I was just hired as an Arthur Murray Instructor and am curious if any one has any thoughts on this franchise, what I can expect as far as pay and competition with other instructors. I want a healthy happy place to work and learn and I am a little nervous but excited as well. Also I have little experience so they will be teaching me everything, I wont be teaching my own lessons for months, so I am worried I wont get up to speed fast enough. any thoughts? Ideas? Thanks everyone! I LOVE this site!

I'm a student with Fred Astaire, but it sounds like you're in the same situation that instructors with little to no experience are at my studio. A new person comes in, and has to spend months learning how to dance (and teach dance) before they can have students of their own. They don't get paid much (if anything) until they are capable teachers. I think this would be a great way to learn how to dance if you have someone to support you finacially. You should learn very quickly being instructed every day. You're being paid with knowledge which many people would love to have. The overwelming majority of instructors I've met in the franchises seem to be very happy, and love what they do. I've heard them say it's very rewarding to see students they taught continue to dance for years and years (even after they stopped lessons).

Just my perspective as a student.

That is so refreshing to hear. I keep thinking I will be in the way and that the other instructors will be very well skilled and annoyed at my lack of knowledge and that I wont fit in because I haven't been dancing for years. I am so excited I could cry and I hope they take me under their wing. I may even take a few classes at the local college just to get up to speed more quickly. Do the instructors where you work eventually compete or are they expected to compete? Just curious! Thanks so much for the encouragement, I NEEDED IT BADLY!

The instructors at my studio compete with their students (Pro-AM) mostly. They don't have to compete as professionals if they don't want to. They all have had extensive experience competing as amatuers, though.

The poster below makes some really good points. You have a tough road ahead of you since you're starting from scratch. The first year is going to be your toughest, and if you can afford it, it wouldn't hurt to even take some additional training outside the studio. Milk every opportunity you can get. If the studio brings in a top coach for training, make sure you're there. The comments below about many in-training instructors not making it is true. I have seen several come and go, but I think only one was fired. The rest just couldn't afford to go so long without a real paycheck.

Best of luck as you pursue this as a career, and don't let yourself be easily discouraged. There are many aspects of good dancing that require years of work, and can't be learned by cramming tons of lessons into a short period of time. They only happen after years of training.

Thanks to "FADS" and "Loves to dance". These are excellent points and the feedback, although scary will make me be more realistic about what I am getting myself into. I was so excited about the interview and job offer that I neglected to ask more questions, and so I needed more advice. I think money isn't everything when your job doesn't feel like work, and dance is hard work but not the same as the Corporate Job I have been stck in for years. I am happy to be starting over and will give it my all and put my nose to the grindstone and I bet I will make it as a really good professional instructor! ( I hope I can afford all the nice clothes and shoes though) ha! ha! Thanks again! Best to you in 2005! Please pass along any other thoughts that come to mind.

That is the first time I heard that all teachers of FA or AM has competition experience. I guess it all varies by location a lot.

If that is the norm in your area I will have to revise my opinion on the chains.

I will still have issue with the promotion of Pro-Am dancing though. It makes learning expensive and prevents the formation of (amateur) dance partnerships.

Matyas
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Sorry for the misunderstanding Matyas I will clarify about the AM studio I am referring to...not ALL of the instructors compete or have competition experience before they begin teaching. We have 3 instructors that compete-both as professionals and pro/am. The other instructors do not compete nor did they compete prior to becoming teachers.

I've been a student at an Arthur Murray studio for about 2 years and my own personal observations of "teachers in training" at the AM studio where I attend are as follows... there has been about 6 teachers(male and female combined)that were hired and 5 have been terminated in that time period. Having said that, I believe those terminated were not meeting the expectations of the owner/manager for example, students didn't want them as their teacher, they did not get along well with staff/supervisors, they couldn't learn to dance or teach dance quickly enough etc. or the image they presented didn't fit the AM image.

The one teacher (still employed) was an AM student about 1 year before getting hired as a teacher in training. Other teachers working there long term (also those competing) it seems were previous AM students for a few years with lots of previous dance experience(ballet, jazz etc) and then applied to become teachers and have been working about 5 years since they were hired.

You must remember that AM is a profit driven business and you will be expected to progress quickly, work very hard, and your pay will be very little given that you are getting $$$'s worth of dance lessons.You probably won't be subsidized by the studio to compete as a pro for at least a few years(or until you are able to generate adequate $$$ for the business)

Didn't you get terms of employment by your AM supervisor about expectations?Also remember, you must have had enough skill/personality that they were willing to invest in you by hiring you in the first place. I think if you're a hard worker, motivated, likable and have the ability to dance and learn quickly you will be successful.
Good luck!

This posting causes me to question the quality of instruction at studios such as this one. Given the relatively high cost of dance lessons, is it really fair for studios to "subject" their students to instructors who are anything other than experienced, excellent teachers and former or current competitors??

I have no problem with newbie instructors like these teaching, so long as

1) Their students know that the teacher is just a recent graduate of the training program and hasn't been teaching or competing for long (if at all).

2) The prices are lower for newbie teachers than for experienced ones.

If the conditions above aren't met, then to me it seems like a kind of secret rip off. In high-profile hair salons, for instance, the "apprentice" stylists charge less than the top star stylists. After all, you're paying for someone's experience, and the lower price would be a way to entice someone to try a potentially talented new teacher or stylist.

There are a lot of people out there who don't know and don't really care if their teacher has competed or how well they did, so a teacher's competition record is not the sole measure of their worth as a teacher -- particularly for some social dancers and "wedding couples" who come in for six weeks and then never enter a dance studio again.