Genesis Ballroom Dance School

I really like working with professionals of this studio. The atmosphere there is so friendly and pleasant. Definitely recommend.

My husband and I were looking for a local SF dance studio to help us with our first dance at our wedding and ended up working with Irina. She was very nice and easy to work with — we were learning the salsa so we felt extra challenged. She was patient with us and honest about how many lessons we needed. She choreographed our entire dance and we felt ready and comfortable when we actually had to go through with it at our wedding. All of our guests LOVED IT and were cheering us on the entire time, and our videographer told us it was the best first dance he’d seen. Money well spent! I would definitely recommend working with Irina! Take the double lessons (two lessons booked in a row), it pays off and you learn a lot more.

This is a beautiful space however I am disappointed with the class I took a few weeks ago. I bought a Groupon for 8 classes and felt the instructor ignored myself and the other groupon user. The rest of the class, regular paying students were given excellent attention and care. The same music was played on repeat and I spent the night dancing solo– there was no partnering.

Be prepared to cough up $ 30 per person for an hour class taught by an amateur foreigner with a thick accent.

Everyone should go to Genesis Dance School to prepare for their wedding dance! After only 4 lessons with Irina, my fiancé and I learned a beautifully choreographed dance to our first dance song. Everyone at the wedding could not believe our dancing skills and said we looked like professional dancers even though we each had 2 left feet before meeting Irina. Thank you!!!

They have nice big dance studio.
I wanted to learn salsa dance, but my schedule didn’t much class schedule.
So I took a Latin dance classes.
Instructor Natalie was nice.
But my schedule is changed :(
So I stopped Latin dance class. But I want to go back to that class sometime.

Being a long-​time salsa dancer and general lover of dance, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen with my not-​so-​coordinated fiancé. But he really enjoyed the first few group lessons we took. Our instructor was very patient and took a lot of time with the basics. He was so motivated after, that we signed up for four months of privates! Irina was wonderful and was patient with us even when we started running out of time to practice. The waltz routine she put together was so sweet and beautiful. She pushed us both beyond anything we could have expected; yet manageable for him and even a bit challenging for me, which I loved! She really helped us create our perfect first dance. We’re definitely looking forward to coming back and learning more styles!

Have been taking private Latin lessons for a few months at Genesis now, and Irina and Arto are both great instructors. Really patient, friendly, and now I have fun routines to practice.

The instructors here are the best! They are great with kids, yet strict so they learn the proper technique. My daughter has learned more here in six months than years at other dance studios. Highly recommend! Arto & Irena are so patient… maybe one of these days I’ll even take a class! That would be a true test of their patience! :)

Purchased four lessons with Irina hoping to be somewhat prepared for our wedding Waltz… our first appointment was double booked however they compensated us by having us joined the group lessons while waiting for our dance instructor. Irina was our instructor and she’s extremely graceful and great at putting together a little cute routine for us to perform on our wedding day… couldn’t say we’re able to Waltz perfectly however we were better than when we first arrived at the studio. Enjoyed the larger dance facility however it does get extremely hot and stuffy so dress accordingly.

Aloha… I was an instructor that taught Polynesian (Hula and Ori Tahiti) dance classes at Genesis. Can’t say enough positive things about Genesis. Watching Arto craft his craft while he’s teaching young men, women and couples is a testament to his relentless pursuit of greatness. Although our classes never intermixed, there was a high class of respect between the two of us. The studio space is too good to be true — — especially in the Richmond District of San Francisco. Be prepared for a workout at Genesis. If you’re thinking of taking ballroom dance or just dancing to dance, I would highly recommend Arto and his team of artistic dancers. You will not be disappointed.

I purchased the 32 class package several months ago. Since then I have been able to take 3 classes at the studio. While I enjoyed the classes and found my instructor knowledgeable I had an extremely difficult time booking them. Management was very difficult in regards to accommodating my work schedule and continually pushed me to take classes early in the day or on the weekends. Also, during my time at Genesis I had to cancel a class last minute due to a family emergency. Instead of being understanding and allowing me to reschedule I was charged the full $ 55 for the missed class. Furthermore, after my short time at Genesis I was relocated out of the city due to my job. I kindly asked that I be refunded the money as I would be permanently moving. Again Genesis failed to be understanding. I was told that the classes could only be transferred. After months of trying to sell the classes I placed a note on Unilocal explaining my situation and letting people know that I had a package deal available for transfer. I was then contacted by Genesis asking me to remove this comment. Having danced for years at multiple studios I have never experienced such terrible management. Genesis both failed to provide quality customer service, and to have a heart in a difficult situation.

