Many studios hold open dances to the public and then again many don't.

I was just wondering what the reasons are for those studios that only limit their dances to their students.

One studio owner here told me one reason was that a lot of people would come there just to hang out. I find it hard to believe that someone would go to that trouble for the boredom; when people want to just hang out they generally do so at bars.

"Dancing is a contact sport; football is a hitting sport" - Vince Lombardi

Just saw this, and I wondered if the "excuse" offered might have more validity than you're giving it credit for. I'm not suggesting the actual flooring was in danger of wearing out -- but I understand the cleaning and care of dance floors can be expensive, in terms of both money and time (time that otherwise *might* be spent giving lessons, I point out....)? At least, that's the excuse a local university uses as to why the ballroom floor gets so tacky, etc, for practice dances. We're lucky to get the floors truly cleaned once or twice a year -- and it shows.

How often do studios have to clean floors, and how much additional traffic would it take to make them increase the frequency? Any studios owners care to commen

With regards to admission I'm guessing that many of us here attend dances at studios which sell activity passes good for a month or as in my case 11 activities - group classes and open dances. This saves 16 dollars for me as opposed to paying standard price for each dance I attend.

"Dancing is a contact sport; football is a hitting sport" - Vince Lombardi

Ghostdancer,

I tend to agree with you. I have seen very few cases where people actually came just to hang out.
Opening the dances to the public could certainly introduce new students to the studio. Why some don't open the dances to the public, i don't know.

I have noticed that some studios will hold both a students only dance and an open dance on different nights; I guess that's splitting the difference.

"Dancing is a contact sport; football is a hitting sport" - Vince Lombardi

Hey Ralph we meet again, and you have a great point.

Many studios, including ourselves do not have certain kinds of parties because it is "bad" on the floor. For instance...most studio owners hate to rent out their studio for events such as wedding parties, birthdays etc...even though it would provide some always needed extra income.

The cleaning up from these things can be horrendous. Most studio owners I know do not ever put water or any liquid on their floor. Some traditional studios never even finish their flooring...no polyurethane! Washing a floor can hurt it, and of course you are going to have to wash your floor if you let 400 drunk wedding guests eat cake, mints, nuts, drink beer, and just party for hours. What a mess!

So..irreverent dancers spilling beer on a studio floor could get an owner down...but I have to say that the kind of folks who attend open parties at studios don't tend to be a rowdy bunch in my experience

M

I was also going to mention fear of the competition. The same owner that I mentioned also said something about it putting more wear of the foor - come on!

As great a guy as he is I just didn't buy in to his explanations.

"Dancing is a contact sport; football is a hitting sport" - Vince Lombardi

Well, I can give you one obvious and unfortunate reason why some studios are against public parties. They are afraid of the competition. Schools with poorly trained instructors, poorly trained students, incorrectly trained students/teachers, and especially schools with students who are paying too much, never want to have an open party.

Opening up a party not only brings new dancers into the studio...it lets the students meet, talk to and compare their dancing with that of other dancers taking lessons from somewhere else! Sometimes if you have something to hide...well you don't beg trouble to come through your own front door. Most reputable schools do have open parties. Many years dancing have taught me that students don't necessarily stay with a particular teacher simply because that teacher is the best dancer A confidant pro knows their students and isn't usually especially afraid of losing them.

That stated...many studios have a much "nicer" reason for limiting their parties. Common issues are...liability...worry over getting some disruptive, uncooth or just generally disagreeable people in the studio...worry over "plants" or students especially sent over from competing schools to bad mouth teachers or other staff (this can be a big one)...the list could go on. I have never heard a worry about loiterers though...sounds fishy to me.