Words cannot describe how much my husband and I loved working with Liz. She took our two song requests and somehow made it work with our Bridgerton/Game of Throne-like aspirations for our first dance at our wedding. My husband is by no means a fan of learning choreographed dancing nor a natural dancer, but he really enjoyed our lessons with Liz. Our first dance was not only super fun to learn but was fairly easy to learn thanks to Liz. Our guests were stunned and overjoyed with our surprising first dance. The number of compliments we received has been amazing. It's all thanks to Liz! Highly recommend reaching out to her and seeing if your wildest dance dreams are possible. read more

Wedding Dance San Diego - Final practice found with a petticoat and suit jacket - Dance Studios Near Me - Encinitas, California

I have zero experience dancing, I was always the guy on the dance floor who just clapped along. But my fiancé (now wife!) wanted us to do a little more for the wedding. Can't blame her! We were referred to Liz by my sister who learned from her as well, and I gotta say - I was skeptical that I would really be able to pick up a choreographed dance so quickly, but we did it and Liz was a pleasure to work with. She was always prepared before our three sessions, having the song mapped out, suggestions for where the twirls and dip(s) should be and made it easy to learn the rhythm and flow of the dance. Thank you Liz, it was perfect! read more

I'm so happy we ended up doing a dance package with Liz. It was such a good way for us to figure out what we wanted to do for our first dance and she was so great to work with. Even though we had danced a lot together informally, we wanted to learn the technical basics for our wedding. But we didn't want our first dance to be too slow or traditional either. Liz taught us the basics, gave us great direction, and was so patient with us trying all types of songs until we found what worked for us. I can't believe how much we were able to accomplish in 3 sessions, and we had a great time doing it. I think my fiancé (now husband!) was surprised how much he enjoyed it. We had fun practicing together at home and felt so confident going into our first dance. 100% worth it! read more

Liz, can't thank you enough for your patience and direction for our upcoming Father/Daughter dance! Our family will have treasured memories of spending time together with you in studio where we each learned and laughed! We highly recommend Liz for her teaching abilities, flexibility and her patient coaching style! Two thumbs up! Alexis & Steve read more

Wedding Dance San Diego - Thanks Liz! Alexis & Steve - Dance Studios Near Me - Encinitas, California

Just had our wedding last weekend and got so many compliments for our first dance. Liz choreographed the perfect dance for us and our abilities. We loved her enthusiasm and patience with us as this was our first time venturing into learning any kind of choreographed dance. read more

Liz is the absolute best! We took 6 classes before our wedding and she choreographed a beautiful first dance for us. The weekly classes were honestly the most fun part of wedding preparations for both my husband and I; so much so that we want to keep taking classes with Liz! Neither of us had any dance experience but she made us feel so comfortable and confident that the day of the wedding we went out there and just had so much fun dancing together. On top of that, the reactions from our friends and family were incredible, so many people told us that it was one of their favorite parts of the wedding. It is so easy to tell that Liz genuinely loves teaching dance and working with couples, and it is what makes working with her so special! read more

Wedding Dance San Diego - Dance Studios Near Me - Encinitas, California

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Liz is a great instructor! We came to learn a wedding dance and she recommended we learn a little waltz. We are beginners so we learned the basics and she made it so it wasn't too hard to learn. Everyone at our wedding loves our dance and it was all thanks to Liz! *** A few months later she emailed us seeing if we wanted to come to a free salsa class and we attended and it was so much fun! I would recommend Liz to anyone trying to learn! read more

My husband and I took classes with Liz before our wedding and learned SO much. I've never been comfortable dancing or being the center of attention so our first dance was a scary notion. Liz was so patient with us, and gave us the instruction and confidence we needed to make it memorable! We loved it so much we took my whole family for a private class and we all had so much fun together! We absolutely plan to take more classes! read more

Wedding Dance San Diego - Practicing before our guests arrived at the ceremony location! - Dance Studios Near Me - Encinitas, California

