Dance Lessons in Yorba Linda

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.

Makela Brizuela lends her name to Makela Tango, a dance-education emporium that specializes in the characteristic dance of Brizuela’s homeland, Argentina. She organizes classes that cater to learners at every level with informal practices, basic lessons, intermediate instruction, and classes about dancing in heels. Brizuela brings more than a decade of dance experience to the table, having honed her craft at the National School of Ballet of Argentina. Over the years, she’s taken advantage of prestigious opportunities such as performing at the Ford Amphitheater and creating, producing, and directing a cabaret show at the Museum of Latin American Art. The tango that she teaches is characterized by passion, joy, and ease of movement. On her company’s FAQ page, she recommends that, before class, pupils shower, floss, and go easy on any perfume that might offend a partner or attract hornets.

Music thumps through LA Dancefit Studio as groups of dancers performing energetic choreography shimmy their way to toned physiques through heart-friendly cardio workouts. The enthusiastic instructors lead groups of all fitness levels through high-energy dance-fitness classes, inspiring hips to shake through Latin-inspired Zumba or helping tighten cores in body-sculpt classes. Instructors also lead traditional dance classes in the styles of ballet, ballroom, and hokey pokey, getting students ready for wedding receptions or living versions of Dancing with the Stars.

The percussiveness of Latin and ballroom music resounds through Sonata Room, where founders and decorated dancers Laura Powell and Brandon Kwae lead private and group dance classes. A champion of the International Grand Ball Championships and Emerald Ball Dancesport Championships, Laura brings her hard-earned talent to the classroom, where she has trained up-and-coming dancers for 25 years. Watching a televised dance championship first spurred Brandon onto the dance floor, his quickly developed skills eventually placing him on the podium in competition. Together, the duo now patiently and technically break down each dance step for their students without using intimidating tactics, such as dancing with the time-out chair. Their spacious, dimly lit, and wood-floored studio also hosts occasional events, including bimonthly ballroom-dance parties.