We joined AM ages ago specifically for social dance and made that clear when we signed our first contract. Over the years we've been invited to attend the medal ball and had done so on two occasions as spectators only. We go dancing socially many times a month and our dance instructor asks us constantly where we've been dancing. He always belittles our dance events with comments like "only old people dance there". The problem is we can go to a Knights of Columbus dance for $25 per person with a live band and a hot buffet dinner while AM charges $125 per person for a sit down dinner and some social dancing after you watch hundreds of 2 minute dance heats. I'm not knocking medal balls, showcase or any other marketing techniques AM employs but they do their best to keep each and every dollar in house.

I too have a certain disregard for AM. It's to bad they pray on people with little or no dance experience. It seems their only goal is for profit and exclude their students from venturing off their "turf".
It's true they "groom" you only for their showcases and spotlights. I should know, I am still in debt for the sum of 6k.
Having been a student there for two years, I started to venture out to the dance community including signing up with Ballroom dancers to try to quench my incredible thirst for more Ballroom and other dance knowledge, I was told by their Master instructor that all those other studios and sites are "Elitists".
I left there as soon as my contract expired and have since had the pleasure of meeting and being trained by the likes of Benji Schwimmer, Jen Lyons , Christine Harvey and the list goes on.
When I posted a photo of me and Benji on Facebook, I received a message from the AM studio I had taken lessons from that she was going to block me because I sounded negative in my comment about being able to finally grow in my dance abilities.
I deleted them from my friends list.

I only know 1 girl who went back to AM because she could not cut it in the real world competitions. She was told she would HAVE to fix her foot technique and learn cuban motion first. She pushed and pushed, was told she wasn't ready to compete yet, finally her instructor took her. She came in dead last at 2 or 3 comps. She was always 1st place at AM comps. She didn't want to fix her (lack of) technique and went back to the AM world.