A real floor, and nowhere to hide.
Custom first dance choreography at Dance With Me Stamford, on Summer Street downtown. Most couples need a handful of private lessons. Tell us where the reception is — a Greenwich country club, a waterfront tent on the Sound, a barn up in Litchfield — and we build the routine for that floor, and for the one evening a week you can actually make.
The reception is at a club in Greenwich, or a waterfront room looking out at the Sound, or a restored barn an hour north. Good lighting, a proper floor, a band that knows what it is doing, and a photographer who will be in exactly the right place. It is going to be beautiful.
Which is also the problem. Ninety seconds, everyone watching, and a room built to be looked at — there is no dark barn corner and no crowd to disappear into. Here is what actually goes wrong.
Arms locked, weight shifting foot to foot, quarter-turn every eight counts. It doesn't look bad in the room. It looks bad in the video, which is the version that lasts.
This is the Fairfield County one, and it cuts both ways. A club ballroom gives you a proper surface with room to move, so the travelling styles — foxtrot, waltz, swing — are genuinely available to you in a way they are not under a tent on grass. That is an opportunity. It also means the room can tell the difference between a routine and a sway, because the lighting and the floor are good enough to show it.
Most couples here have a year. What they do not have is a free Tuesday. One of you is on the 6:41 out of Grand Central, or in the office until seven, and the lesson competes with the only two hours you get together all week. Nearly every Stamford couple who never books says the same thing — not "we can't dance," but "we couldn't find the time."
They have been to a lot of weddings, at a lot of good venues, and they will be watching this one with a fairly calibrated eye. Not a reason to panic — a reason to have something rehearsed rather than something improvised.
New England weddings pile into late spring and again into September and October, when the light is good and the leaves turn. The venues, the bands, the photographers and the dance instructors all get booked into the same narrow windows. The couples who start in the quiet months get the slot they want.
Ninety seconds
Nothing about our first dance lessons in Stamford assumes you can dance. We build the routine to fit what your body already does well and quietly work on the rest, so the finished thing looks like you two, on a good day — not like two people executing someone else's choreography.
There's a side effect most couples don't expect. An hour a week where the two of you put the phones down, learn something together and laugh at each other turns out to be the calmest hour of the whole planning process. Several couples have told us it became their date night and stayed one after the wedding.
A standard, a modern ballad, indie or a remix — even a flash-mob surprise.
We specialize in couples who have never danced together.
Bring the gown and the shoes — we choreograph around the train.
Downtown, minutes from the station. We schedule around the train, not around us.
Private lessons
The core program. Built to your recording, count by count — from simple, elegant movement that keeps you off the sway, up to a full routine with spins and a picture-perfect close. We teach lead-and-follow first, so the two of you are actually connected rather than both counting in your heads. A club ballroom gives you room to travel, so we use it rather than keeping you rooted to one spot.
Custom RoutineAny SongBuilt to Travel Start here 02
Usually the moment that makes the room cry, and usually the person with the least dance experience in the building. We keep these warm and simple: an easy pattern, a comfortable hold, a graceful way to finish. Parents coming in from the city or flying into LaGuardia the day before is normal — a single lesson the morning of the rehearsal is enough to take the fear out of it.
Parent DancesOne Lesson WorksAll Ages Start here 03
The answer to what happens after the first dance. A good Fairfield County band will play swing, and a New York metro crowd will hustle to anything with four on the floor — those two carry more reception dance floors in this corner of the country than everything else combined. A few sessions on swing, hustle and a little salsa or bachata means you're dancing through the part of the night your guests will actually remember, instead of watching it.
East Coast SwingHustleSalsa & BachataCha-Cha Start here 04
Groomsmen, bridesmaids, both families, or the whole room. We build crowd-pleasing routines that work when half the group has never rehearsed anything — including the surprise reveal that starts as a normal first dance and turns into something else entirely. Bring however many people you have.
