Alice is a phenomenal dance teacher. Alice taught my husband and I our first dance for our wedding, as well as my Dad and I for our father/daughter dance. We had no prior dance experience, just a song we wanted to dance to. Alice listened to our song, told us what type of dance would go with our song and what our options were, and we went from there. At the end of our dance lessons, my husband and I had learned a beautiful Viennese Waltz routine that everyone just loved, and my dad and I did a very endearing Foxtrot. I could not have been happier. Aside from Alice's obvious dance skill and knowledge, she is kind, reliable, encouraging, and incredibly patient. We would recommend her to anyone.
~ Kim, Delio, and Duke (my dad)
As an understudy to some of the finest dancers in the world, Alice has developed a unique understanding of dance movement and uses her significant academic background to share it with her students.
An accomplished competitive dancer in her
own right, Alice Dessauer may be the one remaining Washington DC stalwart from the golden era of International Ballroom Dancing.
Michael A.
In a world of egotistical ballroom dance instructors consumed with pedigrees and plans of how their students will reflect their importance to the planet, one encounters a sane, caring and compassionate voice. Alice Dessauer's students reflect the true character of this fabulous teacher. They are all sorts of people, of all sorts of capabilities and talents, all sorts of races, ethnic backgrounds, genders, and attitudes. Each student is treated with tender, caring, and unique techniques of instruction that makes their ballroom dancing exponentially improve from class session to session. Following a systematic adult pedological progression, each student reviews what they have learned, learns something new , then demonstrates what they learned over several lessons... no time for egos or pride... just time enough to get your money's worth with a lot of love.
Sarah Brown
ALICE IS A COMSUMATE PROFESSIONAL AND GIFTED TEACHER
I never realized how many fine points of dancing that existed, as my partner and I learned to become proficient enough to attend a waltz ball and not make fools of ourselves. Alice guided both of us over a ten week course of lessons that brought us not only confidence and enjoyment but also positive feedback and kudos from other couples attending the waltz ball. Alice personalized her lessons based on our needs, while strengthening our weak points, all with exuberant positive encouragement. Want to learn to dance? Go to the best. Alice
Gary and Vera 2010.
I started dancing American style and wanted to try International style. I attempted an international foxtrot class from an instructor and was just so over-whelmed and confused that I left the dance series with no desire to ever try international again. The instructor was not bad, it just didn't work for me. One day I happened to see an ad for international waltz at a place I frequented. I figured I would give international one more shot since I was already there and I am very glad I did. From the very first class, Alice provided exactly the kind of instruction and information I needed. She broke things down when needed, explained the why and how, and made sure that even if I couldn't presently do it correctly, I understood what needed to be done. She has continued to help me elevate my knowledge of dance, and little by little, my ability to turn that knowledge into dancing I feel good about.
When you are looking for someone to help you improve aspects of your life, there are certain traits that just make things so much better. Alice has all of these and more; She is friendly, knowledgeable, approachable, patient, elegant, fun, and most of all, you can tell she genuinely loves what she does. She really is there to help you reach your potential, even if you are not sure what that might be. The best part? International foxtrot has started to make sense to me :) I highly recommend Alice if you are looking to learn and/or improve your international dancing, it would be time very well spent!
