Somos Dance Company

Great place to learn and grow in your technical skill as a dancer. Receiving multifaceted and fun instruction from the RastaSalsa himself is hard to beat! Nicole, Angelee, and staff of skilled dancers create an amazing experience for learning this art of salsa. Their breakdowns of combinations and movement is key to understanding the finer details of the dance. Be prepared to have fun, meet new people and become a better dancer.

Almost all the reviews here are positive, which reflects the quality of the instruction. I can’t complain about that. I had other problems which may help others decide.
We saw an ad for a free absolute beginners class and scheduled to go Sat Dec 14, but my wife and I came down with colds with coughing. I sent an email telling Tom that we couldn’t attend, but would next week. He emailed me back with a get well and “see you next week”. The next Saturday, the 20th, we went but found the studio closed. I then looked on the website and found the notice for closure which I had not seen earlier.
I should have regarded that as a red flag. But since we had taken classes before, we elected to go for 101. I paid for Bachata and Salsa 101 for January on Dec 30. That amounted to $170 each for me and my wife. Since I was trying to schedule 2 classes for two people the process proved too difficult. (I also was trying on an iPad, which the web site doesn’t seem to be optimized for, and I would have had to create 2 separate accounts. I called Tom instead to pay by phone.
We survived the first class, but there were some moves new to us which apparently the rest of class knew. I called Tom to ask if we could schedule an absolute beginner’s to catch up. It took some talking before Tom said, “Okay, I’ll comp you a [beginner’s] class.” I had reminded him that had I had the option to pay $165 for each of us we could have taken all the 101 and beginner classes we pleased. That didn’t help.
I don’t see the $85 for each 101 on the pricing schedule anymore, so that problem might not come up for you. As for me I feel like a person who bought something at full price only to find it reduced by half the next day.
That’s not all. I couldn’t even use all of what I paid for. I had sinus Surgery Jan 15 and ended up unable to attend class the 17th. I sent my wife to take a video of new moves that class but she said she was unable.
Today January 24, I felt discouraged and left class in the middle. Missing a class hurt more than I expected.My wife stayed and I waited outside. If we go next time we won’t be trading partners so nobody else gets burdened by my mistakes.
I had a lot of fun on the other days I attended, and most of my partners were personable, but I’ll be researching other studios.
Addendum: It bears mentioning that after my review, I got a full refund. My case was a perfect storm of Snafus, which is not likely to occur again, but if it does, it’s good to know refunds, whole or partial are available.
It’s worth mentioning that the absolute beginner class manages to be useful for people are a little more advanced. I had worried that it would be crushingly boring like other beginners classes, but it isn’t. We’ll probably be back in March for a month of ab beginner.

If you’re wondering whether you should try a class at Somos Dance Studio — just do it! Somos combines world-class instruction with a welcoming community committed to fun and growth. I love the technical rigor and love for dance that Tom and all the talented teachers bring to each and every class. My partner, who was new to salsa, has grown so much in two years and is loving it here too!

I also want to give a special shoutout to Sisy, who also helped choreograph our first dance for our wedding recently! Sisy was incredibly talented at designing lovely choreography that matched our shared skill levels. And she is an expert teacher at identifying and providing guidance on what’s needed to level up the expression of each movement and does so clarity and kindness. We also just had so much fun laughing with Sisy during practice sessions!!

Her support made our first dance experience beautiful and memorable and we feel we really improved our dance skills so much in our private sessions with her. It was a joy to see everything we learned at Somos come together in this way!!!

Thank you Sisy, Tom, and Somos team!!!