We love Liz!!! We came to her a little last minute -- 2 weeks before we were to leave for our wedding. We just didn't want to sway back and forth for the entirety of our first dance so we sought out some casual dance lessons. As other reviews mentioned, she took care of pretty much everything! Talked on the phone, gave her our song, and on our first lesson she dove right in. Our song ended up being a waltz, interestingly enough. She came up with really simple yet elegant choreography for us and edited our 4 minute song to a seamless 2:50! We did a 3-lesson package for a great price, then after that lessons were ala carte. As someone who doesn't even dance alone at home, I was really nervous about the lessons but she made us feel so comfortable. She is so sweet and patient, as well as a great dance teacher. I actually looked forward to showing off what we practiced with her. On our wedding day, we did the lift she gave us tips on and also a dip. People weren't expecting it and they definitely loved it! Thank you, Liz!!! read more

My fiancé (now husband) and I are both very inexperienced when it comes to dancing, and we were quite nervous about our first dance. Our wedding planner suggested we get dance lessons to help us not look so lost and he recommended Liz O'Grady! We couldn't have been happier with our experience with her! She gave us a choreographed dance that was reasonable for our skill level, but somehow made it look dramatic, fun, and beautiful! Not to mention, it was to a non-typical first dance song, so she had to be creative with the styling (she said she'd never had anyone recommend our song before and she was excited to create a dance for it)! On top of that, she was thoughtful about our dance floor spacing and entrance location. We both didn't like the idea of someone judging our terrible dance prowess, but she made it fun, and dance lessons felt like a little enjoyable date night! She was kind, not judge-y, helpful, and would take videos for us with a voice-over so we could follow the videos & suggestions when practicing on our own! She is an angel and an absolute joy! She was also always flexible with the timing for our meetings, and I would absolutely recommend her to everyone! We just LOVED Liz, and are so blessed and grateful we were able to have her as part of our wedding! read more

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We highly recommend Liz!! We came to her about a month before our wedding, looking for help with our first dance. From the moment we walked in, she was warm and clearly a seasoned professional. She went above and beyond. We came in with just our song - she listened to our needs and choreographed an awesome routine for us. Our dance was a huge hit on our wedding day - we got tons of applause!! I'm so happy we did this - now we plan to do our dance every year on our anniversary. Definitely go to Liz!l for your wedding dance!! read more

I'm a father of the bride who is a total non-dancer but didn't want to embarrass my daughter during the father/daughter dance at her wedding. And with all the other wedding planning activities we procrastinated until the 2 week mark before seeking dance lessons. Called Liz and she couldn't have been more accommodating. She gave us many lesson time slot options, willing to work around our limited schedule. Liz knew we had limited time until the wedding so she used our time efficiently teaching us the basics until we had a good grasp. She was so patient, kind and supportive. Just a few lessons enabled me to feel comfortable leading my daughter onto the dance floor with a twirl to start, performing basic dance steps for the 2.5 minute song and finishing with another simple twirl. It turned out great. Thanks Liz! Do yourself a favor and start lessons at least a couple months in advance so you don't have to panic in the last few weeks. read more

Liz was a great dance teacher. She is patient, kind, and overall a great person to work with for our first dance. Thanks Liz! The dance went great. read more

We went to Liz for help on our first dance for our wedding. We are NOT dancers! Liz was easy from the beginning. A very thorough consultation, help with choosing music and other related decisions, typed up the choreography, filmed practice dances, and took photos during practice. She also makes things very comfortable and has props that can prepare you for the day (hoop skirt, long sash, etc). I recommended her to another engaged friend and would do so over and over! read more

Starting off, ZERO DANCING EXPERIENCE! Within a few lessons, Liz taught us how to be comfortable dancing and she even choreographed our wedding dance! She spliced two of our songs together and created the PERFECT dance for us. I was so nervous at first but she really was able to dumb-down dancing for us. From zero experience to dancing comfortably in 4-inch heels and a qipao, I'd say that Liz is a master dancer and wonderful instructor. She's also just an amazing person with a kind heart. I would recommend this place to anyone! read more

Wedding Dance San Diego - We started with a slow song and ended with a fun-faster one in this pose. - Dance Studios Near Me - Encinitas, California

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Liz is a fantastic dance instructor with incredible patience and a positive attitude. She is currently preparing us for our wedding and has even edited our song. I've chosen Arthur Murray in the past, but Liz is not only more affordable, but a lot more fun. read more

