Amber is awesome, particularly if you're not just thinking about doing the tricks, but how you move into and in and through them. If there's a few tricks you're fumbling with or that you can get into but it just doesn't look very good, she will clean it right up and make it a functional part of your dancing. She's also a really, really excellent spotter. She doesn't hold you up there, or force you into a movement, but the way she lays on hands guides your movements to the right positions--you can just FEEL her presence in a way that makes you feel secure. She also has beautiful form and concentrates on minimizing impact in tricks; part of this is because she's tall, and that's part of why I love working with her. We have very similar body types (as you can see from my profile picture) and she understands the kind of impact that's exerted on the body, particularly tall bodies. Many of the world famous polers are really, really tiny. Body weight is body weight regardless of size, but if you're trying to work bracket holds, there's going to be more impact on the shoulders of a 5'10 person than a 5'0 person.
David Owen is a fabulous teacher, super relatable, can break down a move both in terms of muscle engagement and in terms of what you should be feeling; he can say "engage the quad" as well as "kick your knee outward." In other words, he can both give anatomical directions and "cues" that will get you engaging the right muscles if you're having trouble just engaging a specific muscle on command. He also has just textbook beautiful form, like Amber. But in terms of just tricks and teaching ability, he's probably the best person I've personally worked with when it comes to really advanced tricks.
Karol is a great person to work with. She has a wonderful, light-hearted energy in the classroom that puts everyone at ease. She's been dancing for a long time and has cool perspectives on applying different styles to tricks. For example, she demonstrated different ways to do a side climb, depending on whether you're going for a classical club-style look or a more polished and graceful look to match a more traditional dance oriented style. Very comprehensive repertoire-she'll be able to help you do anything AND do it in heels.
Alethea is another movement focused instructor, and she's also obviously big on heels. She doesn't have the world's hugest trick repertoire, but that's not for any lack of ability so much as it is that she's got a well-defined aesthetic and focuses more on developing that aesthetic within the context of the tricks than just learning an endless list of tricks with no style. If you don't appreciate or embrace her aesthetic, you might not get as much out of it. She's also very focused on making sure you get your money's worth. You will leave with concrete instructions for how to proceed with the training at home. AND-this one is important-if you are not comfortable doing tricks in heels, if you want advice and conditioning to safely be able to work even new tricks in heels, she's the person you need to go see. She'll get your ankles so strong, you'll probably never in a million years roll an ankle in your shoes.
Kelly Yvonne is not a trickster--leaving aside for the moment that she's a freak of nature and iron x's come naturally to her LOL--she will make you forget completely about learning new tricks and make you think--HARD--about WHY you do what you do when you dance. If you want your movements to be purposeful, to reflect a narrative story, to truly express what's inside of you, work with Kelly. Pick her brain about the choreography process and you'll have months' worth of work to do. She'll show you how to put together the best routine you've ever done using only the three most basic tricks in your rep. She's awesome.
Last but not least is Michelle Mynx. She's an awesome teacher who had also been doing this for a loooong time. She's seen it all, and no matter what issue you're having with a trick, she knows how to fix it. If you've got moves that you're just unsure why it's not working for you, run, don't walk, to go take a private with her. She will fix your issues in about four seconds. I'd been able to do a cartwheel but not a handspring...couldn't figure it out and was getting stuck trying to go from cartwheel to extended butterfly. She looked at me do it, spotted what was wrong, got it instantly on the first try. Haven't missed a handspring since. And I've seen her give other people similar corrections and get instant results. You should know going in that she has a completely different set of names for tricks, but that has never yet interfered with my ability to learn from her. All of her students have SICK upper body strength. If you look at the amazing abilities of her students, that's proof enough of her ability right there. And if you're looking at starting to perform in the near future, definitely work with her. Many if not most of her students perform regularly and are damn good at it. She teaches specifically with performance in mind, always teaching tricks in sequence with transitions so you NEVER learn just the trick itself; you walk away knowing exactly how to put that trick seamlessly into choreography.
Keep in mind these are my personal opinions, reflective of my experiences with these people. Every teacher has their own individuality. Don't be hesitant to work with someone just because their style is different than yours. You'll be surprised at what you learn. A good teacher knows that not every student shares their background. For example, I'm not a classically trained dancer, but I walked away from training with Amber with good foundations to work on pirouettes and turns because she knew how to explain those movements to someone who wasn't a dancer. Don't just think of where you are now in relation to each instructor-think about what they have that you want.
