Cristian Oviedo – Salsa Dance Instruction

Cristian is an amazing salsa instructor and a very talented salsa dancer! I started taking his classes about 4 years ago and later joined his dance teams. In this time, I not only grew as a dancer and developed my technique but also acquired many friends. So if you are looking to learn salsa (and here you learn from the VERY BEST) and make some friends in the process, don’t hesitate to take Cristian’s classes!

I’ve had many dance teachers throughout my life. I look for teachers who love to teach, take their time to explain the details of the steps and style so that I will look good dancing, etc. Cristian doors this beautifully, with passion and ac terrific sense of humor. He makes it fun to learn. I’m glad to call him my teacher.

I have taken many dance classes over many years from many different instructors and I can say that Cristian is one of the best. He wants his students to understand the technique and will take time to clearly explain how to do the steps. His passion is inspiring and his patience is appreciated. He promotes a fun and supportive class environment.
In his beginner class, he spends a good amount of time teaching the basics (there are many «basic» moves!) but will provide more advanced moves for those ready to move on so that he can teach different abilities at once. He also has an intermediate/​advanced class and creates teams to perform if you want more.
For the guys, he spends a lot of time going over how to be a good lead which is crucial for both partners. Ladies, this means he typically gets a lot of men in the class so no more going to a salsa class where there’s only one guy to every 10 women! He also gives great styling suggestions for the ladies.
The students are nice and friendly and are from all ages and abilities. Cristian also is very knowledgable about musicality and the history of salsa. I would highly recommend his class. Prices are reasonable.

I took my first class with Cristian at Zanzibar on a Monday night then joined one if his teams right away at his actual studio. It was awesome to perform and meet other dance lovers. Great community. Cristian has a top notch sense of humor so the classes are always entertaining and his extensive knowledge makes learning rewarding.
–Dream

I have been in the beginner classes for a few months now and really love it. Every week we are learning something new. Cristian is grest at breaking down a move and giving the little details that you can’t learn just by watching youtube videos. We practice on foot work and partner moves which I feel gives me a good balance and hopefully will be able to do some shines on my own soon.

Cristian was an inspiration for me to continue learning salsa. When i started i was just there to check it out and not really into dancing that much. I was more likely to drop out probably lol.
But i liked the way Cristian broke down the fundamentals and basics. and he being great dancer and choreographer — btw he is multiple times world Salsa and Bachata champion and what better to learn than from World champion! i started liking to learn and also loved to dance to his choreography.
Its great place to start and once you learn some basics he has beginner, intermediate teams and it great to continue to learn more and even perform.
he has beginner and intermediate levels. So its great for even absolute beginners and also for anyone trying to get better. He has teams also to challenge yourself more.

I’ve been learning to dance with Christian for two months now and I’ve learned to dance. I wasn’t able to do a single thing when I started and now I’m comfortable enough to go social dancing. I definitely recommend learning from him if you want to learn how improvise and aren’t just interested in following steps.

I, as a total beginner, took my very first class with Cristian 2.5 years ago and I immediately appreciate his professionalism and passion, as well as his dedication to teach beginners foundation and musicality. I have been learning and dancing with his teams ever since. The class is enjoyable, fun and practical. Highly recommended for any beginners (the people here are friendly:) and dancers who seek to solidify the skills and to advance as a smooth and classy dancer with effortless techniques.

When I started to dance salsa with Cristian, last June, i was a total beginner in social dancing. I learned one routine choreographed in salsa. It was the only knowledge i had in salsa dancing.
Learning from a multi-​time world champion, you feel pretty intimidating, but actually Cristian is very nice, easy, and an approachable teacher. I have been taking the beginner and intermediate classes religiously since then…
I just love the way Cristian is teaching. The class is never boring. I always learn something new in a great ambiance. I improved so much since I started.
I also appreciate that he has an assistant who can show us more the «lady styling» part.
I am now part of one of Cristian’s salsa team and his lady styling bachata team.
I am so glad I found Cristian. I now can say I dance salsa and I learned it the right way but still in having fun.

I am a professional in beauty business. I look for the same qualities in every dance studio I take classes. Professionalism, passionate about the craft and gotta be a lot of fun. You will find all of those qualities there at Cristian’ s dance studio. You will always learn something new in his dance classes. I assure you !! The best thing about Cristian way of teaching that stands out from others dance instructors is that «he wants you to create your own style of dancing, so you dance like you … Not anybody else »

I started taking Cristian’s open salsa class four months ago. I was so impressed with his class I took his beginning class, intermediate class, bachata class and joined his performance team.
Even though I am an experienced salsa dancer, I continue to take his beginning class because I learn something new in every lesson. I like that in his intermediate class he continually pushes and challenges his students to the next level. He does this in a non-​intimidating way and usually one that makes us laugh at ourselves.
Cristian is knowledgeable in all aspects of salsa dancing. He incorporates the origins, background, history and music as well as the fundamentals of salsa dancing.
He is funny, personable, and passionate when he teaches. He loves giving personalized critiques for each of his students at the end of class making them all feel special.
Cristian creates a warm, friendly and fun environment that is conducive to learning. He is quite the entertainer making us laugh though out the class.
I am grateful to Cristian for improving my technique, styling, performance, and partner skills.
But what I am most grateful to Cristian is for providing a class where I could meet like-​minded people that I could share my passion for dance.
Thank you Cristian for the salsa family you created for all of us.