My father, husband, mother-in-law, and I took lessons with Liz for our upcoming wedding so that we would feel more comfortable with dancing formally and in front of others. Liz is a very warm and encouraging instructor and helped put those of us that were less inclined to dance (my father and husband) at ease. She is incredibly talented at teaching and introducing how dancing can be fun for those that consider themselves "non-dancers". We all felt much more comfortable with our choreographed dances after the lessons and she even gave us music that was already spliced according to how the dance was choreographed. I could not recommend her more and will be recommending her to any of my friends that have upcoming weddings! Thank you Liz!! read more

Liz was terrific! My wife and I are so glad that we chose her to be our instructor. We couldn't be happier. She's worth every penny! We didn't know what to expect but she walked us through everything. We only came to her with a song and she figured out the rest. Liz chose Foxtrot for our dance style. She first taught us the fundamentals and built up from there. She choreographed everything and made it incredibly easy. She even edited the song for us to fit the choreography. Our first dance at our wedding turned out to be amazing. We definitely recommend Liz for anyone who wants to make their first wedding dance a memorable one. read more

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Liz is the best!! My fiancé and I had ZERO dancing experience and needed to learn a first dance for our wedding, and we are so glad we found Liz. She is super welcoming and she teaches in a way that makes you feel comfortable with whichever skill level you're at. I leveled up my dancing game x10 after just 3 lessons... Catch me on dancing with the stars next season! read more

Liz is wonderful! We came about a month before our wedding. We just wanted to feel a little more prepared for our first dance at our wedding. We had our song and she helped us make a plan which was so fun!! We did the 3 lesson package and then added a 4th just for fun a week before! We did them as "date nights" before our wedding and they were so fun!!! Liz is so nice and didn't make us feel intimated (as non- dancers) at all! The last dance she brought a petticoat and videoed us which was great. Highly recommend her! We look forward to coming back for lessons in the future! Thank you Liz! read more

For our wedding we had relatively zero dancing experience and wanted our first dance to be amazing. Liz was so great to work with. She created a dance that looked professional and allowed wiggle room for errors. She worked with our music and helped edit our song. She also helped us use the lyrics to remind of us of the steps, which helped a lot. Our first dance turned out so memorable, I highly recommend Liz! Thank you so much! read more

This is beyond a doubt one of the best dance classes I have ever had - my wife and I have always tried to learn together - and I have never succeeded - but Liz made everything so fun and easy! read more

Liz is the best teacher we've ever had. She is so patient and able to break it down so we can really learn to dance. We're looking forward to more lessons over the years. read more

We reached out to Liz with only 2 weeks left until our destination wedding and after being disappointed in our previous wedding dance class. She called us shortly after and set up several appointments during the following week. Neither of us had previous ballroom dancing experience, but she was able to teach us a simple foxtrot routine and even provided a song she had remixed and cut short herself to fit our reception timeline. With the stress of travel and wedding planning Liz really played a big part in easing our nerves. I have nothing but good things to say about her and would recommend her to anyone looking for lessons! read more

Great experience! After going to a different dance studio that was a bit focused on just selling us a package, we were looking for someone who would help us get ready for our first dance in 3 sessions. Liz was professional, and so easy to work with! She was able to teach us some basic dance moves for our wedding, and as we got comfortable, she added in some additional twists and spins for us to add in. Liz is very easy to work with, and did a great job of working with me and my fiance! I would highly recommend her to anyone looking to brush up their dance skills before their wedding. read more

We had the pleasure of working with Liz to prepare our "first dance" for our wedding. She was super pleasant to work with, from start to finish. After booking our 5 lessons, we met her at a dance studio and had our own little area partitioned off. We brought our music, which happened to be 2 songs - one for the father-daughter and one for the husband-wife dance. My mom and dad were with us, and she was extra patient with my two-left-footed dad. None of us knew anything about ballroom, but I was surprised how quickly we picked it up with her help. She was very patient with our mistakes, and had great analogies to help us with the moves. In the end, we ended up having a great first dance at our wedding, complete with a spin and dip at the end. We could not have pulled it off without Liz. If you're a beginner, I really recommend trying her out. She is not intimidating at all, super patient, friendly and even funny. We had a great time! read more

We had tried a dance class at a local school/college, and it was awful. We stepped on each other's (and other peoples) feet. Then we found Liz, and we had a handful of great lessons tailored to our level and our needs. First of all, Liz is great. She is so much fun, she made the lessons fun. We also picked the songs (yes, I made him dance two!), so she taught us a waltz and a tango for our wedding. She had techniques that simulated things for the wedding that we hadn't even thought of. If there were areas where we struggled, she thought about ways to simplify or to break it down for us. Liz has a great personality while also being a great dance coach. We had a lot of fun! So much so that had her come to our wedding to be the dance instructor during some of the in-between time at the cocktail hour/reception. Thanks so much, Liz! read more

