ATOMIC Ballroom

I LOVE this place! Such a beautiful studio with tons of space, amazing teachers, classes and have you been to one of their weekend events? Holy smokes! Amazing bands providing live music, a bar, snacks and well the dancing is my favorite part! I really appreciate how the owners are very Covid conscious. They truly care about keeping our community safe. Do yourself a favor, if you haven’t been to Atomic Ballroom yet….go check it out! You will not be disappointed.

We have been coming to the atomic ballroom for private and group lessons for some time, because we like our dance instructor and the group lessons. It was shocking how we were treated by the front desk lady named Natalie. She’s extremely disgraceful and impatient. When we attempted to express our concern about our substitute dance instructor being late for 1/3 of the lesson and trying to find a solution, she didn’t even let me or my partner complete our sentences. She kept saying, “go email the management and complain. There’s nothing I can do,” in a very disrespectful manner, and even went into the office and shut her door on us. It’s a shame that the company hires employees like her. We felt very hurt to be treated like garbage as a loyal customers and students. They would not listen to any suggestion nor help you. If you are prospective students, I would avoid this dance studio.

Brian at Atomic Ballroom choreographed our first dance for our wedding. We asked for a waltz and played the song we chose. It turned out it wasn’t in waltz time- it was a Viennese waltz- which is WAY more difficult for non dancers like myself and my now husband. Brian had the patience and skill to teach two beginners first how to dance, then how to do the Viennese waltz, and then teach us our choreography over the course of 9 months. Our first dance turned out more beautifully than I could have imagined. It was the most complimented part of our wedding by far! And it was all thanks to our incredible teacher, Brian. He really knows how to work with beginners, not to just get them comfortable but to make them shine!

One of the best places in SoCal to learn swing dancing and practice what you learn at the dances they host. (AND they have live music events!!) They offer a variety of lessons with top notch instructors. FANTASTIC quality at reasonable prices... And hey, they look out for your safety on top of it all (Thank You!) Have fun and DANCE!!

EDIT (8/6/22): I've updated my review from 1 star to 2 stars to reflect the fact that I have greatly enjoyed many nights at Atomic since I first began going, and also the fact that I was still able to enjoy the time spent upstairs in the fusion room last night. I appreciate the owner's response below, and while I wasn't asking for any compensation for my experience, I recognize the gesture and do accept it. I'm leaving the review at 2 stars because I do need it to be recognized as a negative review. I don't use social media and I don't regularly reference Atomic's website because, as a casual (experienced, but casual) social dancer, I'm not looking for information on events or classes. I come to Atomic on Friday nights to have fun and see friends, and I expect to hear about any special events from obvious signs or direct announcements by the DJ during the night. I don't go out of my way to look for info on what events *might* be coming up, since there usually aren't any and they're never the reason I choose to come. (If anything, in my case they are more likely to be the reason I choose *not* to come.) I also didn't know Atomic had an app prior to now. Thank you for that information, but these reasons are why I want to keep the review recognized as a negative one. ORIGINAL REVIEW (8/5/22): It genuinely pains me to leave a review this negative. I have been dancing at Atomic for something like seven or eight years, and at some points twice a week. I have loved coming here regularly for a long time. But tonight... tonight shows something bad about how Atomic is run. I showed up to dance tonight, expecting a typical Friday night with swing dancing downstairs and fusion dancing upstairs, as usual. I was greeted by live music and a cover charge twice as high as usual. Let me clarify that I was here just last Friday, and there was not one mention of live music coming the following week. That is already inexcusable. I fortunately have enough money available to me to cover the difference, but I know people who can't spontaneously do so. People drive from over an hour away to get here in some cases; you can't spring a double cost on them like that. On top of that, the music is almost exclusively either too fast or too slow for a casual social dancing crowd--which is what Friday nights at Atomic ostensibly cater to. This is music suitable for a competition or exchange venue, not for your average Friday night. As if all of that wasn't enough, there's another one of these nights in two weeks. Another night with a double cost for music I can't dance to--and even if I just want to dance fusion upstairs, I *still* have to pay the full extra cost, despite getting no additional benefit. That is unconscionable and inexcusable, and it is why, after years of loving this venue, I have to give it such a negative review. I will still be coming back here most weeks when things are actually normal, but I am not happy at all.

I LOVE this place! Such a beautiful studio with tons of space, amazing teachers, classes and have you been to one of their weekend events? Holy smokes! Amazing bands providing live music, a bar, snacks and well the dancing is my favorite part! I really appreciate how the owners are very Covid conscious. They truly care about keeping our community safe. Do yourself a favor, if you haven’t been to Atomic Ballroom yet….go check it out! You will not be disappointed.

We have been coming to the atomic ballroom for private and group lessons for some time, because we like our dance instructor and the group lessons. It was shocking how we were treated by the front desk lady named Natalie. She’s extremely disgraceful and impatient. When we attempted to express our concern about our substitute dance instructor being late for 1/3 of the lesson and trying to find a solution, she didn’t even let me or my partner complete our sentences. She kept saying, “go email the management and complain. There’s nothing I can do,” in a very disrespectful manner, and even went into the office and shut her door on us. It’s a shame that the company hires employees like her. We felt very hurt to be treated like garbage as a loyal customers and students. They would not listen to any suggestion nor help you. If you are prospective students, I would avoid this dance studio.