I've been taking salsa lessons at Toronto Dance Salsa for about a year and it is the most welcoming dance environment I've experienced. The culture Aleks cultivates is one of warmth and openness. If you're looking for a place that welcomes you enthusiastically and wholeheartedly then this is the place to go! read more

I took my first class here right before COVID, and the experience I had was so wonderful that I decided to start taking classes again recently. The instructor, Aleks, has an incredible energy, and both him and all the students help create a lovely sense of community. This is more than just a dance studio, it's a place to meet friends and call home. read more

My partner and I enrolled in Level 1, to teach him some salsa basics. He is not a dancer by any means and we bickered over who was leading most times Coming to classes every week was the highlight of our week. I learned a lot and I was amazed at how much he was learning as well. Aleks is a great teacher and is truly amazing at motivating his students. You don't feel dumb for not getting the moves the first (or second or third) time around. He sees where people struggle and it becomes a learning moment for everyone. We liked his class so much, we enrolled in Level 2! We had to pause afterwards because at the time, I was 6 months pregnant, but when we get the opportunity, we will be coming back for Level 3! If you need something in your life to feel good about, try this class out. You will meet lots of new people, gain a new social skill and be entertained with Aleks wit and humor during the lessons read more

Took Salsa lessons for the last year. Aleks is incredibly passionate coach who cares for his students. I recommend TDS.

I took lessons several years ago as a single when Sharon was the owner and really enjoyed the classes. Friendly atmosphere and convenient location with validated parking. This was the biggest Salsa school at the time. Classes consist of 20 to 30 students. No drop in allowed. They have weekly practices time for additional cost and outings to different clubs in the city. I recently tried to go back (April/ May 2019) by emailing, calling and even dropped in for an onsite and spoke to Alex and gave him my number but no call back or response. So I went elsewhere. The pros: great location if you live north of the city, or if you take the subway. With big class size it's a great way to meet new people. The cons: with big classes you don't get individual attention which is understandable; They do have a few helpers each class to assist as needed ... but not enough given the wide range of student's dancing abilities. If you are serious about learning Salsa and to learn at a faster pace then this school might not be right for you. read more

The Good: The teacher has been great and really knows how to throw in some fun for us students who are just learning. They've managed to have an even number of male and female dancers and we learn quite a few moves in one hour. In addition to the classes, they organize other events and weekend classes to practice (small additional fee), but worth it to really dance and not just learn 1-2-3-tap. There are a variety of people from all ages and we rotate after every move we've learned so it gives us an opportunity to have different dancing partners. Sometimes just a challenge for me since I'm short and there are some pretty tall guys in the class. The Bad: It's not a biggie, but might be a bit too many students. The studio is big so more reminders to us to stagger off a bit so that we can move around more will help with the issue. The Overall: They offer many other classes like bachata, yoga, etc so if you live in the neighborhood, this is a very convenient place to go to after work. The studio is clean with large mirrors to see yourself swaying to the music. And when you're done, you can just go downstairs to the Loblaws to do get your groceries =) Revisit: Since I bought a package for 8 classes, for sure I'll be coming back for more. read more

Simply the best salsa school in Toronto. I had been to other schools and came out without learning any thing. I would have never learned Salsa, Bachata and Merengue if it was not for Sharon and Tracy Lee. I could not understand salsa beats when I joined TDS. Sharon was patient enough to make me and the class understand the beats and the music. If you miss a class there is option to take make up class and you have many different options for cancellation if you can't make it to class. I read in a previous review the owner is after money, I totally disagree with that . Sharon is one of the most reasonable salsa instructor I have ever met ( I was a student of Step dance studio and Bachata Club) TDS socials are one of the best in Toronto. Sundays and Wednesdays, The charges are very decent, much better than going to Toronto salsa practice where you pay parking charges much more than the entry fee $5 . TDS provide a 2 hour validated parking which is a great relief and if you want to stay for more, you can always drive out before 2 hours and came back and validate another parking Empress walk is very conveniently located and overall TDS is a very decent place where people feel safe and comfortable read more

