r/ballroom

So, I'm currently taking every single ballroom class I can since my studio got kicked out of their current lease that they've been in for well over a decade (owners sold the entire block). It's not great timing as I'm a little injured and preparing for another surgery, so I'm already incredibly fatigued in general, but I can't imagine I'll have an opportunity to learn ballroom again after this as I can't afford privates with as much medical debt as I'm in. The studio decided on a building with a "view" in an out of the way location that made no sense at the time. It's not near any dense residential or commercial areas.

Now, I get it. An instructor announced it will be a "combined wedding venue and dance studio, with fitness classes"

I can't imagine this will go well. It already takes me well over an hour to get to the studio in rush hour traffic and this adds another 15 minutes to the commute, and there's lots of dancers with longer commutes than me. It's going away from a central, dense location in the actual city that's near a major highway to a location that's not near any highways off a long, windy road and will only be convenient to people in the adjacent suburb. Almost every instructor and dancer on the South side of town left the studio when they heard about where the new location was and I'm sure everyone that has to travel to the new location will be thinking about gas prices. I also think that other venues will be less likely to work with instructors when they're working at a studio that's also a venue and this will lock in wedding couples that only want to marry at that location. I can't imagine all ten instructors will stay employed. They say they'll only close the studio for weddings on Saturday, but when you can charge similar prices on Thurs-Sun, I can't imagine that'll be the case. I don't think they can continue to be a 'dance studio' if they can realistically only provide classes Monday-Wednesday and will eventually transition to just a wedding venue with one or two instructors on site

It’s a shame because they’ve really been the center of our local dance community for 25 years, from swing to country to ballroom. Weekend nights were their big socials and there’s probably less incentive for people to learn in classes if weekend socials can’t happen. Yes, I know it’s a business, but was also a community.

Curious if this has happened to any other students and what happened.

I need a dance my husband and I can do to the kind of pop at weddings. A couple of years ago I broke one ankle and had surgery. It's mostly fine but just weak. On the other foot I developed a Morton's Neuroma so I need to avoid a lot of weight on forefoot. I also have bad knees so no lunges on one knee. TIA!

Like this is an ick of mine, idk if there is a different kind of posture, but i never come across any teaching technique where the man holds the lady's waist while she holds her skirt. Like where is the connection why are they dancing a district apart is it to leave room for jesus or something? Why is bro hunching down i thought i'm watching cinderella not hunchback of notre dame??

https://preview.redd.it/9s69uq6me91h1.png?width=638&format=png&auto=webp&s=a6e4a340ae2c03c14566c7594c3eec659507e865

https://preview.redd.it/fy8e6g9de91h1.png?width=992&format=png&auto=webp&s=6292c9f788848fae554ee281f709131a9a224560

What kind of connection is this?? Disney can't hire a proper ballrom trainer? Was all the budget going to her dress? Where is the frame??

https://preview.redd.it/tdioc6yue91h1.png?width=900&format=png&auto=webp&s=10ac040a3b88dbc8c230286263f203d7141151f0

Bro's hold reminds me of the dudes who got slapped by my dance teacher for making me reach my hand up to match his height

Honestly is this like a whole different kind of dance or something? Is this like a disney version of ballroom dance? Because it looks like it

The only thing that come across to my mind is that the princesses are trying to lift their train but at the cost of connection really? I'm surprised they don't step on each others toes every 5 second

They could go for a wrist loop like in crimson peak

https://preview.redd.it/gisxbzpjf91h1.png?width=1112&format=png&auto=webp&s=bce7cdc5e22d37687312b4585bfd94f4d6693c09

This makes sense, at least there is a clear connection there. Even I'm wondering why Tom is holding the back not the shoulder blade since in this film he's supposed to be the waltz expert. I'll let mia slide for grabbing this dude's shoulder because she's supposed to be the noob

edit: Belle does it properly she even directed beast where to put his hand I always knew she is the best princess

https://preview.redd.it/err21wezj91h1.png?width=1280&format=png&auto=webp&s=63e314664382a5ed03278829493c5a7576b556db

my cultured baby

So I go to a big state school, last year our ballroom club recruited lots of people. Our first club we literally filled up the entire college gym and we retained a lot of people from that for the first couple of months. We recruited more than a dozen people that semester and it was the biggest our club has ever been. The next semester towards the later end especially we started to see a lot lower turnout.

