A friend dances Pro Am and shares the cost of an independent teacher dancer with 4 or 5 other ladies in competitions. She is very good and usually wins in the Gold and above.
The teacher is very fair and pro rates the expenses and charges $20 per dance.
All the ladies pay together and they all feel that it's fair with no hidden costs. An upcoming one day Pro Am event nearby will cost each lady about $600 each.

There is an independent studio nearby that's going to the same one day competition and is charging the ladies $6000 each which includes dining with the visiting pros and buying their inflated package. This is what gives ballroom dancing a bad name. Greedy dance pros selling outrageously priced packages for Pro Am events and taking advantage of their students. Can't figure out how they do it. It just seems to be lots of ladies that have a void in their life, lonely, or just get excited about dancing without regard for money. It's easy to shop around. There are good honest dancing teachers that won't try to take you life savings.

Sometimes is not the pros. are to blame for this kind of behavior it's the owner of the studios they are the one's that are ridiculiosly greedy and like to ripp people off. The pro sometimes getpaid nothing while the owners of the social studios are collecting all the money.

I agree that the owners of the studios may be taking the majority of the profits, but might it also be the big dance franchises? My dance teacher just quit. Why? Because he couldn't survive on the income even though he worked two other jobs. Now I'm stuck with a contract and female teachers because they can't find a male teacher to work for such low pay. I fit in your category of women who have a void, are lonely, or just want to dance, but where am I to find the honest teachers who don't want to take my life savings?

You can probably get out of your contract, but you might have to make a fuss and maybe go to the national level, if you are at a chain. But I'd try if I were you.

Shop around. There are instructors who will be fair with you. Look at independent (non-chain) studios, as well. If I were ever looking for another studio, I would take the intro special at several, so I could get a real feeling for the studio, the teaching, and their attitude toward selling before I made a commitment.

Most of the chain contracts that you sign clearly states that you are not guaranteed an instuctor... You know the risk when you read and sign the contract.. Still, in the instance of not having a male instructor available for a lady I would fight it and my guess is that you would be succesful.

But as far as pros charging these prices... I go to comps where I see this pro travel with about 6 retired ladies... It is quite obvious that they are having a great great time... You see them in the bars laughing having a great time, fun on the dance floor... He pampers them and treats them to a wonderful time. I guess he charges a pretty penny for his services to keep them entertained, still I love to watch them at each comp. I bet if you asked these ladies they would tell you it is worth every penny.

I know a independent pro that has about 4 retired and 2 not retired ladies and he travels all over with them to comps. He is gay, honest, great dancer, wonderful with the ladies, treats each one fairly, and really cares about them improving. He even goes so far as keeping an account of how many social dances each one gets. He helps them all get along since he is so fair and caring with each one. His prices are very reasonable. He even acts as their cuise host a couple times per year. He keeps up with their purses. These ladies all love him and are very happy campers--plus he gets results at competitions-he was highly ranked 14 years ago. This independent pro should be used as some type of model for the dance world. He makes a great income and has plenty of satisfied students.
I have never heard of any type of complaint about him.