Bridal PartyFlash MobSurprise Reveal Start here 05
Getting married in three weeks. Or nine days. It happens, and it is not a problem. We strip out everything complicated and drill four things until they're automatic: a clean entrance, a hold that holds, one turn that looks better than it is, and a finish. One Stamford couple came to us with three weeks to go, took five lessons, and wrote afterwards that the dance was perfect. If you're only free on weekends, we'll stack the lessons there.
3 Weeks or LessWeekend BlocksCommuter Friendly Start hereThere isn't one — the best dance is whichever style matches your song. Couples usually arrive expecting to pick a dance and then find a song to fit it. It works the other way round. The track you have already chosen has a time signature, a tempo and a feel, and those three things narrow the answer to one or two styles before anyone sets foot on the floor.
| If your song is… | The dance is |
|---|---|
| A current pop or R&B ballad that fits none of the others | Nightclub Two-Step |
| A slow, swinging standard — Sinatra, Bublé, Nat King Cole | Foxtrot |
| A slow 4/4 ballad, especially on a smaller floor | Rumba |
| Anything that counts in threes rather than fours | Waltz |
| Upbeat, bouncy, early rock and roll or a big-band swing number | East Coast Swing |
| Latin, or modern R&B with a Latin lean | Bachata |
Foxtrot sits second on that list, which it would not in most of the country. A large share of Fairfield County receptions are black-tie or close to it, in a club or hotel ballroom with a live band — and that combination produces standards. Foxtrot is the style built for them, and this is one of the few markets where it is a genuinely common first-dance answer rather than a period piece.
Three things shift the answer after the music. Your floor — and here it usually helps. Foxtrot, waltz and swing all travel, and a club ballroom actually gives you the room to do it, which is a luxury a tented lawn does not offer; if your reception is somewhere tighter, rumba and nightclub two-step stay in one place and will look better. Your band — a live band rarely plays your song at the recording's tempo, and a few beats either way can move you between foxtrot and nightclub two-step, so ask them early. And your timeline — with three weeks rather than three months, the styles that look good soonest are nightclub two-step and bachata.
You don't have to work this out yourself. Bring the song to your $49 intro lesson, your instructor listens to it once, and you'll leave knowing which style it is and roughly how the routine will be shaped. Section 05 below has the detail on all six.
Almost every first dance we choreograph in Stamford is one of these six — and which one is yours is decided by your song, not by your taste. Here's how they differ, and where each one wants to be danced.
Best for · the modern pop or R&B ballad your song probably is
The least famous style here and the one most couples end up dancing. It was invented for exactly this problem: contemporary ballads that are too slow to swing, not in three for a waltz, and without enough Latin feel for a rumba. It also stays largely on one spot, which makes it the safe choice if your reception room is smaller than you'd like. If your song is a current radio ballad, this is very likely the answer.
Best for · slow big-band and crooner standards, and black-tie rooms
Smooth, travelling and unmistakably classic — the style behind most black-tie first dances, and the one this market asks for far more than the national average. It moves around the floor rather than staying put, which photographs beautifully and needs room to do it; a Greenwich or Stamford club ballroom is exactly the room it was designed for. Expect a little more work on frame and timing than the styles below, and expect it to be worth it.
Best for · slow 4/4 ballads, R&B slow jams, and tighter floors
Latin, unhurried, and danced close together largely on one spot. That last part makes it the workhorse when the room is smaller than the guest list — a restaurant, a tented terrace, a barn with tables to the edge. Rumba reads as intimate rather than cramped, and it is the fastest way to make a slow song feel like choreography instead of swaying.
Best for · songs that count in threes
If your song sways in sets of three rather than four — think Moon River, or Ed Sheeran's Perfect — it's almost certainly a waltz. The rise and fall gives it the sweeping, storybook quality couples picture when they imagine a first dance. Rotational, so like foxtrot it wants floor: lovely in a ballroom, tight on a terrace.