I came by on a Saturday because i needed to brush up on my bachata moves. The instructors here are with you showing you the moves so its not so intimidating if you are a beginner. They had a special event this day which was a dance class from 8:45pm to 10pm and from 10pm to 1am you can just do your own thing and dance the night away. The great thing about this place is that you don't necessarily have to bring a dance partner with you, because odds are there will be someone there without a partner as well:) They have different classes where they teach different types of dance like bachata, salsa, kizomba, tango and merengue and other types as well. There is only a small fee of $10 at the entrance of the dance studio. You dont have to wear dancing shoes or heels although wearing heels does help a bit when you are dancing, but its optional. Oh and please dont get lost like i did. This school is in a dance studio in the mall here on the second floor. Also take note that there are people who come here every week and may be a little more familiar with the dance moves. If you dont know what you are doing, you are not the only one! Dont be scared to ask someone to dance after the class. Sometimes they can teach you what they know also. There are also the helpers here at the school. You will know who the instructors and the helpers are because you can differenciate them from the students. Also they have different classes in the week that you can check online. Its hard to find a dance school where you dont have to pay big bucks to learn how to dance and also have fun too. read more

The best salsa school for beginners in Toronto. Lots of people are bashing the school for being non-serious and that they just want to make money. Without fail, these people are either other jealous instructors, people who can't dance (but they think they can), people who don't understand what TDS is all about and how people work (really, you want to teach musicality to your level 1 students so that they can "feel" the music - whatever that means, when they can't even move their feet without stumbling?). TDS's goal is to get people into dance who have never danced before and see if they like it, and get them dancing as soon as possible. Their salsa and bachata classes are very structured, with the difficulty of moves progressing from easy to hard. When you are a beginner, it is counterproductive to try to learn everything at once. Other schools teach some of the moves in their "beginner" class which are taught at level 5 at TDS. That is just not the way to go. Their classes are very well organized. They explain each move, allow students to practice and then refine it. And, each level has a clear syllabus so that you can re-take it again and of course, the second time round, it gets easier. But, by far the most important benefit of TDS is their community. They have 2 weekly socials which are packed so that you can practice. Dance is learned through practising. Even if you know just the basic moves, the people are friendly and nobody will look at you strangely if you are a beginner. They keep the learning environment fun but at the same time, they don't waste time, are punctual, and get through the material. At the end of the day, they are the best at turning people with no dance experience into dancers, and I think that they are the best school for this. If you are a beginner, TDS is the way to go. read more

Aleksander of Toronto Dance Salsa is a true TEACHER - that person for whom the goal is the success of the student, is encouraging, precise, enthusiastic. He takes the time and effort to analyse any issue for the student in the learning process and understands how learning styles for different people can differ. There are great dancers but they are not all great teachers. Teaching is Alesander's gift. read more

This school is one of the best marketing successes in dance industry, and at the same time one of the most horrible places, where you can learn dancing, especially salsa. Some facts about Toronto Dance Salsa I know that it is difficult to believe, but this is only dance school, where you don't dance with teachers (not at group lessons, not on practice nights): teachers are dancing with "so called" "helpers" on group lessons, and they just don't come to practice nights. Greediness of the owner (who is the teacher at the same time) doesn't have limits; instead of dancing with students at practice nights, she is selling tickets & collecting money; it could be up to 100 people at practice night, 7$ ticket, but, looks, like she cannot pay somebody 50$ for 4 hours to collect money, and herself to dance with students. Her life is too expensive, probably. Or, may be, she considers, that her dancing skills are so precious, that she cannot give it for free. So, you will ask me with whom, students are dancing? Students are dancing with "so called" "helpers" (in the best case scenario) & each other. Not very good idea for the beginners. Now it is time, to explain who the "helpers" are. "Helpers" are previous students, who just, may be, one level higher than students-beginners. They work for free (but probably, owner is compensating them special way - I don't know the details), so, don't expect great service. Most of them consider themselves great dancers, which is not even close to reality. Very often some of them misbehave with students (they, consider, themselves great bosses also), and you can often witness fights between them (the reason is, who is going to dance with students, and who will sit on the bench during group lesson, if there is extra-helper - the fight for to sit & relax, not to dance, of course). However, some of them can behave & have some dancing abilities; I am not going to lie. All school combinations are very primitive (mostly based on cross-body lead with the right turn - people, who dance, will understand me), and this is reason that even "helpers" (not sure about teachers, because they are never available for dancing) cannot dance with people, who use elements from other dancing schools. School conception is not to motivate people to learn dancing; surprising thing: school doesn't encourage people to change partners: school accepts couples, which are coming to group lessons & dancing only with each other. Ask any dance teacher: it is just crucial to dance with different partners, especially, at the beginning of your dance career, especially for men. The other strange thing, what I noticed at that "salsa" school: there are no any Latino people there. This I cannot explain at all. read more

I was very disappointed when I noticed the teacher, Alex, was holding the female students very inappropriately. This is definitely not a safe environment for women and I won't be taking any more courses with TDS. read more