Helene,
It all depends on how the contracts are written. At one franchise, the groups, privates, and social practices were listed seperately. So I paid approximately $75.00 for a private, $25.00 per group, and around $15.00 for a social practice. Added together that would come to around $115.00. At another studio, all of the lessons, groups, and social practices were bundled. So in doing the math, it can to approximatley the same price per "unit." When I hear of $140 -$150.00 lesson at a franchise, I question whether it is the "bundled" type of contract.

For $75/45 minutes you should be able to get someone who is either a national finalist, or who has students who are.

We don't have chains here.

However, we did form a non-profit society.

The non-profit society only employs teachers with CDTA certification (equiv. to ISTD) or teachers who are studying towards their certification.

The society teaches a syllabus based on ISTD levels. Teachers are assigned to classes based on their individual levels of certification. E.g. Associate level certification can only teach bronze and below (introductory courses). My wife has declared her intention to do certification so she is restricted to teaching the Club's newcomer classes only.

Doing this has allowed us to keep group class costs low (I think it's still around $5-$6 per hour).

The advantage to the teachers is that the society does all the administrivia while the teachers are not employees and can claim the tax advantages of self-employment.

Teachers are allowed to take private students from group classes. Licentiates seem to be charging $50 per hour here with Fellows at $65 per hour.

http://www.vbds.org

OB

$CDN?

Though those would be reasonable prices in $US too.

operabob, I don't know if by "here" you mean your city or your country, but there are definitely Arthur Murray franchised studios in Canada. Maybe not in your city, though.

Laura,

Yes, I was referring to the city.

Apparently, many years ago there was an AM studio here but not now.

There are a few teachers here really earning a living as BD instructors but outside the Society no fixed studios. Most of the teachers here have full-time jobs elsewhere and teach on the side. Our Society is not fixed either but rents space in about 10 locations.

The independents move from locale to locale mostly: community centers, YM/YWCA, church halls etc.

The community centers work on a 60/40 split in favour of the teacher and that can be very profitable on weekends if you're a popular teacher. One popular teacher here puts at least 130 students through group classes in a 4 hour period on a Saturday at $10 per student at least 40 weeks a year.

We also have another teacher here who has tied up many of the community centres and is supplying some of her own students as instructors. The community centres tend to be very beginner groups.

As for privates here mostly teachers rent church halls, etc. We can get halls in the neighbourhood of $10 - $12 per hour. The prices above for privates include the hall costs. There are some halls here we can get for the whole night for $25 (full sized gym but awful parking)) that reduces costs if you can get the night filled. It all tends to be a bit "hit and miss" here.

OB

Anon,

The prices here on Vancouver Island are definitely lower than would be paid in Vancouver. Our overhead is lower here.

OB

Dear Newbie, I seemed to have stirred some negative feelings in you, and that was not my intention. I should have been more clear when I said, if I am only in my bronze level, I would not be trying to pass myself off as a higher level instructor training champions, I would teach beginners, needing to know the basic box, underarms turns and very basic things. We have Gold level instructors and instructors who have won 1st place and are certified through Silver by a coach. I was simply saying that I could open a studio tommorow and start to teach ballroom , and no certifications or dance board or higher power would be required to monitor my teaching skills, however Am is governed by a board of world reknowned coaches and champions, and if nothing else, that protects the student, should the disired results not be acheived, a refund could be due, and also an isurance that they are being trained by really experienced highly trained professionals, all teaching full time on a 10 hour a day schedule.
No doubt there are fabulous independents, many people are so satified and impressed, my point was just that if you decide to go to a chain like AM, I really believe, the prices are worth the quality, and sales come dead last at our studio, we only sell lessons to students who want to continue, and are simply out of lessons. Plain and simple. Best regards to all dancers, chain or not. We are all in the industry together doing our best. Happy Dancing.

Fedup,
Thank you for clarifying your response. The problem is that not all studios hold to the same criteria that yours does with regard to how they sell their product. As Laura said, "You can believe what you want but people aren't making things up regarding their experiences with pricing and sales tactics." This topic has been debated adnauseam on this site and other dance forums.
While I respect your statement, "We are all in the industry together doing our best." I feel that sales and customer service vary greatly from studio to studio. If I were reading these threads as a studio owner, I would adjust my sales practices accordingly. Although these forums are a great vehicle for dance students to discuss such matters, it is also a wealth of information to a studio owner in terms of marketing and sales strategy.

Does your studio charge the same amount for the bronze instructor as the gold level instructor?