Ok were to start. Me never danced at all my whole life. I seriously have two left feet and no rhythm. My wife wanted to learn ballroom dancing so I'm trying hard to do this for her and to tell you the truth I think I will like it if and that's a big if I can do this. We just finished 17 45 min lessons. I was hoping to be much better than I am. I have a real hard time leading and what step to do next. At this point I can never see us gliding around the floor like I see others doing. What is a realistic time frame to actually be able to be mediocre. Our sessions are coming to a end and I'm having a hard time having to fork over 2K

Mike,
Keep it up! You can and will improve. My husband has trouble keeping a beat, and it's been a slow process of progression. HOWEVER, he's learning at his own pace and doing it well. He won "Top Student" for his level at a major competition. It may take you a little longer than others, but as you master the steps you will have more and more fun.

Mike69,
Sounds like you are taking private lessons. Try group lessons at bronze level. Learn the chorography of one dance you like, and practice it with your wife. Keep repeating until you know the chorography well, so you can dance two walls and repeat.

At that point take a few private lessons. Tell the teacher that you dont expect to be technically perfect but you want to be more fluid in your movements. So the teacher should not overburden you with difficult technical material, just make dancing more enjoyable. Tell the teacher that you will return later to improve your technique, but for now you just want to enjoy dancing.

You said you dont have a feeling for rhythm. Never mind, ask your wife to count, for now. Who said that dancing is easy? It is one of the most difficult sports. But a great sport.

You have taken 12 hours of dance lessons. Almost everyone is disappointed with their progress in the beginning. Do not compare yourself to others. There is a steep learning curve in the beginning when you have to learn the steps, how to lead and dance on music. What it comes down to is practice. Does your studio offer practice time or dances where you can work on your steps? Or walk through them in your living room every day. There aren't any short cuts but if you keep at it, you will improve. It sounds like you are paying a lot for lessons, you might want to switch to groups or even another studio with more reasonable rates. But keep at it and one day it will all come together.