Leon choreographed our music and set up the pace for each movement. The dance turned out to be so romantic and beautiful. He is very helpful at improve our confident with dance and try to spend as much time as possible to practice dance with us. He is also very skillful at each technique, pose, coordination, etc. I highly recommend Leon’s dance studio for any occasions.

I’ve taken group dance classes for almost five years, but it wasn’t until I started taking private lessons with Leon 2 years ago that I saw genuine improvement in my technique. He is a wonderful teacher; I particularly appreciate how he will carefully study how I am performing a move, replicate it himself, then provide me with the specific correction I need. He strikes just the right balance of rigor and fun in both his private and group lessons.
Kim and Leon work well together as they lead instruction in group classes. They are very skilled at appropriately pushing dancers to the next level, whether they are complete beginners or further along in their skill development.
Leon is truly dedicated to providing an atmosphere where all are welcome. The monthly social dances at the studio are a great low-​key opportunity to practice moves learned in class.

My husband and I started taking group dance classes at Leon’s Dance Center as a way to test out someplace to take wedding dance lessons. We started with Merengue and Bachata then progressed to Salsa, and have enjoyed every class. Leon and Kim are welcoming for new comers, have a good gradual system to get you in and allow you to learn the dances, and try and spend as much time with each student as possible.
We did use them for our wedding dance and through a series of unfortunate events we were unable to have the reception we planned, so we will be breaking it out June 16^th at our wedding reception picnic! I did actually view video of our last class and in just 5 classes we went from not knowing any foxtrot or swing to being able to do a pretty good dance. We had a bit of choreography to get us in and out of the dance, and looked like we were naturally dancing. It was really cool.
I suggest you give them a try. They do a great job of making the classes fun and everyone who goes is a blast.

I’ve been dancing Pro-​Am in the International Latin style with Leon for about 1.5 years, and so this is more of a review of his teaching than the actual studio (which he is currently setting up as of this date).
With private lessons, you definitely get a lot for your money. He is very focused in helping you achieve your dance goals, as long as you articulate it. He’ll also introduce you to new dance styles (if you’re focused on one style like me). I like Leon because he not only teaches you at the studio, but he’ll also connect with you outside the studio — and this speaks to a person who is serious about improving their dance technique like me. He’ll check in with you outside of studio time, provide you with dance resources to make sure you get a certain concept right if it wasn’t grasped during your lesson, and make you fully understand the culture of dance (if you care for it)! Receiving lessons from Leon is a pleasure because he not only has a passion for dancing, but you know that he really cares about his students.
Outside of private lessons, Leon hosts outings to various salsa clubs in Boston and Cambridge (usually it’s Havana Club in Cambridge). I don’t take his salsa classes, but I’ve gone out with him and his students and it’s always a good time.
Lastly, he also hosts a dance video blog (
) where he’ll teach certain dance techniques. It’s a true testament to his comprehensive teaching style.