Matt Chung

Want to check out the House Dance scene in London?

I wrote this page up because I moved to London in April 2024 and have slowly been exploring the dance scene to:

  1. Meet other house dancers
  2. Build friendships and participate in community
  3. Train to level up my house dance

If those are similar goals to yours, then look no further!

Classes (weekly) Recommendations

Below are the classes I attend more or less ritually. Although I tried out other classes (see below) these are the ones that currently work for me and my schedule

  • Tuesday 6:00pm @ Pineapple with Ani – choreography based. What I love the most is that she is kind and also will offer physical, gentle corrections. For example, if you are working on a groove that calls for more hip action, she’ll place her hand on either hip and demonstrate how the move should feel in your body. Class costs £12.00 and you can book directly through the Pineapple website/app.
  • Thursday 5:30pm @ Base Dance Studio with Jevan – while choreography based, sometimes the entire class revolves around freestyle. I would say this class levels on high intensity and be prepared to train hard in some classes. Class costs £13.00 and you can book directly through the Base Dance website/app

Other recommendations

I recommend the below despite not being able to attend

  • Monday 7:00pm @ East London Dance with Rommel – Good vibes and friendly instructor. Choreography based. Class costs £8.00. A bargain. Unfortunately, too far from my flat and I cannot neither justify a 1.5 hour commute (one way) for a 90 minute class.

Dance Studios

In London there are SO MANY dance studios (at least compared to Seattle). On one hand, it’s amazing to have so many options.

Organizations and People

  • Indahouse UK – they are collective of community builders and will put on workshops and events
  • Frankie J – he’s a world renowned house dancer and part of the Indahouse collective. He often posts Instagram stories of upcoming, local events

Here are my reviews of classes that I have attended

Here are classes I want to attend but have yet to check out

Class that I do NOT recommend

Note: I debated back and forth between keeping this section. It’s not within my values to unfairly criticize an instructor. However, I recognize that even though somebody will read this, they can totally still check out the class and may have a totally different experience. In addition, I would regret not sharing this information with other friends who are scoping out the scene.

I would not recommend the Pineapple’s Sunday Beginner House class

  • Overly critical of students – I’m all for corrections. In fact, the class that I recommend (see above), the instructor will often place her hands on your body and offer a correction. During this class, the instructor would, without skipping a beat, tell a student (their first dance class ever) that “That is NOT a pas de bourree.” I admit that her comment(s) may be rooted in good intentions and that there may be a mismatch in culture (instructor is from Eastern Europe)
  • Low number of students – normally, I jump at the opportunity of a class with small number of students, especially when its an instructor I like. Because then, it feels like almost a private workshop! However, in this case, the only time I went to this class there were 3 other students (total of 4 of us, excluding the instructor) all three their first time ever taking a dance class (let alone a house dance class)
  • Skipped doing choreography – As a freestyle dancer, I normally am pleased with doing freestyle and skipping choreography. However, I felt that she humiliated the other new students in the tone/way she stated it, something to the effect of: “Based on your skills, we will be skipping choreo today”. It’s her class so of course she gets to run the class. At the same time, I could’ve imagined a less humiliated way (maybe just me, but probably not) to communicate that and/or offered a short choreo routine that was maybe 1 or 2 eight counts?