Testimonials

In a word, Aris’s instruction is special. Aris has a way of helping you find the story you want to tell as an artist and embrace it. His education with the best of the best figures in West Coast Swing is truly extensive, so he is uniquely poised to help you adopt the technique that works best for you. I often take lessons with pros only to be told exactly what he told me! While he is thoughtful and focused on technique, he also creates a safe space for creation and creativity. What I like most about Aris’s instruction is that he adamantly believes there is no one “right way” to do this dance, but that there are so many ways that work. Simply put, Aris is passionate about helping you find “your way”. Also, his video critiques are straight fire.

--Nick Hoffman--

Aris is one of my favorite WCS instructors because of the way he provides feedback, his background and passion for west coast, and his dynamic approach to teaching.

His approach is thorough and insightful, providing clear, specific feedback that makes a real, immediate difference. He encourages me by drawing my attention to what I do well, which boosts my confidence, but he also offers practical improvements in a way that feels constructive and motivating.

As a teacher by day, I know how important it is to make your students feel safe enough to make mistakes and Aris does that exceptionally well. He helps me practice each adjustment until I can recognize what doing it right feels like which helps my retention and solo practice.

His background in physical training is a huge advantage—he explains which muscle groups to engage, helping me feel more stable, controlled, and connected in my movements. He’s great at working with dancers of all levels, so you feel comfortable and see remarkable improvements no matter where you’re starting from. I really can’t recommend him enough!

--Britny Delp--

I’ve now had private lessons with Aris, dolled follower lessons with Aris, and had video review with Aris. He has gone above and beyond with each session. I definitely recommend working with him, particularly as a duo with someone of the opposite role as he has a unique style of teaching in that format I found highly effective. 

Being a good instructor is a separate skill from being a good competitor or a good social dancer. A good instructor pushes for your growth during your lesson, a rare few like Aris are also helpful and invested after your lesson.  

I’ve taken private lessons from a large variety of instructors, from long established Champions down to newly risen All Stars. I generally only see Aris at large events with large Champions and All Star divisions. Even with all those choices available to me in that setting, he is someone that I seek out for lessons.

--Aaron Abramowitz--

I found West Coast Swing 3 years ago, and I’ve never been so addicted to improvement in my life. I’m a novice lead with no other social dance background, so I’m something of a clean slate when it comes to this dance. By this point, I’ve been lucky enough to take my fair share of private lessons from teachers across the globe and dance level spectrum. As far as teachers go, however, I cannot express how highly I think of Aris’ teaching style. Here are my highlights as to what made learning with Aris truly unique.

The way he gives feedback.

One of my fatal flaws is that I’m unfortunately picky when it comes to receiving feedback with my dance. After 3 years of dancing, I’ve gotten better at this over time, but it’s still a remarkable chore for me. However, Aris delivers feedback with this impressive combination of patience, grace, and attention to detail, that I blinked and the lesson was already over. I was engaged from start to finish. After most lessons, I’m accustomed to feeling like my brain is full: that if I absorb even one more piece of information, I might explode. After my lesson with Aris, I was surprised to find that I learned more concepts in an hour than ever before, could recall them all, and (here’s the kicker) that I somehow still had the bandwidth for even more!

Aris’ knowledge runs deep.

We veered from topic to topic, technique to technique, and every clarifying question of mine received an instant and thoughtful response. More than anything, the near immediacy of his answers showed me two things: 1) how bottomless West Coast Swing really was and 2) how deeply Aris has thought about dance, movement, and how to teach it. In follow-up lessons, I was impressed that Aris came fully prepared: remembering exactly what we worked on and picking right off from where we left off.

I was impressed not only by the content Aris gave me, but also his delivery and framing. Aris has some unbelievably strong communication skills. His teaching is fluid, impactful, and all inter-connected. If something wasn’t working, he was immediately able to pivot, express the topic in a different way, or even physically show me by either following a pattern for me or letting me dance as a follow to feel it out for myself. I’ve never had such a buttery-smooth first lesson with a teacher before.

