Isabel,

Paragon is a good studio. I dance a little there, mostly Argentine.

It was a bigger and more packed studio but the best instructors left to go to Shall We Dance which is on Southern and McClintock. I know that Maranto sometimes teaches out of there. I don't take lessons from him but several people do. I mostly see him there on weekends.

They have a lot of awesome instructors there. Call the owner, Mona Brandt, she can tell you which one matches your actual dance goals.

Good Luck!

Shall we Dance

Thanks again for all the help. Get this, I went to my dance lesson tonight and they hit me up for $7,000. They said I needed to pay 1/2 now and 1/2 later. I needed to be committed.
Its a bit creepy

Yucky...run while you still can!!!

$7,000!! It'll be a cold day before I pay that much for dance lessons.

Isabel, there can be no bigger RED FLAG WARNING than this 7K request they have of you. Complete your lessons and leave. If it's too creepy - just leave - but discuss with management (owners of the studio/school) that you've done some extensive research and will not be giving them anymore $$.
Also, if you did sign any type of agreement read the fine print. Some of the agreements for lessons say that the client needs to use ## of lessons within so many weeks otherwise there is no refund. Also, even when I was at another independent school - I paid as I went - there was no pressure - and my teacher was/is really good for me and what I want out of dancing. Visit some other schools/studios/centers/colleges - whatever and breath a sigh of relieve that you won't be going back to your current situation. A lesson well "learned." (-: if not a costly one.

First of all - I personally would not pre-pay anyone $7000 for dance lessons, even with a contract that spelled out refund terms.
Having said that, it may not necessarily be a bad deal: we don't know how many lessons Isabel would get for $7000, nor the quality of her instructor. If Isabel got only 50 lessons for that or got a poor quality instructor, well, then yes, it's probably a bad deal.
But, on the other hand, I know one pro-am student who pays $70 per hour for lessons with an instructor (with a good string of competitive accomplishments); she takes 2 lessons every week - so that's 104 lessons per year or $7280. So, if that student paid $7000 a year for lessons, s/he would probably think that $7000 was a fair deal.

One of my (independent)instructors reminds me every so often that I can pre-pay for lessons and get a bit of a discount. I always decline. I do not see that as "pressure" to buy a package - but I suppose others would and would complain. And then, there are still other people who would be upset if he DIDN'T remind them that they could pre-pay for a discounted price and would claim that he offers it only to "special" students. Teachers can be damned if they do and damned if they don't.

We don't know the whole context of Isabel's studio. What she feels is pressure from the studio might not be pressure at all in someone else's book. However, in Isabel's case, it makes her uncomfortable, she doesn't trust them and that alone is good enough reason to look for a different teacher/studio.

The $7,000 would be for 70 lessons which is $129.00 per hour less the $1875 I already have paid them.

Thanks for he help. I am going to ask for my money back that I have left. I think I will be too uncomfortable to continue there. Its really a bummer because my teacher seemed like someone with integrity.

Isabel, I'm so sorry you got taken like that. There is no way they gave you anything close to what you paid for. Here in Warner Robins, Ga and the surounding towns ther are many places to take lessons. Both chain and otherwise. Unfortunatly your story is typical of chains. I normally pay $12.00 per hour for both bronze and silver level lessons. Another class I attend is a non profit group and they charge $5.00 dollars an hour, yes that's FIVE dollars. Because its so cheap, many of us volunteer to help out. Although private lessons can cost you $60.00 an hour, unless I decide to compete, I'll never need them. The lesson is, and tell all you know, "STAY AWAY FROM CHAINS!" SCAM - SCAM - SCAM

I really am getting more angry with them and wish there was more I could do to prevent others from making the same mistake.