Ottawa's dance scene stretches well past recital season. There are ballroom floors that host weekend socials, hip hop crews training out of Chinatown and Barrhaven, and long-running family schools that have been teaching jazz and tap since the 1980s. This list was put together from studio websites, Yelp and Google listings, and local community award write-ups, and only includes studios with verifiable, currently active locations in Ottawa. We found solid, sourced detail on nine studios rather than ten, so nine is what's here.
1. DQ Ballroom & Fitness
Area: 1160 Maitland Avenue · Specialty: ballroom and Latin dance
DQ bills itself as one of Ottawa's largest ballroom and Latin studios, teaching more than 15 styles through group classes, private lessons, wedding first-dance choreography, and competitive coaching. It was voted Ottawa's best dance studio in a 2021 Community Votes Ottawa poll, and its own client reviews single out the large sprung dance floor as ideal for International Ballroom work. It suits couples prepping for a wedding dance as much as it does competitive amateurs.
2. Canadian School of Dance
Area: 35 Larkin Drive, Nepean · Specialty: jazz, ballet and tap · Since: 1986
Co-founded by Fran Coyle and Monica Adjeleian, this Nepean school has been running since 1986 and has a dedicated adult program alongside its youth training. Reviewers who came in as complete beginners describe the adult classes as inclusive and encouraging, with instructors who keep tap and jazz sessions challenging without being intimidating. It's a good fit for adults who never trained as kids but want a structured, technique-first environment.
3. Vanessa Plettell Dance
Area: Unit 8, 1501 Sieveright Avenue, near Hunt Club and Alta Vista · Specialty: ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, acro and hip hop · Since: 1989
Opened by Vanessa Plettell-Chevrier in 1989, this studio takes students from age two through adults and was voted Ottawa's Best Dance School in a 2025 community poll, with a 94 percent recommendation rate from reviewers. Students describe the studios as professional and spacious, with sprung floors, wall-to-wall mirrors and no support pillars breaking up the space. It suits families looking for a long-established, multi-style school as much as adult drop-ins.
4. Moov Ottawa Dance
Area: Barrhaven and Chinatown · Specialty: hip hop and street dance · Since: 2018
Founded in 2018 by Alea "Didi" de Castro and Arnaldo "Effect" Betancourt Silva, Moov is a bilingual dance company built around hip hop, house, waacking and breaking. Students in reviews describe the 12-week adult programs as genuinely challenging and rewarding, and praise instructors for patience alongside high energy. It's the pick for anyone chasing street styles rather than studio-standard jazz or ballet, and it runs its own Shake the Room battle events.
5. Dance with Alana
Area: Ottawa, in-person and virtual classes · Specialty: swing, Lindy Hop, tap and Zumba · Since: 1999
Alana Hock has been teaching in Ottawa since 1999 and has choreography credits including Disney's Jojo's Circus, plus time spent training under Lindy Hop figure Frankie Manning. The studio runs beginner swing and Lindy Hop, tap, and Zumba, with both in-person and virtual formats. One long-time student who's stuck around for over 12 years cites swing, tap and jazz classes as consistently fun, which says something about repeat business in a hobby activity like this.
6. Rouge Studio of Dance
Area: 340 MacLaren Street, downtown · Specialty: burlesque, jazz funk, heels and belly dance · Since: 2018
Run by director Randi Rouge since 2018, this downtown studio focuses on styles you won't find at most traditional schools: beginner burlesque, heels choreography, jazz funk and belly dance, plus solo and group performance tracks. Reviewers consistently describe the atmosphere as inclusive and confidence-building, with instructors credited for creating a safe space for students newer to performance-style dance. It suits adults looking for something outside the standard ballet-jazz-tap track.
7. Brazily Fitness
Area: 190 MacLaren Street (Byward Market) and 190 Alex Polowin Avenue · Specialty: Brazilian dance fitness · Rating: 4.8 on ClassPass at the MacLaren St location (63 reviews), 5.0 at Alex Polowin Avenue (16 reviews)
Brazily blends Brazilian music and movement into a cardio-driven dance fitness format across two Ottawa locations, including a renovated Byward Market studio. It reads more as a fitness class than formal dance training, and reviewers back that framing up, describing sessions as high-energy, fun and confidence-building rather than technical. It's the fit for people who want to move to music and sweat, not build competition choreography.
8. Dance 2 Live
Area: 1574 Walkley Road · Specialty: social ballroom and Latin dance
Formerly known as DanceTown, this Walkley Road studio bills itself as Ottawa's premier social ballroom and Latin dance space, running group classes, workshops and private lessons alongside regular weekend social dance parties. Under its former name it built a reputation for well-attended Friday night parties with a complimentary lesson included, plus a hardwood floor reviewers note is worth bringing clean shoes for. It's aimed squarely at social dancers who want a floor to actually use what they've learned, not just take classes.
9. Step by Step School of Dance
Area: Nepean · Specialty: ballet, tap, jazz and hip hop · Rating: 4.2 (Trustanalytica) · Since: 1991
Running in Nepean since 1991, Step by Step covers ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, musical theatre, lyrical and acro, plus specialized boys-only and B-Boy/B-Girl programs and an adult stream. Reviews consistently mention the personal touch from staff and long-term friendships formed at the studio, alongside sprung wood floors and full-length mirrors in a clean, air-conditioned space. It's built for families who want their kids to grow up at one studio rather than switch schools every couple of years.
How We Built This List
This list is compiled from public sources: studio websites, Yelp, Google Business listings, ClassPass, Trustanalytica and local community award write-ups, read during research in August 2026. It is not a paid placement, and ottown has not visited or tested any of these studios. Ratings, review counts, addresses and founding years are only included where we saw them directly in a source; where a studio didn't have a clearly sourced rating, it's left out rather than guessed. This list was last reviewed in August 2026.
Sources: studio websites for DQ Ballroom & Fitness, Canadian School of Dance, Vanessa Plettell Dance, Moov Ottawa Dance, Dance with Alana, Rouge Studio of Dance, Brazily Fitness, Dance 2 Live and Step by Step School of Dance, along with Yelp, ClassPass, and Trustanalytica listings for the same businesses.