Best for · upbeat songs, early rock and roll — and the rest of the night
Bouncy, triple-stepped and endlessly cheerful, and the one style on this list that earns its place twice. A genuine first-dance answer if your song is upbeat rather than slow — and the single most useful thing you can know when the band starts its swing set two hours later, because a Fairfield County band will play one. It needs a little room and a partner who can be led, both of which are what the lessons are for.
Best for · Latin and modern R&B-flavoured tracks, and short timelines
Dominican in origin, built on a simple side-to-side pattern with a hip lift on the fourth beat, danced in a close hold. It's the quickest of these six to get looking good, which is why it turns up so often when a couple has three weeks rather than three months. Like rumba it stays put, so it works in any size room — and it carries into the reception the moment the playlist turns Latin.
Hustle and salsa aren't on this list because they're almost never a first dance — but around here they are very often the second and third. Those are covered by our reception dance program rather than here. And you'll notice no country two-step: that belongs on our Texas pages, not in Fairfield County.
Almost every couple who books here has a year. What they have less of is a free weeknight. So the useful question isn't how many months are left — it's how many evenings you can actually protect between now and the wedding. Two to three months at one evening a week is the sweet spot. Here's what each window buys you.
The unhurried version, and the one that gets you the instructor and the time slot you actually want rather than whatever is left in September. We design the choreography, lock the song and build movement habits so early that the steps stop being steps. Nothing about the wedding week involves remembering anything. If you're planning a mashup or a routine with lifts, this is the window you want.
Where most couples land, and where the program works best. Enough time to learn a full routine, refine posture and transitions, and build the stamina to look effortless from the first note to the last — without the lessons competing with everything else on your list. Also enough time to add swing and hustle for the reception.
Entrance, exit, and the final dip. This is where we rehearse in the shoes and the skirt, work out what the train does on a turn, and adapt to the room you're actually getting — a club ballroom and a tented terrace ask for different sized patterns. If your band has sent an arrangement, this is when we re-time the routine to it.
Compressed, and it works — one Stamford couple arrived with three weeks to go, took five lessons, and said afterwards that the dance came out perfect. We cut anything intricate and drill a small number of clean, high-impact movements until they're automatic. If weeknights are impossible, we'll stack two or three lessons across a weekend. Send the song ahead and we'll have it mapped before you arrive.
Most Stamford couples land between four and eight private lessons. Your instructor will give you a real number at the intro lesson, once they've seen you move and heard the song.
Posture, timing, a comfortable hold, a simple pattern and a clean final dip. Enough to look composed and intentional. The right choice if time is the constraint.
A full routine choreographed to your specific recording, with polished transitions, spins, personal styling, and practice in the dress and the shoes. Where most couples end up.
Multi-song mashups, custom music edits, lifts and advanced spins. For couples who want the first dance to be the thing people talk about on the train home.
A wedding program lives or dies on whether the person teaching it can explain a movement to someone who has never done it. The quickest way to judge that isn't a credential list — it's what students who have never danced say afterwards. So that is what these cards carry: the studio's own description of each instructor, and the words of the people they taught.
Dance Instructor · Wedding Programs
Named in Stamford's best wedding reviewThe instructor behind a first dance built in three weeks and five lessons — and the one to ask for if you are arriving late to this with a clear idea of what you want.
“Monica walked us through the choreography, asked us questions, listened to our feedback, and incorporated all of our ‘wish-list’ items into the dance.” Paulina Gerner · Google reviewBook with Monica
Lead Instructor
Beginner to national competitionOne of the two instructors who lead the floor here. Between them they have taken students from a first lesson all the way to national competition — and taken couples through a wedding in seven or eight lessons.
“My wife and I took about 7 or 8 dance lessons with Masha (who was great!) in June 2024, leading up to our wedding in early July.” Sarah Fabian · Google reviewBook with Masha
Lead Instructor
Beginner to national competitionThe other half of the teaching floor. Students describe both leads the same way — skilled and detail-oriented, and still approachable, which is the combination a nervous couple actually needs.
