H Kevn,
The reason I thnk most people n the states do not start earler s because of the expense especally wth the economy today. I am a sngle mother that found ballroom danng to be out of the queston on a teacher,s salary. However, my daughter Meghan was very serous about startng to dance so I put her n some lessons at the age of tweleve. When she was thrteen I had been lad off and therefore forced to move to Florda where the pay was even less. However, a few years later we were fortunate enough to fnd a program called Spat Cats. Ths program s wonderful because t has allowed my daughter to get back nto ballroom dance and compete, somethng Meghan enjoys so much and s so good at. She has found a partner now and s workng on competnng as a professonal soon, wthout Spats ths never would have been a possblty. I am so grateful for the program, more programs lke ths need to be started because t brngs youth nto ballroom dance. If you ever want more nfo you can contact Meghan or myself at jeannenem at yahoo.com (sorry I am currently out of the country and can not fnd the at button. LOL
Jeanne