This year has been a disaster. We lost literally 2/3 of the club who graduated last year, a lot of the remaining people from last year have basically quit the club, and our remaining people from last year are giving up/quitting soon as well.

The club honestly feels dead. The discord used to be so lively and now nobody posts anymore. The socials have lower turnout from the alumni who seem to be giving up as well. A neighborhing school that we're close with ballroom club has also died. We may have like another year left at this point before we're done. Is this a growing issue at other colleges?

I am currently taking lessons at an AM studio and recently did a spotlight dance (where you solo dance in front of the rest of the students), and it was such a great experience! It brought me back to the days when I competed in Indoor Drumline and Indoor Color Guard back in high school. I was in love with performing in front of a crowd and competing against other high schoolers back then, and now I kinda want to get back into that competition/performance mindset (but for adults). How do I start looking for a competition team to join?

Im trying to watch some videos and honestly they go too fast. Im trying to understand how wide each step is and how many steps for one rotation.

I’m a relatively new ballroom student and a small business owner. I love the hobby and I love my instructors, but as someone who runs businesses, the math at my studio isn't adding up. I’m starting to worry that my "investment" in my teachers is really just lining the pockets of the franchise owners while the talent struggles.

I pay roughly $170 per session, and have been quoted anywhere from $4,000 to $15,000 for larger events. This doesn’t include coaching or smaller events or multiple lessons a week.

I’m fortunate enough to earn $11k/month, so while the hobby is expensive, it’s manageable for me. I always assumed my instructors were receiving a healthy commission from these high price tags. However, I'm seeing red flags:

The "Hustle": Many of my teachers work multiple jobs or have weekend gigs.

The Hours: They consistently exceed 40-hour weeks. Some even work weekends. I see them running from lesson to lesson without sitting, eating, or even drinking water.

Physical Toll: I’ve noticed eye bags, a sickly/tired appearance, and an overall frantic energy between lessons. Even at events where they dance hundreds of heats, I never see them rest.

Tipping Policy: I was told I cannot give monetary gifts to teachers; instead, I was told "donations" would go to the studio. As a business owner, this feels predatory.

I want to be clear: I don’t feel exploited as a student. My instructors are advanced, professional, and honest. One even asked to reschedule a lesson to better prepare—which I appreciated. This contrasts other things I’ve heard of instructors constantly asking for back to back lessons and not being prepared. I’ve seen massive improvement in my dancing and I want to keep investing in them.

My Dilemma
I’m struggling to justify these prices if the wealth isn't being distributed to the people actually doing the work. It’s hard to enjoy a luxury hobby when you can tell, human-to-human, that the person providing the service is exhausted and potentially barely getting by.

For those in the industry or other students:
Is the commission structure at Arthur Murray actually fair to the teachers?

Is this "burnout culture" standard for the franchise, or is it just my location?

How can I support my teachers directly if the studio blocks gratuity?

I want to support the craft, but I don't want to support a system that overworks its talent to the point of exhaustion.

I’ve danced about two years and want to continue learning on 2 but I think I’ve hit a wall with my school. We learn patterns and shines but body movement and styling is not focused on. Id like to get better at this and maybe learn other types of salsa as well while continuing on 2. Id love this in one school.

Currently im looking at maybe taking an Afro Cuban dance class separately or finding a salsa focused school that teaches specific body movements and isolations.

So my question is in nyc which schools can you recommend that focus on bm and other types of salsa? Or if there’s classes separate from salsa you’d recommend that would be ok too.

Thanks for any help

What kind of leotards do you prefer? I'm looking for the most comfortable ones for a competition. I liked many models from Energetiks. Do ypu know something about them?

Would love to hear what brands or styles you guys like.

I know Fred Astaire has a reputation for being kind of a “scam” and price gouging like crazy (they’re increasing their prices this month), but they’re the only studio somewhat close to me that offers ballroom lessons. I love my instructors and the community there too. However, I keep seeing that different FADS have different prices, so just out of curiosity, how much do you pay for your private lessons at FADS?