Have been reading a few threads here as well as checking the internet. This place looks best for information and hope some advice can be given.

Have always been reticent to attempt dancing. Fearful of attempting even at a wedding but had always wanted to be in on the secret so walked into a dance studio. Arthur Murray. I've had my first lesson and have done the 4 private lesson intro and attended the group / practice sessions twice weekly for the last 5 weeks and have also signed on for another 4 privates to be taken over the next month. The beginning of a "pre bronze" plan that is to be complete at the end of a total of 25 privates augmented with a group / practice session weekly for a total of 75 45 minute segments. (doing an extra group / practice weekly so will be at 125 segments if able to make all) So far. I've received value in that at least the trepidation regarding even attempting has disipated and could manage a simple waltz or do a "very" basic foxtrot / rumba /in a pinch and have a passing familiarity with tango / meringue / east coast swing (at least enough to recognize them when watching though participation without a teacher ......another story)

Wondering if I have just bitten off more than I can chew. I like the looks of what others can do but it seems the possibility of my achieving anything more than basic is unlikely without amping up the effort to an extent that may well be untenable cost or effort wise.

I do enjoy it but if there isn't a radical improvement in shorter order than at present it seems I may be better off just going to a group class here and there to see where it leads. Maybe a specific dance being focused on weekly or some such thing. The way I now see it now, it would be better to join with a partner and practice / progress together. With the cost of private lessons it seems necessary to practice between lessons or the cost is prohibitive. If it starts to seem like expensive pre paid taxi dancing I'll leave it alone anyway but would like to know if it is truly possible to be proficient going about things the way I've described and if so, over what time frame should I be looking at on the schedule mentioned.

I'd also like to know what portion of the populace knows these dances. Am I going to end up at a wedding and not be able to use anything but the basics anyway.

Thanks in advance

In terms of how long it takes, realize that there are sort of two direction you can go in:

a) You can learn a lot of dance "steps", or as we call them figures. Your main challenge will be the complexity of the material

b) You can learn fewer figures, but work more on really mastering how they work

Most of the retail-style studios both for private lessons and groups (and even most group classes in other settings) concentrate on the first method - presenting lots of material. That's because it's fairly easy to teach steps, it's easy to measure progress ("well, he learn steps 10-15 from the syllabus this month") and it's easy to train teachers in this material - for someone with moderate command of their body, it's mostly about memorization.

The other approach - quality over quantity - is less marketed to the public, but it ends up matching the personal work habits of any dancer who makes a real career of it. Sure, a top amateur or professional competitor might know countless figures, but most of their effort is on the quality of execution. In terms of mastering that, there are really only maybe a dozen major sorts of body actions per dance style that consume most of their attention - the diversity of figures is just a bunch of clever ways to combine those and slap a convenient name on the result. They spend months, then years on these key concepts, and rarely need to put more than a short burst of effort here or there into memorizing the steps.

Which path is right for you depends on things like what sort of training is available, your budget, your goals - and most importantly, what appeals to you personally. If you like memorizing material, then you can learn a lot of variety. If you like understanding and striving for quality of movement, then try to focus only on the basics for the first year or two - but make sure you have a teacher who really knows them inside and out (anyone who tries to talk you out of that, or uses the "boring" word clearly does not).

You asked about dancing at events in society outside of the dance world. Mostly you will get to use your basics, though in some dances - swing, salsa, etc, if you are the leader you may find that there are a lot of variety figures you can use that don't really challenge a follower you are dancing with. Unfortunately, a lot of the other material you will learn really will only work with someone who is at least "ready for it" in that their body is comfortable with the constituent motions. And sadly, a lot of what gets taught in classes is just not very good material - it does not flow logically from one position to another and as a result it may *only* work with someone who was in the same class as you.

The real question to always keep in mind is: am I learning to dance? Or am I learning to pay for lessons?

Additionally, while lessons from a good teacher are an important component, if you really want to master dancing you will need experience dancing outside of classes with one or more of your peers. This can also help you increase your dance time - dancing several days a week will be much more effective than just one or two. It's one thing to be able to do something with a teacher, another to do it with a friend (and best of all when it flows nicely with someone you never met before!) Ideally your outside practice between classes would be enough to get to feel like you have tried to apply what you learned, but not so much that you start to mistrust your memory (or worse, your partner's opinion!) of how it was taught in class.

The conclusion from all of this, is that how long it takes depends on what you want to do, and if what you end up doing is an effective route to your goals. If you concentrated on the minimum number of steps to have something you could do for each of a half dozen major dances, and practiced those regularly with peers outside of class, then in maybe 12 weeks (encompassing maybe 24 group or private lessons, and 36 hours of peer practice) you should be able to feel like dancing is something you can really do with some earned confidence. (though you will of course be hyper aware of many ways in which you want to improve) On the other hand, if you only dance in lessons and always feel like you are struggling to catch up with the pace of presentation, you could take hundreds of lessons and not really end up with the confidence to do anything.

Thanks.
Finally someone with a timeline. I think the pre bronze could be done in the 2 wmonths myself if I maintain he schedule Im currently on as described above. You'''re saying 12 privates and.24 group with 36 hours at a dance. well that is 72 hours. Perhaps in a couple more lesson4 i'LL TRY A DANCE ON FOR SIZE.
too bad it won"t be handy in the outside world. This is so very foreign to me and seems to have such a rabid following it seems cult like to me now thatI"m seeingit. It is a great deal of fun already and is also most certainly, humbling

Actual you may end up not even be able to do basics steps; the floor get to crowded with people just swaying to slow songs and jumping up n down to fast swing and hustle songs. You usually DO get to dance early on and there might be a couple or two on the floor with . Basics should do you well.

Learning. I prefer private studies and teachers to the big chains. But one thing I
do strongly recommend is going to other dance venues. Look for community based dances and dances giving by dance societies/clubs.