Education & Classes in Calabasas

Founded in 1989 by Mestre Amen Santo—the choreographer who added a touch of authenticity to the capoeira scenes in 1993’s Only The Strong —Brasil Brasil Cultural Center hosts classes in Brazil’s signature martial art alongside lessons in other multicultural disciplines. Like a fight with the cast of a variety show, capoeira combines martial artistry, dance, and acrobatics, fusing them into a stylized Afro-Brazilian art form. To complement capoeira sessions—available to adults as well as children aged 4 and older—instructors also teach Portuguese language classes, health classes and dance classes. Students can also cut rugs in dance styles such as the samba, West African dance, and belly dancing, and youngsters can get their first taste of Brazilian rhythms through workshops with the Ballet Folclórico Do Brasil, a dance company that reaches more than 50,000 children annually.

The Sylvester family had bartending in its blood. Whether it was Uncle Mickey holding court with 40 years' worth of regulars or Tony Sr. mixing one of his signature Skip and Go Nakeds, they exemplified the easy grace and no-nonsense craftsmanship found in a true barman's barman. That dedication to well-poured drinks carried over to Tony Jr., who has spent the last 35 years training mixologists nationwide through the curriculum of his ABC Bartending Schools. Taught behind fully functional bars, his courses educate students in topics ranging from drink recipes and equipment setup to flair moves and alcohol awareness. His schools also emphasize employment; after graduation, students can take advantage of a nationwide job placement service to land gigs in Miami nightclubs, Las Vegas casinos, or the bar cars of Chicago's El trains.

Rusty's Rhythm Club's founder, the hyperqualified Rusty Frank, took to dancing at the tender age of 6, and has been light-tripping professionally since her college days. Since then, she has been inducted into the California Swing Dance Hall of Fame and has performed in locations from the Hollywood Bowl to Disneyland and other worldwide locales. Rusty is joined in instruction by her effusive teachers, who bear multitudinous dancing awards as well as an actual portal to 1920s-1940s America.

They impart the dancing skills of the 1940s at both Rusty's Rhythm Club, a weekly swing-dance emporium, and Lindy by the Sea beginning-class series, a dance school for all experience levels. Rusty's Rhythm Club sharpens soles with an all-ages dance fest accompanied by the tunes and Prohibition-era conversational topics of live bands in the air-conditioned Westchester Elks Lodge in Playa del Rey.

Director Marianne Van Etten and her troupe of instructors help to inject steps with traditional American and international rhythms during interrelated lessons. The curriculum helps students of all experience levels to confidently navigate the dance floor without surgically removing a second left foot. Three-hour weekend workshops immerse students in the instruction of swing, Latin, and smooth techniques in one dose, and group classes gather guests for one-hour sessions in styles including Zumba and children's ballroom. Classes unfold inside the air-conditioned studio, which accommodates up to 40 dancers atop its spring-loaded wood floor. Further inspiring lofty steps, a stereo sound system floods the space, which overlooks views of mountainous terrain symbolizing the uphill battle faced when tangoing with both hands tied behind your back.

In his half-century-long career as a dance instructor, Lou Schreiber has taught more than 50,000 students the art of turning heads on the ballroom floor. His passion for acquainting students with their inner sense of rhythm led to a position as master trainer of dance instructors during an eight-year stint at Arthur Murray Dance Studios, after which Lou launched his own dance school: Walk In Dance Out. From his school's three locations, he leads students in waltz, swing, Latin, and disco styles with boundless energy and humor, channeling the expertise that has served him well at national competitions and spinning contests against the earth itself.

Lou's step-by-step teaching methods put pupils of all ages at ease, whether they are attending group or private lessons. Other instructors might drop in to assist Lou in choreographing west coast swing performances and personalized wedding-day routines, showing brides how to use their dress's train as a cushion while they do the worm.