Very funny?

I find it interesting what these posts are saying...I am also from NY and have found the same thing about being the 'favorite'. The minute I decided to cut back...and eventually leave the studio...I was given the cold shoulder and the rumors started to fly. I even had a friend tell me that the staff was bad-mouthing me to her after I left. I was crushed! I will NEVER set foot in another Arthur Murray studio...especially my local one, and have GREAT reserve of taking any lessons at any franchised studio. I have found a refreshing locally owned studio here and I love it! No sales pitch...no strings...or headaches...It's great!

I soo agree with the message alot of you are portraying about AM. I have been taking lessons there since the end of 2008, and am only a Bronze II student. I am no Kym Johnson, but I'm not Kate Gosselin either. I have taken many other styles of dancing my entire life, and have danced fairly well. This is why it SURPRISES me it's taking me that long to move on @ AM. Everytime I try to ask my instructor or one of the other instructors why I feel like a special education ballroom student, they really don't have an answer. They keep on "praising," me how good I am doing at my dancing yet don't move me foward. My instructor a couple of times has told me it's about "technique," and since I plan on one day being competitive its in my best interest to learn everything properly (obviously, at the speed of a snail). I am a single woman, and I am not starving, but at the same time I'm not one of those high end accountants that could afford the astronomical prices either. They believe at AM that your talent is based upon the amount of money that you shell out a month. If you shell out more money to them, they will kiss your *** and dance with you during every single social dance on Friday night. However, the less you spend the less compliments you start receiving, and the less they start to care about you. I understand that it's a business and nobody is going to dance for free; however, in order for them to stay successful they must start to have more competitive pricing with other local companies. Also, they must teach their students what they want and are paying BIG money to learn. If I want to walk in off of the street, I'm a beginner, and want to learn a Bolero, then damnit I should be entitled to learn that! I shouldn't have to be a "Bronze III," student in order to learn this. Their little hierarchy of dance levels, is a hierarchy of how much money that student puts into the studio. It truly disguists me how they operate, and can't believe it almost took me two years to figure this out. One lady from our studio doesn't dance, she truly is a Kate Gosselin wannabe, and yet she went to competition in Vegas last year! The studio should've been ashamed to let her perform! I am just hoping I find something locally thats reasonable, will teach me what I want to learn, and appreciate my talent and dedication to dancing.

Dear sexysamba82: really? It took you almost 2 years to figure it out?
It took me 10 minutes to start to smell it and 2 weeks to positively figure
it out. The facts and proofs are too numerous to list them all.
here are a few. I asked for group lessons; they convinced me (under pressure
mixed with smart talking)to try introductory private lessons at a discount. They acted like they didn't hear me ask for group lessons. My first instructor was overweight and quit, complaining of pain due to a car accident. A substitute
for one sance, instead of teaching, kept bragging that he was a top level
instructor which doesn't teach beginners. The next instructor was all the time
confused and had to figure out the steps right on the dance floor
before showing them to me and my wife. as I said, the list goes on.
The problem is not only with the instructors but with the company since
the dealing and contract signing was with the manager who made me feel uneasy
with his sweet talks, pressures, insistences and finally rudeness when I
told him I cannot sign a new contract for a full year (at exorbitant fee)
until I came back from a cruise vacation I had already planned.
Any business has its few bad apples but the problem is that, in this case, the bad apples are not the exception. They are the majority, the norm.

This form of dancesport club is the most common for local sports clubs in Germany where I live. The biggest advantage is that you can decide what kind of instruction you require and hire the best professionals that meet your requirements.

The professionals like this form too, since they increase their customer base for private lessons with each club they train.

I also think that it is an unfortunate situation because these studios are turning people off of dancing. It is good that anonymous found another studio to go to. Many people stop dancing all together because of greed and incompetence in the AMI system.

I had similar experiences as were mentioned in this discussion, including the bad-mouthing after I left. However, this was done at a FA, not an AM. In fact, it was refreshing to go to the AM in town and be treated respectfully and professionally. Having been in this hobby for several years, I can attest that independent studios train on the premises as well. I have been fortunate to have had some wonderful instructors who did not pressure me for sales, lie to me, or give me substandard teaching. One in particular was from AM.

"What is to stop anyone from forming their own dance club. It should be easy to then hire a profession of your own choice, but under your control."

It's a good idea, and it works sometimes. But you have to find a teacher who would rather work for you than work for themselves. The more expert teachers usually have a good situation already, they may even be the owners of the studios your club would compete against (often the owner himself/herself is a good value as a teacher for their fee, but their employees do not have the knowledge and are bound by business policies rather than by what is good for the student's dancing).

Sometimes you can get a younger teacher without a studio business, but often they aren't so expert.

It tends to work best if the club is made up of people the teacher knows would never go to a normal studio: young adults and students at university. Otherwise they see it as competing with their business.

The fact that AM sucks is not true if you do what I do.
My wife and I pay one private lesson per week ($154).
This gives us the right to attend the group classes that we never miss.
We're at the studio everyday. The fact that we average one private lesson per week, also gives us the right to be at all parties and practice sessions.
So, for $672, me and my wife have about 15 group classes, 4 privates and 6 parties and prectice sessions.
$26 bucks for each time we step in the studio.
So try to get this deal with a private instructor and you'll how much will cost you...
AM is awesome if you use all the advantages it offers.
If you join AM to take just private classes, it'll cost you a fortune.
Also I'd say here that the fact that AM instructors are not qualified, this is a lie.
I'm at bronze 3 level and ALL the teachers in my studio are highly qualified. In the other AM Studios that I have visited around the world, I just saw awesome teachers.
Of course, because all studios are owned and operated by different people, it's possible that in some AM studios you may find bad instructors.
The fact that AM teachers hold you back and don't teach you new steps until you pay, it's also a lie.
I reached the bronze 3 level in 13 months. I'm a fast learner. If you're not, AM teachers will just teach you to run after you learn how to walk. If is going to take 200 leassons for you to learn how to walk, of course, AM teachers will not teach you how to run until you have had and paid all 200 lessons.
So, I'm not all emotional about AM. Actually I careless where I learn how to dance. I made my research and at an independent studio I'd have the half of fun for the double of price.

Done!

http://www.vbds.org

We have 700 members with 6 CDTA/ISTD certified instructors, 3 at member level and one an ISTD Fellow/Examiner.

Why would the teachers do this?

The Club does all the organizing and registration, etc. of group classes. The teachers just walk in and teach. The Club itself does not teach privates but the teachers pick up a lot of private students thanks to the Club's organization of group classes.



Karl,

You obviously haven't read the whole thread.

$26 a visit?

I pay less than $1 for a practice.
$4.50 for 45 minutes of group classes.
$10 for a dance (that includes a 45 minute workshop.

That's $15.50

You're paying $78 for the same thing.

OB