Education & Classes in Cambridge

The kitchen can seem bewildering to a child peering up at the many colanders, peelers, and skillets on the shelves, but a lesson from the trained cooks at Young Chefs Academy of Gahanna quickly demystifies kitchen utensils and cooking techniques. Weekly classes introduce kids to culinary concepts that vary each month, and full-day camps explore the culinary traditions of different countries and time periods. Weekend events highlight exotic dishes or take children on cartoon-themed picnics. In addition to kid-friendly offerings, the academy hosts team-building exercises for adults and businesses, pitting friends and coworkers against one another in Iron Chef competitions with all food, recipes, and English overdubs provided.

Cofounded by professional dancer Alexander Thomas and personal trainer Daniel Hamilton, Diamond Dance & Fitness works to foster active, nutritional lifestyles through a varied schedule of programs and periodic group outings. Classes are headed by experienced instructors—the studio's signature ballroom course has teachers who are competition-trained. Meanwhile, dance-fitness courses such as Zumba help to put an upbeat spin on classic exercise techniques without the added risk that comes with practicing the moonwalk on a treadmill.

Melodies rhythmically flood the studio's space on Salsamante Saturdays, when guests trace bachata, merengue, and salsa steps across the dance floor. In addition, visitors can get custom fitness advice in personal-training sessions and in-depth nutrition advice from health coaches.

Colors & Bottles' founder Jessica Burley and her band of talented local artists are dedicated to supporting local emerging talent and businesses through art instruction held at nearby venues. Their resident artists travel to local eateries and art galleries, where they teach students of all skill levels to fashion dimensional masterpieces through step-by-step instruction. They also kindle creativity during private parties held at the location of your choice, asking only that the destination be outfitted with enough tables, chairs, and paint-by-numbers templates of the Sistine Chapel ceiling for all invitees. Colors & Bottles has received a nod for their engagingly creative events on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and within the pages of the Columbus Dispatch.

At Salsa by Todd, veteran instructor Todd the Salsa Guy leads patrons through sultry steps as they build their fitness abilities and hone their Latin-dance techniques. During weekly group salsa classes, students pair up to master beginner- and intermediate-level routines replete with hip swiveling, partnered twirls, and choreographed piggyback rides. Todd's private lessons reveal the secrets of salsa and Latin styles such as bachata and merengue, accelerating the learning process with personalized attention. Neither class style requires previous dance experience, and the studio welcomes students who arrive solo, in dancing duos, or backed up by a posse of imaginary friends.

With more than 30 years of combined experience and numerous competition wins, Rachel and Adam Maynard of Inspiration to Movement lead students in dance and Pilates classes. A sprung floor acts as the stage for classes such as Vaganova ballet—a Russian method developed esteemed dancer Agrippina Vaganova and beta-tested by thousands of music-box ballerinas. The Pilates studio peers over Franklin Park, providing a scenic location for cultivating strength, flexibility, and balance. The dancing partners also offer music-editing services for dance performances, and perform themselves for special functions.

Lifelong dancer Leyla Soleil stumbled upon her first belly-dancing class while living in Miami in 2001, and, as she describes it, “everything just clicked.” The high-impact dances she’d previously enjoyed, such as ballet and jazz, were proving increasingly hard on her joints, and with a new child thrown into the mix, Leyla was searching for a new way to express herself physically. After that first class, she grew passionate about belly dance and its ability to build a bridge between cultures. Later living in Akron, she built a thriving studio and dance company—Dance du Soleil—before moving her family to Columbus. Now, when she's not teaching classes at her new studio, Leyla juggles performing, starting a dance-photography business with her husband, and keeping involved in her Akron endeavors.

In her accessible, beginner belly-dancing classes, Leyla teaches fundamental moves that build a strong abdominal core, enable women to embrace their feminine side, and unravel the mystique around the dance form. Part of her philosophy on dance includes its health benefits, as evidenced by one of her former students—a woman who struggled with beginner moves but lost weight and decreased her health problems as she progressed to an advanced level. Middle Eastern music energizes each movement during Leyla's studio sessions, and she often announces each song’s country of origin to illuminate the cultural beauty inherent in the songs.