This is a great place to dance. The owner (Isaac) and staff here (Rafia and Peyton) are always…read morewarm, encouraging and friendly. The Arthur Murray dance method is methodical and flexible. It can't be easy training so many different ages and skill levels to dance, but they manage to make everyone feel welcome and teach at the level you need. I was a ballet dancer growing up, so need a lot of instruction on ballroom style and technique, but can pick up dance steps quickly. My husband is a martial artist with absolutely zero dance experience. He has different strengths and challenges from me in learning to dance. Rafia manages to teach each of us at our levels without either of us being bored or frustrated. And we're always having fun and laughing in our lessons. The instructors are great in keeping it focused but fun and relaxed. We've been with the studio for 2 years now.
The way this Arthur Murray works is, you pay for the private lessons, and as long as you do at least one every two weeks, you can go to unlimited group classes, which they typically have each night during the week (depending on your level, you might be able to attend 3-4 of them). When you start, an instructor will ask which dances you're interested in, if you know, and help you figure out where you want to start. They offer pretty much every ballroom dance under the sun. We're most interested in the latin dances, so have been learning Cha Cha, Tango, Argentine Tango, Salsa, Rumba, Merengue and Samba. We've also sprinkled in some Swing, Country, Waltz and Foxtrot just from attending group classes. They start with basic steps, and each dance has a syllabus, so you progress carefully, consistently and thoughtfully into more complex movements.
They're great about COVID social distancing. Everyone is always wearing a mask correctly - students and teachers. If you're worried about being in public, they offer Zoom lessons, or you could just opt to do personal lessons rather than come to the groups (which is what we've been doing for months.)
On a bigger picture, if you're thinking of learning ballroom dance, get out there and do it. I've wanted to for years but felt held back by time and cost. Now that I'm doing it, I so wish I had found a way to start earlier. It's a really therapeutic part of my week. I get to take time out for myself, connect with my husband (there's a lot of work in the simple act of leading and following), and train in something I hope will continue with us for a lifetime. Plenty of people aren't partnered and take lessons alone. The instructors are wonderful for that as well, and group classes, if you're comfortable with the idea of dancing with others, allow you to meet and practice with other people - both partnered and solo, as the instructors always give the option to each student on whether they want to switch partners or not. I cannot recommend this studio highly enough. Give it a try!
