dance lessons and pricing

[janinegirly]

so i started looking into dance lessons since FI and I aren''t natural ballroom dancers. And maybe it''s b/c i''m in NYC, or maybe it''s because I''m naive as to what this entails, but seems pricier and more involved than I thought! They''re saying 5 lessons minimum with packages of around $300!

Can anyone share their experience? I''m just hoping it''s not another example of put wedding in front of a word and double the usual price and voila--there''s the standard wedding pricing!

 

[ammayernyc]

Try the Fred Astaire dance studios. They have a introduction package for $75 for two 30-minute private lessons and one group lesson. If you go to the one on the East Side, ask for Vega... he''s great!

 

[ladyciel]

Ballroom lessons can be quite expensive for one on one attention. I''ve come across several studios here in michigan where it works out to $100+/hour for a couple in a private lesson. I don''t know what the availability might be, but see if you can find any group lessons sponsered by the YMCA, local government, schools, etc. Adult education type programs often include dance classes in their schedules, and the prices can be waaaaaaaaaay less than what you''d find elsewhere. And, assuming you like the instructor, he/she may be willing to supplement the group lessons with personal lessons if you can agree on a price. My BF and I are currently taking 2 different classses through such a program. 6 weeks, 1 hour a week for each class, and it was about $45/person/class. All in all less than 200 for 12 hours for the both of us. They''re group classes, but they''re small and we get plenty of personal attention from our instructor.

Good luck!!

 

[piccolascimmia]

You might want to check your local college adult/evening classes - I''m taking a 6 session/week course from my college for ballroom and it was only $140 total.

 

[dsy]

I guess it depends on why you're taking the lessons? If you want to do a choreographed ballroom dance ala what you see on "Dancing with the Stars"

then you'll definitely need private lessons.

If you're just looking to get comfortable with ballroom dancing and don't need to pull off anything too complex, then there's no reason why you would need to pay that much. Group lessons like they suggested above should be sufficient.

Here in chicago we found a ballroom dance studio and it's $10-12 per person for each 1.5 hr group class. If you want private lessons, it's $300 for five lessons per couple.

 

[RoseAngel04]

My FI and I are taking private dance lessons for our first dance and paid for 5 lessons @ $300. This was the cheapest I found when I called around town. After taking a couple lessons I def think it''s worth it. FI and I have learned A LOT in only two lessons and we''ve had so much fun learning together!

If you can make the splurge I say do it.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Must be b/c of where you are. We got 4 private 1 hour long lessons (plus they put a dance together for us for our first song) for $99. The first was the basics the last three perfecting our dance.

 

[ephemery1]

My husband's parents wanted to pay for us to take 8 private dance lessons before the wedding, so we accepted their gift... I believe it was around $700 for the package.

Under any other circumstance, I'm sure it would have been a fun activity to do as a couple, but I was SOO stressed out in those weeks before the wedding, and had SOO much else to do, that it just felt like a huge chore to drag ourselves down to the dance studio one evening a week.... not to mention find time to practice in between lessons.

We worked out choreography for our first dance, but by the time our wedding day rolled around, all I wanted to do was be close to my new hubby as we looked into each other's eyes and danced to our song... we were REALLY not in the mood to concentrate on remembering steps and stress about a perfect routine. So we totally abandoned ALL of our carefully choreographed moves... and I'm glad we did.

So for us, could have been fun in theory (and any other time!), but probably not worth the money.

 

[ladyciel]

I don''t think choreography is necessary for a first dance, though I guess it could be useful if you want to really show off or if you haven''t gotten down the lead/follow (it''s so easy to blame the poor guys, but following requires letting go of the leash for a while, which isn''t necessarily easy

). That said, group classes can probably give you the basics, a selection of steps to use, and the knowledge of how to move around the floor with them. Real social dancing is never choreographed, so why stress out about putting on a planned out performance when you really just want to focus on each other? If you want to be more critical about technique, or learn at a pace completely customized to you, then I could see private lessons being worth the cost difference.

 

[RoseAngel04]

Oh and we started around 5 months before the wedding so we''re not jamming all of our lessons in at once. Our dance instructor suggests that couples NOT wait to the last minute to learn the dance etc. Like others have said, dance lessons are not a must but for us it has been wonderful.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Oh I disagree! I LOVED having a choreographed dance. I think it looked awesome and was fun to watch. I also think it made us MORE comfortable since we felt like we knew what we were doing and (hopefully) looked good. That is my favorite part of our wedding video and the photographer got some great shots.

 

[RoseAngel04]

Date: 5/21/2007 11:43:27 PM
Author: Tacori E-ring
Oh I disagree! I LOVED having a choreographed dance. I think it looked awesome and was fun to watch. I also think it made us MORE comfortable since we felt like we knew what we were doing and (hopefully) looked good. That is my favorite part of our wedding video and the photographer got some great shots.

I agree tacori! For our first dance we didn''t want the sometimes typical "swaying" back and forth first dance, but an actual dance. With all the steps we are learning I think we will look fab and our guests will enjoy watching our first dance....at least this is what we''re hoping for! We still have 3 more lessons!

 

[ladyciel]

Oh, Tacori, I definitely think having different steps/moves to make it much more than just swaying is a very good idea! I just meant that I don''t think having a specific routine is necessary. Saying "hey, we should start with this, then dance however hubby wants to lead it, and maybe end with a turn or dip" is plenty. If you want to do more showy steps that almost have to be choreographed because they''re really difficult to lead, than it makes more sense to me. However, there are plenty of breaks, turns, etc that he can lead throughout the dance without it being planned out beforehand. We''re reaching the end of the group classes we''re in right now, and I feel comfortable we could fill a song with different combinations of the steps we know and have it be fun to watch w/o us feeling the "what if I forget the steps!!?!" pressure.

Oh, and if you decide to choreograph, remember what you''ll be wearing!! Lots of quick footwork/turns/etc may tire you out or be more difficult than you expect if/when your dress weighs 40lbs!

 

[fatafelice]

We are currently taking lessons here in NJ -- the wedding package was $680 for 12 private lessons (we will need every, last one!), which includes special attention/choreography for your first dance.

So far - about 5 lessons in - we both are having a great time, but I still fear for my toes (and the hem of my dress) on our wedding day!