When I was in Kuala Lumpur a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to teach a Ladies Styling & Spinning workshop. The workshop was hosted by Jaxen of Rhythm Identity Dance Academy, on extremely short notice (I wasn’t going to teach on this holiday as I wanted a break for my back… then changed my mind!)

All the regular things about organising a workshop were handled extremely professionally – it struck me as being rather positive that Jaxen, amazingly, filled the workshop up within 2 days of advertising it. Negotiations with him were professional, easy, and swift, just the way I like it. Decisions were made that benefited all parties. I was impressed, and I hadn’t even reached KL yet, and whilst I’d met Jaxen and his team briefly at various Asian Salsa events, I had never worked with him or created a real relationship as yet.

Sometimes when working with international organisers, you get a good feel for whether it’s going to be a positive experience, and sometimes, you get the dread creeping over you about the professionalism of who you are working with. This was all positive, professional, and had the airy feel of something that was going to be effortless! Yay!

Nothing, however, prepared me for how incredibly inspiring my visit to Jaxen’s studio was. Firstly, one of his instructors, Harry, picked me up from my hotel. In the car, we chatted about many things, but what stood out firmly was that Harry was exceedingly loyal to Rhythm Identity, and also gave me a good idea of what a wonderful community it was. Check, check, check. I love seeing that in the people I work with.

Next, we got to the studio. I was welcomed ever so warmly by the RI team. Their studio was incredibly gorgeous – it was obvious that someone had put in a lot of work to make it a welcoming space for dance, and a very clean and comfortable place for a community to grow. I didn’t get any photos, but the main things I noticed were:

• the decor in the studio was stunning, with warm coloured walls, inspiring photos and posters, wall to wall mirrors etc
• little touches – aromatherapy candles, it smelled wonderful, flowers, clear signage for everything
• extremely clean! the bathrooms were spotless, the floors and mirrors were sparkling. Shoes weren’t allowed in the studio at all unless dance shoes which I thought was a fabulous idea.

It was the kind of dance studio that people would want to come in and learn in, that was warm, welcoming and clean, and so professional that you’d feel that you were paying for an experience that was fabulous at the end of the long work day.

I loved the experience of teaching in that studio – When we opened Spin City Dance, one of the things that drew us to our gorgeous property were its beauty, its great feel, the professional look of it, its chandeliers and high ceilings, a dance studio we would be proud of and that matched our team’s dedication to our craft and customer experience. Rhythm Identity seems to have the same desire to create a wonderful dance experience, a property that makes you feel like being a dancer and part of the community, and a team that welcomes international talent to better themselves constantly.

It pleased and inspired me immensely to work in the Rhythm Identity studio and be so overjoyed at seeing a growing and emerging dance company provide such a fabulous experience for its students. If you’re in KL and wanting to do some dancing, look up Jaxen and his crew – a genuine bunch of people, they’ll ensure you have a wonderful time and leave you remembering what being part of this crazy dance community is all about.

And all of you that attended the workshop – I had a fabulous time and it was a perfect time to get back into teaching after my injury. THANK YOU for coming on such short notice, and I hope to be back in KL very sooooooon!

post workshop happiness!