Education & Classes in Ann Arbor

At Mordent Music, 10-year teaching veteran Stephanie Teller calls upon her experiences as a schoolteacher and professional concert pianist as she shares her passion for tickling keys with aspiring Chopins of all ages and skill levels. During half-hour or longer piano lessons, Teller beckons proteges over to a rich, resonant baby grand to learn how to play contemporary pop, country, or hip-hop songs as well as more traditional classical music. Teller instructs younger pupils through lively games and creative exercises, and challenge older, more serious students with the Royal Conservatory of Music curriculum, which elevates piano proficiency through written study and a regimen of 100 finger pushups a day.

The diver double-checks all her gear before leaving the surefootedness of the boat and falling into the deep water, where she explores shipwrecks and seemingly untouched expanses throughout the Michigan Underwater Preserves in the Great Lakes. The team of PADI- and SSI-certified instructors at Scuba Centers of Michigan helps students prepare for these types of adventures every day, covering advanced topics such as diving at night and how to properly greet a sturgeon. The instructors also start from the beginning, teaching basic open-water diving techniques, which their pupils practice in the onsite heated pool. To complement its courses, the center stocks gear from equipment brands such as McNett, Aqua Lung, and Suunto, and it organizes diving trips to South Africa and Australia.

A “sexy, unrestricted, and predatory dance of sensual exchange.” For many people, the tango may seem like something only movie stars do as they swap sizzling one-liners and military secrets. But Toledo Tango Club owner Paul Tupciauskas believes that anyone can master the art of the sensual dance with the right instruction and a little practice. He should know. He spends his days not in a dance studio, but running a small software company, and pursues his passion for dancing after hours, welcoming it as an opportunity to escape the stress that comes with staring at a computer screen all day and trying to read the secrets in its eyes.

It's this personal fascination with the tango that drives Paul to share it with other everyday folks, and his step-by-step approach is designed to make its structure accessible while allowing dancers to experiment and explore the music. After introducing newcomers to open and closed embraces, he welcomes them to strut their stuff informally at after-class milongas dance parties that help them to hone their technique with or without a partner.

Not many antique stores have a more fitting location than one housed in a mid-nineteenth-century barn. At the aptly named The Barn Antiques, a dizzying array of vintage paraphernalia fills the space, some of it spilling out into the colorful, landscaped garden in the form of retro white plant holders and birdhouses that attract robins who trill Vaudeville-era tunes. Amid the treasures, one might find pottery pieces by McCoy and Red Wing, handwoven rag rugs, nostalgic postcards, and oil lamps—all of them culled from the collections of celebrated antiques dealers.