Editorial Review For Yana Muravyov
To be considered a good dancer, the ladies must learn how to follow and the gentlemen must acquire the skills how to lead well. To be considered a good instructor, it’s necessary to know how to do both. Yana Muravyov not only knows how to lead or follow, but one of the benefits of having her as your private dance instructor is her skill to “back-lead” very well. If you are learning the steps as a leader, the ability of your instructor to “back-lead” will cut your learning curve in about half.
What does it mean to “back-lead?”. When you are learning to dance the instructor will usually show you the steps as many times as needed for you to be able to repeat them. In addition to just showing the steps, Yana can lead (or back-lead) you through your steps as a leader, while stepping her steps as a follower. To “back lead” is something that is extremely hard for a girl to learn. I have been dancing for about 1.5 years and Yana is the only female dance instructor that I currently know of who can “back-lead” well. I put a lot of emphasis of Yana’s ability to “back-lead” because I have not met anyone else who does it as well as Yana. Besides that, she is just a great Latin dance instructor in general, and fun to be around.
Yana specializes in teaching salsa on 1 (also called Los Angeles style), salsa on 2 (also called New York style, or mambo) bachata, merengue and cha-cha. Yana also knows most of the ballroom dances, however, teaching Latin dance is her specialty.
To contact Yana for a private lesson you can either call her cell phone or email her. You can also “try it before you buy it” so to speak. Yana teaches beginner group class at Mijana on selected Fridays. She is not there every week, so call/email to find out the specific days she will be there. After taking a group class, you can decide if you would like to take private lessons from her.
Yana has been teaching Latin Dance since 2009. She is always super busy working with dancers referred to her by numerous people in the salsa community, as well as former and current students. She is a very popular instructor but always makes room for new students.
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Hi
Yana is awesome
Before meeting Yana I had no social dance experience, and now I can go out on the dance floor on a Friday night and lead with confidence!
Yana has the rare gift of not only being a skilled dancer, but a great teacher. She is able to break down the fundamentals for beginners and adapts to their learning style. With Yana I learn more than just patterns, I learn the "why" and principles behind how things work in salsa. She's also adept as a leader, so she can show you what things are supposed to feel like from the follow's perspective as well (and I'm sure is a great teacher for follows, but I don't have first hand experience there!)
I recommend Yana to anyone wanting to learn salsa -- if you are lucky enough to be able to get a time slot with her when she's not booked grab it!
I tried half a dozen of the big name salsa dance companies in Phoenix before I found Yana and let me tell you she is GREAT. I never thought I could have this much fun learning how to dance. Not only is she an excellent instructor but she is encouraging, upbeat and personalizes the class to the student's level and aspirations. My only regret is that I didn't go to her first.
We had a couple private dance lesson with Yana to get ready for our wedding. Yana choreographed the most memorable first dance for us. People came up to us and couldn't stop talking about how beautiful it was.
We learned the basic moves, a couple spins, lifts and dips. She was great and definitely made us feel better about our first dance. I'll never forget her patience, how she communicates clearly, her creativity to create the dance and ability to teach us. Yana leads with such confidence that you just know you're in good hands!
We would definitely recommend her if you feel you need dance lessons for your first dance.
I would highly recommend taking a dance lesson from Yana Naftaliev. She's highly knowledgeable and extremely patient. She is very good at breaking down each sequence of the pattern she is teaching. She is also very creative so no two lessons are the same, it may appear similar initially, but her creativity takes over and her students are in for a pleasant surprise. We are all very fortunate to have an instructor with Yana's abilities in the Phx area. Thank you Yana, please don't ever leave us!!!
I've been to group dancing sessions and received instruction from my friends in the past but I made more progress in one hour with Yana than I had in all the salsa dancing I had done before put together. Thank you for the jump start Yana! These priviate lessons are well worth the money! I hope to be dancing at an intermediate level soon.
Yana is an excellent instructor! Not once did she make me feel embarrassed when I did something incorrectly. Her expertise is highlighted by her ability to observe her students and make all the correct adjustments to improve their technique. Yana is a jewel to work with one on one, and she manages groups with ease. Her lessons evoke the euphoric effects that dance has on the mind and body. Thank you Yana!
I have been taking salsa lessons with Yana for a year and enjoy them. Yana strengths are that she is able to back lead for the guys and do the guys foot work and leads. For a guy like me this allows her to demonstrate and walk through the new move / combination and then once I have a handle on it she can then dance the move with me. Taking lessons with Yana is enjoyable since she is very personable and listens well to students concerns. She is flexible in scheduling appointments and is prompt and courteous. I highly recommend her as an instructor.
Muchas gracias yana por todo el tiempo que te as tomado para ensenarme abailar gracias aty eperdido casi 20 libras en menos de 3 meses con todo el ejersicio k emos echo bailando muchisimas gracias eres la mejor yana 😉