That being said, I would say that working with Aris feels less like taking a lesson and more like this holistic, comprehensive experience of West Coast Swing. From the first moment you ask to work with Aris, you feel well-taken care of and taken in. He asked me a lot of questions to get to know me: from what I prioritize in the dance, to what I already know, to how I learn best. It’s evident that, as a teacher, he’s more than willing to invest in you. There’s something motivating about this immediate and internal belief that your teacher cares about your success.

In my day job, I’m a high school teacher (philosophy). I spend a lot of my time thinking about teaching, learning, and the very concept of education. I’ve gone back and forth on the best practices of education, and even the nuance of what role is superior in education: a teacher, a coach, or a mentor. In a single lesson with Aris, I somehow felt that he’s seamlessly accomplishing all three roles. I’ll steal a line from his blog to describe what it’s like: “ ‘Teaching’ feels so very incomplete for what he can do.”

Unsure about which teacher you should start with? Any teacher is better than none, but I don’t think there’s ARISk in taking a lesson with Aris. :P

--Mark O--

Aris is the type of teacher that, regardless of what level the workshop is advertised as, I will be taking his class. As a local I’ve had the opportunity to take many of his group lessons (one-offs and longer series), private lessons, and video critiques, and I have never walked away the same dancer I was before. He is consistently innovating how he delivers information and always has new creative ways of explaining things. From heavy bird beaks to someone pulling on your belt loop to being tethered to the wall, he’s got a visualization for everything and as a very detail oriented person, that has vastly simplified my “dance checklist” and helped me turn my off nights back into on nights. I can’t recommend Aris enough for any of your west coast swing needs. He’s a stellar teacher and all around good human that you want to have on your team.

--James Wilder--

Aris is a fantastic dance teacher—knowledgeable, kind, and intuitive. He listens and helps you hone in on what you want from the lessons then observes and gives thoughtful and focused feedback to help you improve quickly. He has a knack for explaining things clearly. His background in athletics and strength training is also incredibly helpful if you're dealing with injury (as I am) to help make the movements safer and more accessible. My partner and I highly recommend Aris as a dance teacher!

–Jordan Godwin–

Take dance lessons with Aris! He is an excellent instructor and human. Whether I need a mindset shift, drills for technique, empowerment for artistic expression, he's there with quality knowledge and a welcoming presence. He's always willing to have a discussion about the "why" behind the movement and his personal experience in the industry. I emphasize quality again because of his observant nature. He notices minute details about my body movement and helps explain/adjust feedback I have received from other instructors. Aris's instruction is digestible and helpful; I find that I can apply it to my dance and practice the concepts outside our lessons. Additionally, Aris is an excellent cheerleader! You can tell he is passionate about his art as well as mine. In the community, he is always up for a dance, a chat, or a quick question. I am fortunate to be able to call him an instructor, a local asset to the Denver community, and a friend.

–Ellen Dudley–

In terms of video critique, the video critiques with Aris DeMarco are absolute fire. No seriously, you can send him one of your worst comp videos that you strongly disliked and he will break down everything you did right, and everything you can improve on..but he will do it in a kind way that makes you dislike your dancing less and appreciate the dance you gave him to critique more. He also gives feedback insanely fast. I was not expecting a response in weeks. He gave me feedback in less than a day (technically in my case – instant feedback like less than an hour) and that’s insane. 

As a dancer, I think it’s very easy to be self-deprecating and dislike your dancing. Aris is very invested in you both as a dancer and person. Aris’s advice is very technical but it’s also again…. very kind, because he does remind you that yeah your dancing isn’t all that bad. You don’t walk away from your critique self loathing all your flaws. If anything, working with him makes you want to incrementally work on your own dance at any given time.

In terms of video critique he dissects all parts of your body movement, so you do get feedback on all parts of your dancing from your upper body to your feet. Moreover, he tells you this area can be improved on and this is one way to approach it, and tells you what that does to your dancing and why. Also he does watch your video not once…not twice… but at least 3 times if not more to give you the best feedback he can give. You can send him a 3 minute video and you may end up with 23 minutes of advice because he’s just that invested. 

So overall, solid 10/10, one of the best video critiques I’ve had and would easily recommend him for video critiques but private lessons too. 

 The TLDR version: Aris is super invested, gives you a lot of advice for your time, and is super kind/ will make you dislike your dancing a lot less.

