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So, my first posting here on R/R. I'm a little excited, but nervous too... so bear with me!
Are there any women out there who have not thought, at one time or another, "I'd love to be able to dance well"? Like, when you were a little girl, watching Beauty and the Beast. Belle and the Beast sweeping across the ballroom floor... Belle in her yellow ballgown, looking as beautiful and graceful as ever!
I know I have.
Well, I had the great fortune of coming across a craigslist ad when looking for a new job about one year ago. I've always loved dance, but have never taken any professional instruction. When I saw the ad for an administrative position in a dance studio, I was stoked!
I'd never heard of Arthur Murray, and was (honestly) a little disappointed when I found out it was ballroom dance instead of jazz or ballet. But I was still excited about the opportunity and continued to pursue it. Well, one year later I'm still there and taking lessons when I can. I would have never thought teaching dance was this in depth.
I guess this is where the raving starts :)
Arthur Murray Dance Schools have a world renowned method of instruction. It's a trifecta.
There are Private Lessons. This is where you come in, with or without a partner, and you have a one-on-one session with your instructor. You work on whatever dances you want to learn, whatever you signed up for in your program.
There are Group Lessons. This is just exactly what it sounds like. Several people in one group (I've seen as many as 20+ in one group), guys on one side, ladies on the other. The instructor goes over the man's part and the lady's part, you walk through it, and then you come together with the opposite part (lead/follow) and dance out the steps. Arthur Murray found that when learning how to dance, you get more out of it and retain the steps better if you dance with multiple partners. So, in group lessons you rotate partners throughout the group.
There are Practice Sessions/Parties. This is where you come in and dance. There is no formal instruction, but the instructors are there in case you have a question or just aren't sure what you're doing! It's basically a supervised dance session. You practice what you know with different people of all levels, and everyone is cool about it. If you dance with someone better than yourself, it's okay, they'll come down to your level. If you are that better person, you're not frustrated, because you've been there before! It's a safe environment to test what you know!
Arthur Murray started teaching people how to dance almost 100 years ago. He started it as a "learn to dance by mail" system where he would mail you the steps. It's evolved since then, but Arthur Murray is still the world's most well known name in ballroom dance instruction. It's worldwide, people! You can't get any better than that!
Anyway, I love my job and it's way fun taking lessons! If you've ever thought about taking ballroom dance lessons, check it out, you won't be disappointed!