Arthur Murray is a horrible place to learn dance. All they do is hold you back by teaching slowly and peaking your interest by manipulating your emotions so you want to buy more lessons. They get you just good enough to feel progress, then slow down your learning so you will need more and more lessons. beware of these fancy chains, they are a rip off and the lessons are priced so high so the owners can pay their expensive franchise fees and still pocket alot of money. The Instructors are not even well qualified and need no formal training, they are trained by videos and manuals not seen by clients and will sometimes learn a step moments before teaching it. Disgusting. Beware.

All dance franchises are the same Fred Astair does the same thing I had 20 hours left on the bronze program when my teacher said he could not teach me any new steps or tech untill I got 30 more hours...I got my money back. and now take at a locial owned studio. Where I can buy 10 or 15 hours at a time and I have never felt sold or pushed. There are good studios out there just look for one, and keep dancing dont let one bad one stop you.

One needs to realize that this is a sales industry. Seems widows, widowers, newly divorced people get sold the dream of meeting someone or how good they are over and over. Pay attention, one hears the same lines used over and over. Funny how so many of us have "talent" or how they "miss us" when we take some time off. Goes way past loving to dance. Just look at how much you spend on the dream and what is really reality. Problem is not everyone can keep that in line especially when the instructor is younger and good looking and keeps feeding your ego. Sad. The instruction is good for the most part but don't you want to say sometimes wake up. I'm sure everyone can think of people like this in all the studios, just gullible to the sales pitch. Wonder how many people that spend a lot of money are told that they are the favorite student. Of course, the almighty dollar, not you the person but I suppose that would be too harsh. I've seen what friend and Ann have said over and over. Is it me or part of being in New York?

Years ago in Toronto my teacher was using an AM studio to teach us international style and took pity on the young girl in a very short skirt who spent most of her time having to dance(?) with old men and gave her free lesson,these were the only real lessons she had . She spent most of her time teaching out of a manual.

What is to stop anyone from forming their own dance club. It should be easy to then hire a profession of your own choice, but under your control. There would be a possibility that a local authority might give access to a Heritage Building provided you are none profit making and are willing to look after it. All you would then need is a good comittee and a constitution. It would be better than paying those hugh amount of money I keep reading about

I remember reading somewhere about a dance community who created a dance "co-op" where people paid membership dues or something and hired their own teacher(s). It worked out to be very inexpensive. Does anyone know the community I am talking about?

One I know of is Allegro Ballroom in Emeryville CA (Oakland) Its very popular.

Hello. Yes, in Victoria, BC we have the Victoria Ballroom Dance Society, a non-profit organization that has regular dances and a group of instructors. There is a reasonable annual membership fee; and there is also a small cost to go to the Society's dances (members get a discount). The Society also sponsors classes.

Its not New York its every where. I dont live in Ney York But I have live in a few places, now in Fl.

I work for Arthur Murray and I have been dancing the majority of my life. Do you want to know why I LOVE it? Its not the money (any dance instructor knows that,) it's not the "sale". I have never lied to my students or pitched them. I believe that dancing makes peoples lives better. I practically live at my studio, and there is other place I would rather be. Our students are like family, the couples we help feel comfortable for weddings bring us pictures and express how special their first dance together was (I still get emotional.) We as instructors are continuously being challenged, and are constantly working on our technique and have very high standards of dancing for our instructors. I have never held back teaching something new to a student if they were ready for it. I am proud of them and have great joy in seeing them develop not only their dance technique but their personal goals. I have seen people transformed and living happier lives. I dance because that is my passion and I feel so lucky everyday to be able to share that for a living.