Many studios hold open dances to the public and then again many don't.

I was just wondering what the reasons are for those studios that only limit their dances to their students.

One studio owner here told me one reason was that a lot of people would come there just to hang out. I find it hard to believe that someone would go to that trouble for the boredom; when people want to just hang out they generally do so at bars.

"Dancing is a contact sport; football is a hitting sport" - Vince Lombardi

Just saw this, and I wondered if the "excuse" offered might have more validity than you're giving it credit for. I'm not suggesting the actual flooring was in danger of wearing out -- but I understand the cleaning and care of dance floors can be expensive, in terms of both money and time (time that otherwise *might* be spent giving lessons, I point out....)? At least, that's the excuse a local university uses as to why the ballroom floor gets so tacky, etc, for practice dances. We're lucky to get the floors truly cleaned once or twice a year -- and it shows.

How often do studios have to clean floors, and how much additional traffic would it take to make them increase the frequency? Any studios owners care to commen

With regards to admission I'm guessing that many of us here attend dances at studios which sell activity passes good for a month or as in my case 11 activities - group classes and open dances. This saves 16 dollars for me as opposed to paying standard price for each dance I attend.

"Dancing is a contact sport; football is a hitting sport" - Vince Lombardi

Ghostdancer,

I tend to agree with you. I have seen very few cases where people actually came just to hang out.
Opening the dances to the public could certainly introduce new students to the studio. Why some don't open the dances to the public, i don't know.

I have noticed that some studios will hold both a students only dance and an open dance on different nights; I guess that's splitting the difference.

"Dancing is a contact sport; football is a hitting sport" - Vince Lombardi