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Re: Arthur Murray Stinks
Posted by terence2
7/5/2016  12:58:00 AM


Are you really 11 years old ?.. or, is your MOM writing this for you ?. Either way, if you are happy with you dance progress, that's good. How much do they charge for lessons ? ( per hour ).
Re: Arthur Murray Stinks
Posted by GMC
4/9/2016  6:40:00 PM
Just started Arthur murray dance friday and I never dance but we really enjoyed it. Ashburn va .great dance teacher and staff..loved it
Re: Arthur Murray Stinks
Posted by Rocky
5/5/2016  2:04:00 PM
I was just there for an intro lesson. They honey potted me.... Set me up with a gorgeous girl to teach me and butter me up. Then they dropped the prices on me. 580.00 a month! That is insane!!!!
Re: Arthur Murray Stinks
Posted by ballroomchick
5/9/2016  12:09:00 PM
How many private lessons a week in that month are you taking?

If I could get my 12 lessons a month in for that I would be happy. I pay a bit more that than that, but under a grand.
Re: Arthur Murray Stinks
Posted by Arthur Murray Dancer
7/4/2016  5:19:00 PM
My husband and I take 2 private lessons a month, and attend many group classes and practice parties. We now have an instructor knows that our focus is being able to move well around the dance floor, and we have a wonderful teacher. They will not fire you as a student if you decide to learn at you own pace and take advantage of the learning opportunities they offer. What I like about Arthur Murray is that the studio is drama free, and I have left and returned because I like the drama free dancing.
Re: Arthur Murray Stinks
Posted by FormerProLatinDancer
7/12/2016  11:18:00 AM
From my years of seeing AM and having friends through the franchise system, I have few good things to say about it. Probably the best thing that I can say about them is the amount of new people they bring to the world of ballroom dance.

The negatives are far too many though. Few of their instructors have had much training before starting their instructor "training" programs. I fail to see how someone with less than a year's worth of dance experience can justify giving lessons for almost the same rate as some of the top Latin coaches in the world. That is outright madness.

The used car sales tactics are the worst I've ever experienced as well. My current husband was once a student there and they told him not to date me because I "wasn't good enough for him" after they found out I was a competitive dancer. He came from a supposedly good studio with a franchisee that is fairly well known outside of the system too. Thankfully he listened to me in moving out of there. He knew a lot of patterns from them after 2 years... but little technique. A lot of "walking" around the floor for tens of thousands of dollars.

I can think of maybe a handful of studios in the franchise system that might be worth visiting... mostly because of who owns them. But their prices are still not worth it.

In the suburbs of NYC, he was paying in excess of 160 dollars per 45 minutes.
Re: Arthur Murray Stinks
Posted by ballroomchick
7/15/2016  2:42:00 PM
Former Pro Latin Dancer

AND you have it the nail on the head as to WHY A.M. NEVER allows their students to dance outside of "the family."

*** He knew a lot of patterns from them after 2 years... but little technique. A lot of "walking" around the floor for tens of thousands of dollars.****

They can NOT compete in the real world. NO Cuban motion and no technique!

No matter how much money you have in the real world of dance, if you don't use Cuban motion and if you have no technique you will ALWAYS come in last - unless someone falls on their butt.

WOW $160 for 40 mins!?!? I get a full hour with a 5 time American Rhythm champion and I pay less than half of that!
Re: Arthur Murray Stinks
Posted by nanig117
8/11/2016  8:50:00 AM
5678 AMEN AM AMEM AMEM OH AM ANEM AM is a rip off!!
Re: Arthur Murray Stinks
Posted by terence2
8/13/2016  11:15:00 PM

You have written as though "they" were interested in Comp. work ( No CM etc ).

From a teaching perspective, altho we know its value, CM is NOT top priority when I teach my class/private lessons to beginners.

In matter of fact, the priority needs to be developing Lead/Follow and floor craft ,And the ability to get around a dance floor , in a social event

The majority of beginner students , do not give a pigs ear, about in depth techn.( and in many cases, not any !)

Here's a few words of wisdom from the late A. Moore.. para phrased " After teaching for 1 year, I began to realise that, not Everyone, wanted to be a medalist " ...
Re: Arthur Murray Stinks - no not really
Posted by MidniteDancer
10/6/2016  3:14:00 PM
AM has good points and bad points. Some of the criticisms have been "explained away" but such explanations were based on faulty assumptions. I have been dancing now for more than 10 years, and my first year was with AM.

First, they do have a lot of inexperienced instructors. 6 weeks or even 3 months is not even close to being sufficient experience to teach several dances. It is important not only to be able to know the basics of the steps you are teaching a beginning student, but you must also be showing by example the technique that will be needed to dance properly at a more advanced level. Also, you NEED an understanding of the more advanced level to understand the intent and direction of that underlying foundation.

That said, AM also has very good and experienced instructors.

It has been said that Am "holds you back" from advancing. The argument against this is that you must first learn the fundamentals before you are ready to learn more. While the latter is true, that does not mean the former does not also occur. Some students are simply faster than others. I am fortunate that I have always been a fast student. I was frequently stymied in my learning during that first year, not because I was missing knowledge, but because the instructor was not yet allowed to teach me something. Or, couldn't teach it because she hadn't learned it yet herself. Looking at who was "advanced" to the next level and who was not, advancement seemed to be much more about how long you had been taking lessons and how much you had spent rather than about what skill you had developed.

It has been said that AM is very expensive. That is relative. If you are able to attend a lot of group classes every week, which are typically free as long as you are taking private lessons, the cost then becomes comparable to what you would pay for the same number of privates and group lessons at an independent studio. If you are not able to attend many group classes, then AM is more expensive. So it really depends ion your availability to take full advantage of what is there.

During that first year, each week I took 1 private lesson and typically attended about 5 group classes and a couple short parties. Could I have saved money by doing that at a private studio? Probably, but not much. But the bottom line is that it is questionable as to whether I would have learned as much at a private studio. That may seem paradoxical since I said they also held me back a little. But AM is very syllabus driven (and they have a good syllabus). That means that students actually get through the syllabus. Getting through the syllabus is more restrictive in some ways, but more thorough in others. Do I think that someone on Bronze II should be refused instruction for a figure in Bronze III or IV if they are excited to learn it? No. Do I think they should have a strong foundation in Bronze to learn a Silver figure? Yes. But then I also think the instructor should have a solid foundation in Silver to teach Bronze.

I also think that AM instructors should be a little less flirty inside the studio, and a little more friendly outside the studio. (The non-fraternization outside the studio clause is ridiculous for those who can be professional adults.)

All in all, the good with the bad, I really can't complain that my AM experience didn't give me what I needed. I am a perfectionist and I drive myself hard, and in the end that didn't fit with the culture and I moved on.

Anywhere you go, you will find good people and bad people. In any work place you will find competence and incompetence, professionalism and unprofessionalism. Welcome to planet Earth.

Meanwhile, find the studio and instructor that fits best with you and your needs, and keep dancing... lead/follow with your frame, practice your technique, and have fun!

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