There was Lady in Florida who spent EIGHTY FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS for dance lessons. People wise up. Take basic lesson at AM or FA studios then find local groups that hold dances and have free lessons before the dance. There all over the place if you look.

I've heard this story before, or at least one like it.

When did the one you hear about happen?

I know that, from the story I heard, it happened about six or so years ago in Florida. There was a lawsuit about it, and later the State of Florida enacted some consumer protection laws to keep it from happening in the future.

$84,000 is not unusual in this sport - at $90 per lesson, 2 per week, that's not much - what is the problem?

I think the spamming about chain studios and telling people to take the free lessons before socials is a bit much, tho. You sound very angry.

The reality is that the 'basic lessons' and the 'free lessons before a social' are merely 'step lessons'. Without technique, you can't really advance - you look instead like someone who took some basic lessons at a chain studio and then take the free lessons at socials.... the 'shuffling senior' stereotype was BORN amidst this mindset.

"$84,000 is not unusual in this sport - at $90 per lesson, 2 per week, that's not much - what is the problem?"

Yes, it is indeed not much. Said package won't quite even last nine years!

For an 82 year old to spend that much on dance lessons is way out of line. But I do agree it's her money to do what she wants with. If some young instructor makes her happy doing what she enjoys, more power to her. The shuffling Seniors are grand people who just enjoy life. Their not concerned whether their foot is in the right postion or not. They are just glad to be able to navigate the floor. Dancers are dancers whether they are social or sport dancers. Eveyone has the right to the dancefloor as the next. Share the road share the dancefloor.

If the $84K was spent over the course of her lifetime and she was an older woman, this seems in line with the cost of quality private dance instruction. Good luck learning detailed technique at free pre-dance group lessons!

yes, I've heard it a dozen times...lead and follow, posture, foot position common! My guess is, those who work or own these very expensive "by-weekly lesson" that turn into 3 or 4 a week or "oh' your a natural" schools, have lost something along the way. The problem is, they are tought to tap into the vulnerable people, then extract as many lessons as the person can afford before sacrificing there own quality of life and by doing that they are exploiting these otherwise inocent people wih luering them into a fatacy world of something like ballroom dancing. In the end, wht these franchises creae, is no longer the sport of ballroom dancing but the game of it.

Recently we have switched studio's, going from an independent to FA. We also take lessons twice a week.

At least at the local stuido we now belong to the cost of our lessons is comparable to the independent. On an annual basis we will spend about 10K in lessons. We of course are buying in larger blocks that reduces the cost, an average lesson about 65.00. This is what is costs, and feel we get good value for our money.

In addition when we went to FA, we were not given an high pressure sales pitch at all. I can still remember the conversation. They told us you have been dancing for some time and know the price of priviate lessons, and know what you want..... They showed us the various packages they had , we made a decision, and that was the end of it.

It fustrates me to read constant bashing of chain studios. There are good and there are bad, just like there is with independents. You need to do your homework regardless of where you choose to take lessons.

I just cannot picture how a person could spend 84K in a year.

Janet. That works out to about three lessons a week. we found that we got enough in one lesson a week to keep us busy in practice for three evening practice sessions, but two may be better. I guess it depends on the quality of the lesson and how quickly you can learn. We also took two months off in the summer so our cost where a lot less than yours.

The amount of lessons a person takes in a week is so personal!

Twice a week works for us. We may be working on a certain technique or steps at the beginning of the week, mid week we are in the studio practicing the technique, end of week our next lesson is to follow up on our practice, review our progress.

Actually, I think that we are slow learners and often we will take a lesson and walk away with the idea and begin to practice it. Often what we were taught and what we heard turn out to be two different things, so we end up practicing incorrect technique. By having this second follow up lesson we dont practice something new incorrectly for very long ,avoiding having to fix a bad habit.

Like I said we are all different and have to figure out on our own how we learn and what works best.