Hi - I want to give ballroom dance lessons to my lady as a present. However, we are both very busy with irregular schedules, so I am looking for a place to take lessons where we don't need to schedule classes ahead of time. Ideally it would be a place that holds classes every week night and we could just show up if and when we are available.

Does anyone have suggestions on the types of places to start looking for?

Should I start looking at big studios like Arthur Murray or small places that might have more flexibility?

We're located in the Detroit metro area.

JD

Studios don't have enough newcomers to offer beginner classes every night of the week. They might have them once or twice, and then have more advanced classes on other nights of the week. A franchise studio like AM or Fred Astaire is definitely going to be like that, but independents are too.

Are you saying it's impossible for you to even nail down one night a week? If so, it might be possible for you to call the studio a couple hours before you want to come in and grab whoever is available. You're instruction won't feel consistant, and you might be getting the best instructor one night, and the least capable the next.

The other thing here to consider is that learning to dance, even just with your girlfriend in social settings is going to take work and time. Taking a lesson here or there won't really net much results and you risk becoming bored and fed up with it and quit. I would recommend making the time for this if you want to pursue it. Talk with your girlfriend and make an arrangement for at least one night a week. Make it for a night other than the day of the beginner group class so that if you happen to be free that night, you could do the class.

Good luck

In my area, most beginner classes are a month or 6 weeks long and progress through a series of steps, so if you attended off and on, you'd miss a lot and might find it hard to keep up. But a lot of studios that have dance parties open to the public have beginner lessons before or during the party that are one-shot deals. So if your schedule is really that crazy, you could always go to those lessons and then stay for the party to practice what you learned.

Also, many studios have introductory packages that include a private lesson or two and a group class or two. These are usually pretty inexpensive (compared to regular private lesson rates)and you can schedule the lessons around your schedule. You could give your girlfriend the package as a present. That way, you'd see how much you like it and whether you want to make a commitment to fitting more classes or lessons into your schedule.

If your time is really limited, you might want to focus on one dance, so you can make faster progress. Salsa and west coast swing are probably the dances you'd be most likely to be able to use in clubs, etc. And you might find dance studio parties that focus on just those dances. (If you learn one ballroom dance and go to a ballroom party, you'd be sitting down a lot waiting for that dance to be played again.)

Good luck! I think it's a great present and I'm sure you can find a way to make it work.

You do not provide your age. For all ages, try U of Mich ballroom dances Sunday evening in the Michigan Union Ballroom in Ann Arbor. Non profit, run by students, welcomes all. From talking with others, you can find many studios.
Michigan Swing Dance Association, www.msda.org, (also nonprofit) is sponsoring their first big dance Saturday, Oct 15, at the Masonic Temple. There is a higher than normal charge ($25) but they have three ballrooms simultaneously, bands, DJ, Showcases, etc. Several studios will be represented. The Lindy and Salsa will draw the younger crowd; ballroom the older.
I go to studios in Centerline and sometimes Bloomfield Hills (non franchise). Some prefer Troy, West Bloomfield, Dearborn, Saline.
Dancing is like any exercise. You must make time for it.

Thank you for all your suggestions. They were very helpful. We are in our early 30s. She is a medical resident and I am an engineer and our schedules are very unpredictable. I think I am going to try an introductory package at a studio and try the U of M dances to practice.

Waltzaway, you mentioned studios in Dearborn. Do you have any recommendations?