I have been looking into dance lessons and I am floored at the cost.

I love dance but can't afford it.

Mary

It depends on the kind of dancing you want to do and what your goal is. Private lessons are the most expensive, and if you want to compete, they are a necessity. But if you are interested in social dancing, in most communities, there are other options that are much more reasonable. Most studios have group classes that often range from $8-12 a hour and you can also look for inexpensive or free dance classes at the Y, the community rec center, various organized dance groups, and some clubs/bars that have dance lessons early in the evening (most common for salsa and swing dancing).

If you want to dance, you can find a way!

Dance is not only for the rich! You really need to look around for all of the available venues in your area. Now with all of the attention given to ballroom there are more places to dance and learn than ever before. Here in Buffalo, we can go out every night of the week to dance. Most local dances are run by instructors who have "one-shot" lessons before the dance for 1 hour. These lessons vary from week to week and concentrate on one or two moves or combinations. Most of these charge only $7 and include the lesson, live music and refreshments (non-alcholic beverages and desserts) for 3 hours. The Arthur Murray studio has an open dance every Thursday night with lesson and refreshments for $10. There are at least 5 local instructors who have open lessons one night per week with no contracts or commitment for $6 per lesson. I know of at least 3 bars that have lessons and live music one night per week and usually have a cover of $5 including your first drink for free.
I am enrolled in instruction at a non-franchised studio with excellent instruction (professional, competition-level instructors)who run 4-8 week lessons. At this studio you can sign a contract or just buy blocks of lessons as desired. A 4-week course is $49.


Bottom line is that you can spend as much as you like. If you want to limit the amount that you spend, find reasonable lessons, pay attention in the lessons, write down everything they tell you and then practice for at least 5 hours for every hour in the studio. This way you will learn the dance and not be out a lot of money. If you want or need private lessons, you will pay an amount commensurate with the expertise of the instructor.

I guess it was the Arthur Murray sticker shock.

I am checking other studios in my area and looking around for an independant instructor.

Thanks for the reply,
Mary

The AM sticker shock of which you speak is a well-known phenomenon. When you're looking around for another studio, find one that doesn't make you commit to a large number of lessons in advance. There will hopefully be a place around somewhere that offers group classes for beginners. Typically, these classes meet once a week, and run in "series" that are a month long. Sometimes there are longer series. For instance, the studio where I dance has a sixteen week "Social Dance" group series that covers a number of different dances and prepares people to be able to go out and start having fun at the local social ballroom parties.

Where do you live? If you tell us, people here might be able to give you good suggestions!

I noticed your post. My suggestion (and I know that someone will find offense to this) is to check around. I've been teaching since '87 and I have found a couple of things during that time.

1. Non-franchise dance schools are typically much lower cost than franchises (at least in my neck of the US).
2. Despite advertising to the contrary, the quality of instruction in an independent school is higher than a franchise. Because of the high cost of lessons, franchises lean very heavily to sales strategies to get a buyer. The same is not always the case in an independent.

My advice is to shop around. You very likely may find a teacher outside who will charge $25 to $50 (depending on thier skill) - and then take advantage of the groups and other social activities around. A good teacher will have you up and dancing enough so group classes don't feel over your head too much. Never forget the job of a teacher is to get you out there using your dancing, not tie you into their studio's environment so much that you forget that.

Thank you Ellen, Laura and Criadoman

I will shop around. I am in the North Boston area if you know of any outside teachers.

I only wish I could get my husband interested but noooooway. He does not mind that I want to learn and has no problem with me dancing with someone else. He is quite secure in our relationship.
Mary

That's a good sign that he wants you to learn although he doesn't do it himself. Try taking some group classes -- the studios I've been to don't require that you bring your own partner. If you feel that at some point you want private lessons, you will hopefully have met some people through your group classes who could partner you in your privates -- and so you can split the costs! Otherwise, you have the option of taking private lessons where you dance with the teacher the whole time, but these can get VERY expensive.

Have you tried clicking the "Dance Directory" link to the right of this web page? If you go there, you can search for teachers or search for studios by state or by zip code.

Arthur Murray is a terrible place to learn dance. You are paying for the name, not the quality of lessons. Their instructors are told to say they have been dancing their whole life when in reality they have only danced maybe a few months. The sales tactics are also questionable, they toy with your emotions and exchange any personal info. given in their staff meetings to use against you to manipulate you into getting more lessons. Never go to AM and tell everyone you know.

Specifically to FRIEND posted on 1/29/06
FRIEND said:"Arthur Murray is a terrible place to learn dance. You are paying for the name, not the quality of lessons. Their instructors are told to say they have been dancing their whole life when in reality they have only danced maybe a few months. The sales tactics are also questionable, they toy with your emotions and exchange any personal info. given in their staff meetings to use against you to manipulate you into getting more lessons. Never go to AM and tell everyone you know."

That's a load of crap! Ballroom dance (and karate, golf and a ton of other activities beyond commuting to work, eating, sleeping and breathing) require an extracurricular financial investment and a time investment.

ALL Arthur Murray instructors do not, in fact, claim they have been dancing their whole lives. I know of two AM instructors in different studios on opposite ends of the country who were actaully track stars before they ever once tried to dance to anything.

I know of one who was a cheerleader before her ballroom experience.

I know of one who started dancing when she was a little girl and then abandoned that dream to become a classically trained vocalist and only started dancing as an instructor because she couldn't find work as a vocalist (music and dance ARE related).

You had a BAD experience with an instructor or a franchisee who didn't know how to manage their studio or their personnell. Don't crusify the entire Arthur Murray WORLD because of this. You have not met ALL of the instructors who work for Arthur Murray so you are speaking completely out of turn claiming exactly what it is that ALL of the instructors do or say or how they behave.

IF you feel you were manipulated at Arthur Murray, then you learned to keep your eyes open because I can tell you that the same kind of "questionable" sales techniques exist in many other environments.

Did you happen to mention to the francisee that you were feeling manipulated and that you weren't getting what you wanted from your instructor or your lessons or did you just sign on the dotted line without any discussion whatsoever?

I'm not saying that there isn't a manipulation game in the ballroom world and one that is largely, in my 5 years experience, perpetuated by 20 year old instructors without a clue. I am saying that there are many more highly talented and professional instructors in Arthur Murray and other franchised studios just as there are highly committed and professional independent instructors. Just like when you go to buy a car, you have to know what you want and what you are willing to pay. If you don't have a clear understanding of that or assume that what you want is the same as everyone else, then you will wind up with the Griswold Family Truckster instead of that sportscar you thought you purchased in the first place.

Please do not generalize. You insult the instructors who ARE working wonders, getting paid very little and loving every minute of it.