My girlfriend and I are taking group lessons. There are three lessons a night, each one hour session is in a different dance. We take only two of the three hours and we've been taking the lessons with this teacher for over two years. The two sessions that we are taking this month are Rumba (which we have taken before) and the Bolero (which is new for both of us and is a continuation from last month). The teacher separates the couples and the singles. The singles rotate partners. I told my girlfriend that since we took the Rumba before, to improve my lead I wanted to be on the singles side of the room and that we should be a couple for the Bolero class. At the end of the Rumba class, my girlfriend said that because she learned something from another student, she felt it was a good idea to stay on the singles side for the Bolero lesson. Although I disagreed, we did this anyway. The teacher taught two new step patterns, neither of which I got to try with my girlfriend. At the end of the class, I went over to her to try one of the patterns and we could not do it together because the person she did the step with did it differently from the teacher and the person I did it with had a hard time "getting it". So I became angry about us not learning the steps together. I told her that we should do the Bolero class as a couple in the future. She still disagrees with me.
I am looking for some opinions pros and cons to taking lessons as a couple vs. a single, especially for a dance that is new to both of us.

A class with non-strict rotation would be ideal for you - you can rotate, but be biased in favor of your partner and dance with her maybe a third to even a half of the time instead of a tenth or less in a strict rotation.

Unfortunately it doesn't work well if the students in the class aren't good about making sure all the non-partnered students get a chance - that's why teachers can end up seperating into strict rotating and non-rotating groups.

I am an advocate of both. Each has pros and cons depending on the situation.

Partnering with a specific partner can improve your dancing with that partner and may 'speed' up the learning. The concern is that you may not end up limiting your 'flexibility' when dancing with others who may be of different height, skill level, etc. Not saying that you will have a problem dancing with others, but the potential is there.

Dancing with others allow you to become more aware of the movements/concepts (IMO). Because you can notice more instances where possible mistakes are made - by you or your partner, and by being aware of them, allows you to try to avoid them as you progress. You become better too at adjusting on leading/following other people in case you find yourself dancing with others.

Having a regular partner increases the chemistry between you two, of course. Making it 'easier' to move as the partnership can 'read' signals. But (again IMO) having a non-regular partner allows you to increase your awareness of leading and following as you rely less on subtle signals that may have developed between you and a regular partner.

Besides, if your regular partner is your significant other anyway, you can always practice outside class and compare notes on what the other partner's potential mistakes were and what you can improve. Knowing the steps is great - understanding the concepts better :)

Just my two cents.
-B

Thanks for the advise. The group classes we take the couples are on one side of the room and the singles are on the other side. Only the singles do rotate.
I agree that I learn faster with the same partner. I feel for a guy that learning to dance is a three step process: the footwork, the lead, and the styling. They don't all come together at the same time. This is why we will take the same lessons over again. Since I know the footwork in the Rumba (and the lead with my girlfriend), I feel confident enough to learn how to lead others. Also, even though we have taken this class before, the teacher adds new steps so it is still a chalange to learn.
My girlfriend agreed that we should take the Bolaro class as a couple. The step that we had trouble with last week we now can do. I realized that we were both doing parts of the pattern wrong.
Sadly, due to this incident there are a lot of hurt feelings. She's upset because last week I told her that she was doing the step wrong. She said that she was an advanced dancer (She has 14 yrs experience and I have 4 yrs) and it was no longer fun dancing with me. We will get over this and we will continue with the lessons. Someday I will be an "advanced" dancer. Hopefully we'll still be together when that happens!!

That's a risk of trying to correct your dance partner! IMHO, she should get over herself and realize that anyone can make a mistake when learning a new routine. That said, when discussing dance problems, I try never to use the word "you." Rather, I'll say things like "We seem to be doing different things with the step. This is what I remember the instructor saying." and "This doesn't seem to be working. What can WE do to fix it?" If you both can't figure out how to fix it pretty quickly, drop it and wait to ask your instructor to help you.

I can understand her desire to dance with different partners, if she is a much more experienced dancer than you are. There may be more experienced leaders in the group that she enjoys dancing with. Maybe you can compromise--learn steps together, with the acknowledgement that she is helping you out by doing that, and go to socials where you both dance with other people as well as together, so she can sometimes do the fancy stuff she knows.

Good luck!