Education & Classes in Fountain Valley

Avant Garde's retinue of international instructors teaches more than 20 types of group classes at the Newport Beach studio. Whether you opt for the waltz, Argentine tango, jitterbug, cha-cha, street hustle, or one of the kids' classes, you'll have plenty of kick and spin space in which to unfurl your lean limbs and cloven hooves. Avant Garde features floating dance floors and 5,500 total square feet of dance space. While the floors don't actually float without the proper incantation, they do offer flexible support for hours of dancing unaccompanied by hours of leg and back pain. Check the schedule for a full list of class options.

You'll also get to choose from a variety of instruments, including guitar, piano, trumpet, drums, and the instrument inside your throat-box. See the sidebar for a complete list of lessons.

Each three-hour class at Laguna Culinary Arts caters to any skill level, from expert chefs to certified microwave users. With no more than 10 people per class, the intimate classes cultivate individual, hands-on instruction, and guarantee that no one gets lost and eaten by bears during training. De-hibernate your china and entertain friends, neighbors, or your glass menagerie collection with the skills you pick up in one of Laguna's party-throwing classes. Learn how to grill goat-cheese-stuffed radicchio wrapped in pancetta and brush up your Crème Catalan skills to throw a Spanish paella party. Or craft an elegant menu of blue-cheese-dressing salad and filet mignon with blackberry sauce, ending with a chocolate soufflé ($95 per person, or $115 with wine pairings). At the end of each class, sit down to enjoy the dinner everyone has worked together to create, minus the piled dishes usually left for gnomes to clean.

Happy Cooking Co. owners and head chefs James and Jael Tanti help students and customers build a bridge between diet and wellness, aiming to prevent dangerous inflammation and maladies through healthy food preparation. The cooks' holistic techniques and toxin-free surgical-steel utensils turn fresh ingredients into medicine, family meals into daily health regimens, and cooking into an extended metaphor for disease prevention and maintaining long-term well-being. Cooking demonstrations and hands-on classes teach students to create delicious recipes such as seven-herb chicken, homemade almond milk, or potato-leek soup, preventing harmful chemical contamination and overuse of oils with Saladmaster cookware.

From garnishing a perfectly poured martini to doling out rounds of drinks quickly and efficiently, the experienced instructors at National Bartender School possess all the tips, tricks, and tools to succeed in the bartending trade. With years of industry experience under their belts, these knowledgeable spirits sages guide pupils through certification courses that cover every aspect of the job. Under their supervision, students learn to craft more than 200 cocktails, handle transactions, and practice the art of the upsell without breaking a sweat or bottle of 50-year-old scotch. Free refresher courses and job-placement assistance keep students on track even after school is through. For more focused pursuits, National Bartender School also hosts classes in specialty fields such as flair bartending and bar management.

From 18 studios scattered around Los Angeles, Lori Moran Music Studios’ armada of instructors offers all-ages voice, piano, guitar, violin, and composition classes. With teachers who have worked on films such as Dreamgirls and Dance Flick, world-touring operatic productions, and Grammy-nominated choral CDs, the school can cater to virtually every musical taste—from classical to jazz to pop. Students choose the emphasis of their lessons, whether they want to work on their public performance skills, write their own songs, sight-read scores, or simply be able to play musical chairs during a power outage. Many will also get the chance to show off in recitals, concerts, and showcases.