–Tina Lin–

I started learning West Coast Swing in August 2023 and quickly grasped the basics with practice. However, when I wanted to improve and compete, I struggled to make it to finals in the novice category. That's when I began taking private lessons with Aris, and my dancing completely changed. Aris has a unique teaching style that helps dancers understand their body movements precisely. His teaching is clear and tailored to your learning needs. The instructional content and recap videos Aris provides have been incredibly helpful, even months later. I'm truly grateful for Aris as a teacher and look forward to continuing to learn from him in the future.

--Gabriel Rogers--

Aris is a phenomenal instructor. Aris has a level of attention to detail that is remarkable. He has helped me fine tune my anchor, connection and step mechanics. He breaks a complicated concept into easily digestible steps and then moves at your pace. He will quickly pivot his approach to best help the learner. Aris encouraged me to set what I wanted for level, amount and type of feedback, which helped me to feel empowered to be in control of my dance and get the most out of the lesson. I can't say enough how beneficial his video critiques were while I was at TAP. I went from not making it out of prelims in intermediate to taking 5th place in Stictlys, competing against the finalists of intermediate JnJ.

I'm beyond thrilled and honored to have Aris in our local community, as a friend and instructor. If you've considered taking a lesson stop considering and make the commitment because he is more than worth it!

–Rachel Carlson–

Aris somehow always knows what to say when I am lost in dance angst (dangst ™️) to redirect my spiraling toward optimism, productive critique, focus, sometimes humor. While ALSO reminding me that the dance journey is mine and i can’t look for someone to tell me I should keep going. Idk how this combination works he is a wizard. A caring and compassionate and funny wizard.

–Julia Doody–

I'm lucky to have been working with Aris for the past couple months. He's given me the skills to insert more of my own movement dialogue into my dance <3 As someone who has done quite a few different dance styles it feels freeing to incorporate them into this medium.

--Britt Richardson--

 

 

 

 

 Aris has been an amazing teacher. He has been a huge influence on me over the past 1.5 years, both for dance and in life. I have greatly appreciated his teaching and his ability to explain a concept in many different ways. Additionally his knowledge of the different philosophies of the dance gives him a unique ability to help find what will work best for you. His advice is fine-tuned and made specific for you. I am super happy with the progress I have made and excited for where I am going and I owe a lot of that to Aris. Big Fan!!!

 

--Connor Johnson--

 

 

 

 

 

My private dance lessons with Aris have been indisputably first-rate! He legit understands technique and body movement. Aris is genuine and cares beyond the lesson when it comes to my dance journey. Don't miss out!

--Kelly Robinson--

Starting my dance journey as a complete novice, I was initially overwhelmed by the prospect of couple dancing without any background. The leap from knowing nothing to stepping onto the dance floor felt immense, but Aris transformed that daunting gap into a bridge of confidence and skill for me. Aris embodies the rare blend of expertise and empathy, demonstrating not just a deep understanding of dance but an exceptional ability to impart that knowledge. His approach is rooted in a profound body awareness, a testament to his background as a fitness trainer, enabling him to pinpoint and address the nuances of movement and posture with remarkable precision. What sets Aris apart is his methodical yet flexible teaching style. He has a unique talent for breaking down complex concepts into their foundational elements, presenting them in various ways until finding the one that clicks perfectly with your understanding. This tailored approach ensured that I could grasp the essence of each movement in a way that felt intuitive and personal to me. Aris's ability to distill the intricacies of dance into accessible, overarching principles is nothing short of magical. His guidance to focus on my center of gravity and follow the natural momentum revolutionized my perspective on following in dance. This single piece of advice encapsulated the essence of fluid motion, making the entire learning process feel like a revelation. In Aris, I found not just an instructor but a mentor who celebrates the journey of learning as much as the achievement of mastery. His dedication to being a lifelong student of dance inspires me to embrace each step of my own dance journey with joy and curiosity. I am immensely grateful for his guidance and cannot recommend him highly enough to anyone looking to discover the joy of dance.

--Steiger Bryke--

'Gratz on winning teaching'

–Wingo–

*****

Get in touch if you have questions about private lessons or video critiques :) 

Message me on Facebook or instagram 

Send me an email: arisdemarco@gmail.com 

Or text: ‪(720) 663-1105‬