“I have been taking dance lessons at this studio for over seven years now, and Masha and Sasha have helped me transform from a beginner to an experienced ballroom dancer.” Anshuman Fotedar · Google reviewBook with Sasha
Full profiles and portraits for the Stamford team are being added to this page. In the meantime you can ask for any instructor by name when you book, or meet the team in person at your intro lesson.
Meet the full team on the Dance With Me Stamford studio page.
Dance With Me was founded by Maks and Val Chmerkovskiy. Your instructor is coached to that standard — and then points it at one thing: feeling confident for three minutes on your wedding day, not competition drills.
Our Stamford leads have taken students from a first lesson to national competition — but around 90% of the wedding couples who come through this studio have never taken a formal lesson, and that is who the programs are built for.
We opened on April 16, 2012, and a year later Mayor Michael Pavia proclaimed April 16 "Dance With Me Stamford Day." Fourteen years on, some of our original students are still dancing with us — which is the only wedding-vendor credential that really matters: we will still be here after your wedding. Come see the Summer Street studio.
“My fiance and I decided to take classes here before our wedding. Monica was our instructor, and she is AMAZING! We came in late to the process (3 weeks to go!), so we only had 5 lessons and they worked so hard to make sure our dance was perfect.”
“My wife and I took about 7 or 8 dance lessons with Masha (who was great!) in June 2024, leading up to our wedding in early July.”
“I have been taking dance lessons at this studio for over seven years now, and Masha and Sasha have helped me transform from a beginner to an experienced ballroom dancer.”
Read all of them on the Dance With Me Stamford Google profile.
A full private lesson for the two of you at the Summer Street studio. Not a group class, not a fifteen-minute tour, not a sales meeting with music playing underneath it. You dance, to your own track, with the instructor who would be teaching you.
We're downtown, a short walk from the Stamford Transportation Center, and open until 8 six days a week — so if one of you is coming back on the train, book an early evening and meet there rather than adding a second trip. Saturday afternoons are the easiest slot of all if weeknights are a fight.
Floor time from the first minute. You aren't learning in a room with twenty other people.
Style, tempo and the shape of the routine all come out of your track. Bring two or three if you're still deciding.
Your instructor prices a program once they've seen you move and heard the song — never before.
Some couples take the intro and stop there. That's a normal outcome and nobody chases you about it.
Your first lesson
Two to three months out, at roughly one evening a week, is the sweet spot. Most Fairfield County couples have a full year between booking the venue and the wedding, so the real constraint is rarely months — it is finding a weeknight you can protect. One thing worth knowing about this area: New England weddings cluster into late spring and again into September and October, and the studio calendar fills in those same windows. Booking outside them gets you the instructor and the time slot you actually want. If you are already inside three weeks, we run an express crash course instead.
This is the single most common reason couples here put it off, and it is the easiest one to solve. We are open Monday to Saturday from 1pm to 8pm, and the studio is on Summer Street in downtown Stamford, a short walk from the Stamford Transportation Center — so an early evening lesson can slot straight onto the end of a commute rather than becoming a separate trip. If weeknights genuinely do not work, Saturday afternoons are wide open and we stack two or three lessons into one. Tell us your realistic availability at the intro lesson and we will build the program around it rather than assuming a weekly slot you cannot keep.
Yes, and in your favour. A proper ballroom floor with room around it means the travelling styles are genuinely available to you — foxtrot, waltz and swing all move around the room and photograph beautifully, and they are hard to pull off on grass or a small terrace. It also means the room can see the difference between a routine and a sway, because the floor and the lighting are good enough to show it. Tell us the venue at your intro lesson and we will size the pattern to the actual room.
Around five private lessons is where most Stamford couples land, and one local couple did exactly five in the three weeks before their wedding. Three covers posture, timing, a comfortable hold and a clean finish. Five lets your instructor choreograph a full routine to your song, with a real entrance, polished transitions and practice in the shoes. Eight or more suits a multi-song mashup, a custom music edit, or lifts and a second routine on top of your own.