Great friendly atmosphere. Lots of great dancing. Partners are friendly. No attitude.

As an experienced salsa dancer, I was excited to discover that 3x world champ Cristian Oviedo was in my area! I auditioned for Cristian’s performance teams and have been with him for 2 years. He has several different teams, including beginner/​intermediate salsa, ladies’ styling, men’s footwork, and bachata. No partners needed, he assigns them later on.
Cristian is an amazing choreographer — he hears beats that normal people wouldn’t notice — and his choreographies are always really fun, musical, and creative. I really enjoyed training with him, and his amazing assistant Alicia.
I would highly recommend his performance teams to anyone who wants to challenge themselves and take their dancing to the next level.

A beautiful 12 step program for beginners but it took quite some time before we hit the 9 – 12 that included some very cool spins and turns.
The dance studio could hardly accommodate the number of participants this night. I guess at $ 15 a head (1hr) they seem to prefer to pack’em in… thus the quantity vs quality issue kicked in. I was up against the ballet bars for most of the evening but managed to make it thru the lesson.
The night started with all the participants doing a few basic moves then towards the midway point we broke off into beginners and intermediate/​advance. Christian leaves it up to one of his assistants to work with the newbies. I assumed the lesson would be entirely taught by C. but our female instructor was incredibly patient and very helpful with us. The 12 step system was very easy to learn and it was great to have the more advanced dancers within view to see what I could potentially be doing in months to come.
Honestly I think the blond assistant should start her own class. She was a great instructor and a bit more approachable.

This is a hard review for me to write and one I’ve been putting off for a long time.
I have attended Christian’s class 4 times at the studio and 8 times at Zanzabar. I had never danced Salsa (or anything for that matter) and was a true beginner. Coming to salsa was a very big deal for me… something totally outside of my comfort zone. I had a few friends there to support me and after a few classes really wanted to stick with it which is why writing this review is so difficult.
What I like about the class:
–Christian divides all the salsa moves into numbers (1 – 12). I love this since it is easy to keep track of what you need to do/​know.
–Christian is a very accomplished dancer and pretty friendly.
–Most people who attend the class are friendly.
What I do not like:
— There is an enormous gap in the abilities of people in the class. The beginner class is attended by folks like me who have not danced since elementary school to others who are clearly intermediate if not advanced dancers. My beginner class actually has members of Christian’s salsa team in it. As a beginner this makes things very intimidating. Worse, because there is a such a wide range of levels in the class instruction gets stretched lowering the quality/​amount of instruction for everyone.
–as a true beginner, I am segregated from the rest of the class with other beginners working with one or two of Christian’s assistants. While this is an ok practice the problem is that class format/​order is the same every time. We start with basic step number 2, then 3, 4, 5, and so on. This means I spend tons of time on steps 2 – 8 but very little time on steps 10,11, and 12. Do this over and over and the result is that one gets good on the low number steps and receives almost no practice on the higher levels.
–I see no road map or process by which I will make the jump from someone who can do the basic steps to actually dancing (moving) with another individual. The gap between these two levels seems enormous. After 11 classes, I still feel like a total a beginner.
–the floor in the studio is horrible. It is covered by a black rubber like tarp that makes turning/​sliding extremely difficult. I hurt my knee once practicing right turns.
I think Christian is a very good dancer, but I think the format of the class could be better and I guess I’m pretty disappointed at how things are going.

Cristian is a great dancer and salsa instructor who has built a community of salsa dancers on the west side. There is a consistency to the students who show up for his classes and many students are monthly pass holders. It is a very social and supportive group. I have met lots of people in class who I later dance with at the clubs so we can practice what we learned in class; it feels less intimidating if you can practice with someone you know.
If you have never done salsa dancing, have no fear. Cristian and Alicia (his capable assistant), will make sure you are able to follow the class and will work with you individually if necessary.
The Level I classes are designed to give you a solid foundation. He generally focuses on footwork (but occasionally the class will do partner work). The sequencing is challenging with variations each class so you are always learning something new. Alicia will typically give the ladies styling techniques to incorporate into the footwork patterns. She is extremely patient and breaks the steps down until everyone gets them. At first, I was disappointed that we were not doing partner work. But after a couple months of taking lessons, I now see the benefit to his approach; the footwork patterns will (eventually) translate onto the dance floor to help me develop a more unique style.
The level 2 classes involve footwork (faster and more complex) plus partnering. He provides great detail to the men about how to treat the lady and proper hand position for a lead that is easy to understand and follow. I love dancing with guys who have trained with Cristian… they are easy to follow, have good musicality and have really cool dance moves.