I soo agree with the message alot of you are portraying about AM. I have been taking lessons there since the end of 2008, and am only a Bronze II student. I am no Kym Johnson, but I'm not Kate Gosselin either. I have taken many other styles of dancing my entire life, and have danced fairly well. This is why it SURPRISES me it's taking me that long to move on @ AM. Everytime I try to ask my instructor or one of the other instructors why I feel like a special education ballroom student, they really don't have an answer. They keep on "praising," me how good I am doing at my dancing yet don't move me foward. My instructor a couple of times has told me it's about "technique," and since I plan on one day being competitive its in my best interest to learn everything properly (obviously, at the speed of a snail). I am a single woman, and I am not starving, but at the same time I'm not one of those high end accountants that could afford the astronomical prices either. They believe at AM that your talent is based upon the amount of money that you shell out a month. If you shell out more money to them, they will kiss your *** and dance with you during every single social dance on Friday night. However, the less you spend the less compliments you start receiving, and the less they start to care about you. I understand that it's a business and nobody is going to dance for free; however, in order for them to stay successful they must start to have more competitive pricing with other local companies. Also, they must teach their students what they want and are paying BIG money to learn. If I want to walk in off of the street, I'm a beginner, and want to learn a Bolero, then damnit I should be entitled to learn that! I shouldn't have to be a "Bronze III," student in order to learn this. Their little hierarchy of dance levels, is a hierarchy of how much money that student puts into the studio. It truly disguists me how they operate, and can't believe it almost took me two years to figure this out. One lady from our studio doesn't dance, she truly is a Kate Gosselin wannabe, and yet she went to competition in Vegas last year! The studio should've been ashamed to let her perform! I am just hoping I find something locally thats reasonable, will teach me what I want to learn, and appreciate my talent and dedication to dancing.