‘You dance love, and you dance joy, and you dance dreams’ - Gene Kelly

How many weddings, bar mitzvahs, or nightclubs have you found yourself attending, where to sit or stand quietly to the side would be more noticeable than participating on the dance floor? And yet, putting yourself out there in this way can be difficult, especially if you tend to be shy or embarrassed to dance in public.
Choreography is most well-known as the art of designing a sequence of steps or movements for bodies in the creation of a dance. While many of us don’t consider ourselves “dancers”, moving our bodies to music is still something that tends to come up quite a lot in our lives. And on wedding days - supposedly one of the most special, memorable days of our lives - the soon-to-be newlyweds often approach the First Dance with feelings of dread.
Dance, in its purest form, exists to bring us joy. This has somehow warped over the ages in our Western world into something that more often brings stress. That’s where I step in: whether you’re looking for a tailor-made first dance as a married couple, for your event to involve a surprise group dance, or simply to have the confidence to be the first one to hit the dance floor, I will work with you until you’ve rediscovered that joy.
Together, we’ll turn this moment into a memory you’ll never forget. ✨
*Photography by Idlewild Photo Co.*

✨ Reviews from former couples ✨

Paige, 2023 Bride

Olivia was over the top as an instructor! It was our first time taking dance lessons together, and we immediately felt comfortable and at ease. It was such a fun experience and we'd definitely take lessons again in the future. Olivia is pure joy to be around and quickly becomes a friend to her students. We loved it!
Eric, 2023 Groom

My (now) wife and I signed up for 6-8 lessons with Olivia over the winter before our wedding. We both have very different ways of learning, but one thing we had in common was very little experience dancing. Olivia was amazing at teaching us the basics while not being overly prescriptive. She really tried to put us in a place that looked natural and fit with both our personalities. As we continued to take lessons with Olivia, she made efforts to get to know us outside of the lessons, which only made our lessons better/more customized. We ultimately nailed our first dance despite the band messing up timing/song, which I thought was huge kudos to Olivia for helping us be more "free flowing" during the lessons. Highly recommend Olivia for really any type of dance - she will get to know you and tailor your dance to both your personality & strengths...always such a positive presence.
Joe, 2022 Groom

Olivia was great! As the groom, I had no idea how to dance at all, and made my soon to be wife come with me to Windrose. Olivia is patient, and works with you orchestrate the perfect dance you are looking for. She simplified what can be a stressful learning process, and focused on tailoring our dance moves with different parts of our song. I’d recommend her without hesitation! Our wedding dance was fantastic!
Hadley, 2022 Bride

If you want to have a blast with dance lessons leading up to your wedding, book Olivia asap! Olivia choreographed our first dance and father/daughter dances. She was so flexible with our schedules and choreographed and led our dance lessons all over video call - we live in California and she is on the east coast so wasn’t sure how it would go but it worked out perfectly! She recorded all of our lessons and shared them with us so we could practice in between sessions and was extremely patient with us while learning the choreography. My parents are on the east coast and when I came home to visit, she drove from RI to CT to give my dad and I our lesson in person. We wanted a fun but cute and casual first dance and Olivia choreographed it perfectly to fit us as a couple. She listened and did the same for the father/daughter dance that we also wanted to be fun but goofy. She is truly the best and helped us create unforgettable memories at our wedding - book her and it’ll be the best wedding planning decision you make :)
Sam, 2022 Bride

Olivia did a fantastic job teaching my dad and me our Father Daughter dance for my wedding. Neither of us had a background in dance, but Olivia made it easy for us to learn by breaking down each move into simple parts. She was really patient and positive and made the whole experience a lot of fun. After our lessons with Olivia, we were so happy with the results! Our Father Daughter dance was one of the highlights of the wedding. I would highly recommend her for anyone wanting to learn to dance for an event or just for fun!
Ana, 2022 Bride

Dancing with Olivia is comfortable, educational, and best of all FUN! We hired her to choreograph our first dance as a couple for our wedding. We knew we wanted to make an entrance, had a fun song picked out, but had no idea how to move together on the dance floor. Olivia put us at ease, showing up to our first meeting with champagne and a plan that was both simple to learn and fun to watch, and took the time to initially assess where we both were in our experience and comfort levels with dancing. She was able to teach us her vision, which combined our strengths, and constantly encouraged us to step outside our comfort zones with confidence. She considers the best way to explain different concepts and is able to adapt the choreography while still achieving impressive results! The tips and tricks she shares each session speak to her vast knowledge of dance and the joy she finds in helping others explore the art. Meeting regularly is one part of wedding planning we genuinely look forward to, and we're finding each session we more quickly get into the groove and feel comfortable in our bodies. We can't wait to deliver the show stopping performance on our wedding day!
Chris, 2022 Groom

Olivia is an absolute gem! We were unsure of how choreographed we wanted our first dance to be, and she met us exactly where we were, guided us through the process without making us feel awkward, and got us to a point that made us feel comfortable and confident going into it our wedding day, which was such a relief! Would 10/10 work with her again!
Kate, 2023 Bride

Working with Olivia was the absolute HIGHLIGHT of our wedding planning, and our first dance ended up being the most talked about moment from our wedding! Olivia's professionalism, attention to detail, and sensitivity to our individual dance needs made for some of the most comfortable, entertaining, and worthwhile classes. From the very first moment we stepped into the dance studio, we knew we were in good hands - and major bonus points to Olivia for adding to my wife's dance move repertoire. She has finally retired the finger guns! We couldn't be more grateful for our time spent with Olivia and we will definitely be keeping an eye out for more classes she offers just because they are so fun!
Katie, 2023 Bride

We did remote dance lessons with Olivia and she was incredible to work with and very professional. She helped us create a dance that was our very own and managed to make us look great in the process! She was very patient and supportive throughout the process. While learning remotely sounds tough, Olivia made it a breeze! Can't recommend her enough!!
Jeff, 2023 Groom

As a slightly older couple, my (now) wife and I spent two years assembling a dream team of vendors for our May 2023 wedding. Olivia Burnham was a key member of that team. In no time at all, Olivia got a somewhat reluctant rookie like me to actually take pride in learning a routine - custom choreographed for us by her - for our first dance, and to have fun doing it. How much fun? Enough so that with just two months to go before our big day, I put forth the idea of working on a second number, to be our last dance. Olivia guided us patiently through countless creative ideas, and whenever we were struggling with a step, she invariably found ways to overcome difficulties, and to shore up our confidence. Our sessions with her became the best part of our week. Since the wedding, many guests continue telling us that our dances were their favorite part of the day. Thank you, Olivia. You are a terrific dance instructor, a super nice human being, and you have our highest recommendation.
Julie, 2022 Bride

Olivia at Windrose Choreography is truly wonderful! She made our lessons super fun and enjoyable while also giving us clear, constructive feedback every step of the way. Our dance was AWESOME, thanks to Olivia. We’re so happy and will recommend her to anyone. She’s a truly gifted choreographer, an excellent teacher and just an all around lovely person.

Nice to meet you!

My name is Olivia Burnham, and I currently live in Newport, RI with my rescue pup Milo. While I have been teaching dance in some form or another for most of my life, it was the COVID pandemic that reminded me that the passion I had shelved was important work, as the last few years have proven time and again how necessary joy, touch, the arts and physical presence are to us humans.

While living in Europe in order to earn a Master’s degree in Choreomundus: Dance as Knowledge, Practice & Heritage, we learned so much about dance through the cultures of different communities. It struck me that the culture of dance in the US is, for many people, often paralyzing. I aim to change that by making dance accessible and, hopefully, joyful for everyone.