My wife and I got 4 waltz lessons for our wedding with Irina and Arto. They were fantastic! In only 4 lessons, we had a beautiful 3+ minute choreography and dance put together. We just practiced on our own a bit in between lessons and after and we were good to go!
I really want to do more dance now, and, if I have the time, I’m going here.

I have been taking the private lesson with Arto and group lesson with Nathalie for more than 6 months. If you are interested in the dance competition or just for fun, Genesis DanceSport Academy definitely the best ballroom dance school on town.
I have been with other studios, but Genesis is the most professional dance school so far.

In preparation for our wedding, Arto taught us a routine within an hour! We have more confidence about our first dance and we have such a blast practicing! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

We were thrilled to find this studio and have Natalie as our teacher! She took a fairly complicated song for beginners and quickly turned it into an easy to learn routine. She was so much fun to work with and very accommodating with our schedule as well. We have come a long way since our first class and look forward to showcasing our new dance to the guests at our wedding in just a few weeks! Highly recommended!

This is a wonderful, wonderful place to learn how to dance. Regina was our dance instructor to learn a tango for our wedding dance (yes, you heard that right!) and she took it into her stride… and choreographed an incredible number that wowed the audience. Here is the video, in case you’re curious… and these are two people who do not know how to dance! (especially the husband)

So we were very grateful to her for her patience and expertise… we had so much fun together, laughing and joking and coming up with a classy but sexy routine. The whole experience was welcoming, non-​intimidating, reasonably priced (important for today’s budget) and just all around fun! We would recommend this place (and especially Regina as an instructor) to anyone.

My first dance class in San Francisco was at Genesis Dance studio. I was shocked to see Edyta Sliwinska from Dancing with the Stars teach adult and kids dance classes. Apparently she is one of the owners and her teachers are super professional and great with dance lessons. She actually talked to me and cared about what I wanted to learn on my dance lessons. This was an awesome dance experience in San Francisco and I would highly recommend it. Really fun.

My husband and I took a dance class at Genesis with Irina to prepare for our first dance at our wedding. I must say, aside from cake tasting, this was one of our funnest wedding activities! The price was right and since it was a private class, we received much needed attention and guidance. We were able to tweek things we didn’t like and Irina was very flexible with our after work hours. We did four one hour sessions and practiced at home. It was nice to set aside time once a week to enjoy each other’s company in the midst of crazy wedding planning. Irina responds quickly to emails and is a dream to work with!

I’ve been taking the adult’s classes for about 6 months at Genesis. It’s a great school. The teachers are real dance professionals and are very dedicated to instruct professionally. Yurih is our teacher for most of the Thursday night Latin techniques classes. I like his teaching style: he’s very precise and technical in explaining the basic movements, very patient and knowledgeable. He features in Edyta and Alec’s Dancing Like the Pros DVDs series, check him out. He is a serious professional instructor (so are others in the school)!
The adult’s classes are held on both Monday and Thursday. Because of my schedule conflict, I attend mostly the Thursday Latin dance class. The Thursday class is taught in small groups by Yurih. Every individual is given attention to. It’s kind of like a private lesson for the price of group class. At first, I was overwhelmed but later I discovered that it’s all about basics with lots of details – which you can never practice enough. You won’t find the details we learn in the class in ANY dance instructional dvd – I bought tons of DVDs but find them useful only for reference. Also, people are very nice and friendly there. I am now a loyal member of Genesis Dance Sport.
By the way, the class is an excellent cardio workout! I’ve been doing martial arts for years but had never felt so physically challenged – great way to lose weight (though I am too skinny to afford it: P) all I have left is sheer muscle. No partner is needed. The beginner’s is all about the beauty of basics. However, there is an advanced class from 9−10PM right after the beginner’s for those who want more challenge and wanna learn more about styling. But many beginners usually like try the 9 o’clock class: it’s non-​progressive!