My husband and I had the absolute best experience working with Liz at the Hillcrest location to learn and practice our first dance for our wedding this past October. We took 4 one-hour lessons, practiced at home a couple times a week, and totally wowed our guests. Even better, my parents ended up booking a set of lessons for themselves and coordinated their sessions to overlap with mine, so I used a portion of the time to practice the father/daughter dance as well. While chatting with Liz, my dad and I happened to mention that we were thinking about starting out with the standard father/daughter waltz or whatever and then breaking into a goofy "Gangnam Style" routine. Without asking, by our next appointment Liz had prepared a complete "Gangnam Style" dance which she spent extra time each week teaching and practicing with me and my dad. She even cut the music perfectly and sent me the digital file to provide to my DJ. It was such a hit at the wedding! She really went above and beyond our expectations, not to mention that it was so much fun to learn some sweet moves with my fiance and dad! read more

Liz is fantastic! I am a beer drinking sports fan and so the idea of doing wedding dance lessons wasn't exactly appealing. However, we did about 3 to 4 before our wedding and managed to grab a beer afterwards. It really enhanced the whole experience and to be quite honest, our wedding dance is one of the highlights. The lessons were so much fun, not intimidating at all, and she meets you where you're at. I would highly recommend this and so well worth it! It helps Da Bears are so bad this year but I'm actually considering doing more dance lessons to keep dance a part of our marriage. read more

Not going to lie. Wife dragged me into this. Had a couple of beers while watching college football and threw on my favorite dancing shoes and had an incredible time. Liz made this a fun experience (even so I have two left feet). Came in here knowing the robot and worm and left feeling like Enrique Inglesias/Ricky Martin/Tom Cruise read more

Liz is an amazing instructor. She worked a miracle with my soon to be husband and myself. We had the best 1st dance because of her patience with our two left feet. Thank you - Liz Mr. & Mrs. Bell read more

We were so lucky to have found Liz to help us get ready for our wedding. We were looking to learn the basics of dance skills that we could use at our wedding and beyond. We wanted to just be able to dance to most any song and look and feel like we know what we're doing. Liz gave us exactly that and more. It felt so good to walk out to the dance floor for our first dance at our wedding, with everyone staring at us, knowing that we knew just what to do and we'd be doing it in-sync with each other, looking good and having fun. Dance lessons were not something that I thought I was going to enjoy... When my then-fiance (now wife) signed us up, I was dreading it but after five minutes with Liz, that all changed. She made it fun, easy going, and relevant. I started looking forward to each lesson and before I knew it, it was already over. Time flys when you're having fun. We highly highly recommend LIz! read more