You start with a $49 intro private lesson at our Summer Street studio. After that your instructor prices a package around your song, your timeline and how much choreography you want, so a three-lesson program and a ten-lesson performance routine are not quoted the same way. There is no obligation beyond the intro lesson.
That is exactly who this is built for. Around 90% of the couples who walk into our Stamford studio have never taken a formal dance lesson. We break every movement into simple, repeatable pieces, and we build the routine to your ability rather than making you rise to a routine. Our lead instructors have taken students from a first lesson all the way to national competition, which means they are unusually good at judging where someone actually is on day one.
Yes. A Sinatra standard, a modern radio ballad, an indie track, a Motown number or a mashup that starts slow and drops into something upbeat — we choreograph to the structure and emotion of your specific recording. Bring it to your intro lesson and we will map it out. If you are still choosing, our instructors will help you judge tempo and danceability before you commit.
We can, and around here it is one of the most useful things you can learn. A good Fairfield County wedding band will play a swing set, and a New York metro crowd will hustle to almost anything with a four-on-the-floor beat — between them those two dances carry more of the night than everything else combined. We teach East Coast swing, hustle, and some salsa and bachata for when the playlist turns Latin, so you and your wedding party can keep dancing after the first dance is over.
Comfortable clothes and shoes with smooth or leather soles so you can turn. Come straight from work if that is what makes the lesson happen — plenty of people do, and we would rather see you in office shoes than not see you. Brides should bring their wedding shoes to the final lesson, and a practice skirt if the gown has a train. Avoid rubber-soled sneakers, which grip the floor too much.
Dance With Me Stamford is at 20 Summer Street, Stamford, CT 06901, in the middle of downtown and a short walk from the Stamford Transportation Center. We are open Monday through Saturday from 1pm to 8pm, and closed on Sunday. The City of Stamford Summer Street Garage is just up the road, and metered street parking on Summer Street is free after 8pm and all day Sunday. We are an easy drive from Greenwich, Old Greenwich, Cos Cob, Riverside, Darien, New Canaan, Norwalk, Westport, Rye and Port Chester. Call (203) 674-8100 to book your intro lesson.
Dance With Me Stamford is at 20 Summer Street, in the middle of downtown — a full ballroom floor a few minutes' walk from the Stamford Transportation Center, which is why so many of our couples book the lesson for straight after the train.
For Greenwich, Old Greenwich, Cos Cob, Riverside and Darien it's a short run down the Post Road or I-95. For New Canaan, Norwalk and Westport it's fifteen or twenty minutes. And if you're coming from Rye or Port Chester, you're closer to us than to anything on your own side of the line.
One private lesson with a Dance With Me Stamford instructor. You'll try a couple of styles, talk through your song, your venue and your timeline, and leave with a straight answer about how many lessons your first dance actually needs.
Prefer to talk to a person? Call (203) 674-8100 — Monday to Saturday, 1 PM to 8 PM — and we will find a slot that works around your week.
You dance. That's the whole appointment.
You'll get a specific package price before you decide anything.
A club ballroom, a tent on the water or a barn — we build the routine for the floor you're actually getting.
Downtown, minutes from the train, open until 8 six days a week. Tell us which evenings are realistic — or take a Saturday.
Thank you! A wedding dance specialist from our Stamford studio will reach out within 24 hours to schedule your $49 intro lesson.
Ballroom, Latin and social dance for beginners on Summer Street. Foxtrot, waltz and rumba are three of the six first-dance styles in section 05 — this is the door if you want to keep going once the wedding is behind you.
Explore Adult Classes
How every wedding program here is actually taught. One instructor, your music, your pace — and the fastest route there is from never having danced to looking like you have.
Explore Private Lessons
Dance With Me studios across the country, including four more within reach of the city. Useful if the father-daughter dance belongs to someone who lives in Manhattan or New Jersey and would rather rehearse at home before they drive up.
Find Another Studio
Ballroom lessons, the group class schedule, the full team and everything else happening on Summer Street — the longest-running studio in the Dance With Me network, open since 2012.
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