I'm not sure that anyone will ever be able to make me a good dancer; I've got no musical ability whatsoever. (I'm glad that I'm the girl so I only have to follow, not figure out the beat and lead like the guy does.) However, Liz is patient, and she tailors her classes to your ability and to what you want to learn. More importantly, my fiancé and I always have fun together here, which has helped to ease the feeling that our wedding and first dance are one giant performance. Liz being laid-back and pleasant helps a lot towards that end. My fiancé and I are both very shy and self-conscious, and we certainly don't dance in public, so it would have been very easy for us to feel miserable, anxious, or awkward with the wrong teacher. We asked Liz to choreograph our first dance because my fiancé found it to be a lot of work trying to think of what to do next. Liz had some cute ideas for moves that went with our song lyrics, but it just wasn't us (too performance-y). We asked her to change things around or to omit them a couple times, and she was always happy to do it. If she choreographs your dance, she'll type up the steps, along with the corresponding song lyrics so that you can practice on your own at home. It's a godsend for people who take a long time to work out the muscle memory thing. The OCD and visually-oriented parts of me also really appreciate how organized and easy to follow the instructions are... You'd be surprised how often people don't bother to go the extra step to organize information into easily-digestible chunks. It annoys me so much, or outright doesn't work for me, that I often re-write things myself. This wasn't the case here, which is awesome. /end rant If you want, Liz will take a video of either you and your partner, or of one of you and her, doing the various dance steps or your entire dance routine -- with narration! It's good for a laugh and feeling embarrassed while watching yourself bumble around at home, and great for being able to practice your dance skills in between lessons. A couple times, we've had to wait on Liz for a response, whether regarding scheduling our next class or uploading our video so that we could watch it and practice. It's not a super-long wait, but I know some people get antsy doing it, especially brides. :) -1 star because the Encinitas studio is a shared space. If you don't get a separate room, just a partition, it can be rather distracting when another class is going on, especially when you still don't know what you're doing and have to exert that much more effort to figure it out. I'm easily distracted when I'm doing something about which I am self-conscious, and my fiancé sometimes needs TOTAL SILENCE! NO DISTRACTIONS WHATSOEVER! in order to learn something foreign, so it was a bit tough when we did have to share (thankfully, not often). It also threw me off when people occasionally passed through our space to get in/out of the building, even when we were in a separate room. Lastly, although Liz invited me to sit in on another couple's class while my fiancé and I were still deciding whether or not we wanted lessons, the couple was already very experienced, and therefore not at all applicable to us. I pretty much went with Liz, then, for no other reason than that she was able to accommodate our schedule. My fiancé is on the East Coast doing his surgical residency, so he rarely has free time, and even more rarely is able to fly out here. We wouldn't have been able to do the more traditional every-week-for-6-weeks kind of class. Instead, we purchased the 5-class package and were able to spread them out over 7 months (!!!). The package is pricier, but the flexibility was worth it, and the lessons are private so that you're always focusing on your own skill set, not being held up or sped through sessions by other people's progress in a group setting. I wouldn't go so far as to say that I'm looking forward to our first dance, but I do like dancing with my fiancé in the privacy of our own home now, which used to happen, like, never. I think that's the biggest compliment I can give a teacher of anything: Not necessarily that the student became awesome or even good at it, but rather, that the teacher helped them cultivate and enjoy a new skill, in whatever capacity they choose to use it... Being good can always come later, so long as one enjoys it enough to continue with it. read more

Wedding Dance San Diego - Choreography: So organized! Lyrics help you figure out where you are. Titles and chunking make it easy to learn bit by bit. - Dance Studios Near Me - Encinitas, California

My husband and I are so glad we got dance lessons from Liz for our wedding! She worked with us to come up with an excellent dance for our song, and it was a lot of fun to learn and practice. People have told us that, other than the actual ceremony of course, our first dance was their favorite part of the wedding. Even if you're not going for an involved first dance, I recommend every couple take at least one or two lessons to learn how to lead and follow. read more

Excellent dance lessons with Liz leading up to our wedding. We picked our song and Liz took it from there, editing the song and putting together a dance for us to learn. So much fun the whole way through, the dance turned out amazing, and everyone at our wedding loved it... and were also very surprised I was able to pull it off. All thanks to Liz!! read more

Liz was awesome. She choreographed a great first dance and she was willing to work around my bad knee. With Covid, Liz was great about having a flexible schedule and being able to switch to online lessons. read more

We worked with Liz to choreograph a foxtrot routine for our first dance. She was so friendly, encouraging, and fun to work with. She was able to choreograph a really sophisticated looking dance for us that we were able to master in a short period of time. We were very surprised at how quickly we learned - Liz had us ready in no time. She took videos during our lessons to point out ways we could improve and to help us memorize the routine. She also wrote out the steps for us, which was very helpful to review when we were practicing at home. It was well worth the decision to learn a choreographed routine for our first dance, which went off without a hitch, all thanks to Liz! We cannot wait to take more lessons in the future. read more

My wife and I contacted Liz to help coordinate our first dance. She did a wonderful job teaching us 'the basics' and helping us understand the different moves to synchronize to our song. She was wonderful to work with and really helped me get comfortable with dancing. read more

My husband and I (aka I signed up my husband) signed up for wedding dance lessons with Liz and it was 1000% worth it! She's amazing and we had so much fun every time we saw her. Also- we nailed our wedding dance and I don't think we could have done it without her! read more

We took the 2 hour crash course with Liz and it was fantastic! She makes is enjoyable and easy to learn to basic but important moves to look good on the dance floor. I specifically enjoy how she ensures your song is played so you can get a feel for the pace of your song and ask any questions if needed. Thank you Liz! :) read more