My husband and I thought it would be fun to take dance lessons together, just as a ""couple"" thing to do. We figured that we attend enough weddings / social events to warrant having an idea of what we were doing on the dance floor. When the studio ran a special for some free lessons, we thought, why not? When we showed up, the owner, let's call him ""Rick"" (his real name rhymes with that and starts with a ""D."" Citysearch won't let me use that word, apparently), spent most of our time ""demonstrating"" his moves instead of actually instructing us. Even though the studio's brochure mentioned being able to choose a few types of dances to concentrate on, Rick insisted that we choose a select few, and objected when we asked to learn a few others instead. After we finished our promotional lessons, we got roped into another ""special,"" to which we agreed, thinking that perhaps these paid lessons would be a good investment. Nope. Nothing changed. Rick and other members of the staff would often ignore us and leave us standing in the middle of the room while they waltzed around us -- literally -- showing off. The scheduled ""Private"" lessons really entailed an instructor or two running back and forth among several couples who were scheduled at the same time. Not my idea of private. The ""Social Nights"" were yet another excuse for Rick and his partner to show off while the other students watched helplessly, as they couldn't possibly keep up with the steps, since they weren't taught enough during the ""private"" lessons.\r
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After a few lessons, finishing up the rest of our dance lesson package went from being sort of fun to being a total chore. My husband and I debated whether we should just chalk it up to a loss, or finish what we started. We ended up finishing our private lessons, but ditched the group lessons and social events because they were just unbearably uncomfortable. Not only that, but my husband and I took lessons together. To learn how to dance as partners. We did not want to be split up and forced to dance with other partners -- some of whom were either way more advanced or way behind . \r
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Glad to finally be finished, we finally sat down with Rick for our ""report card."" He breezed through our progress, and then really got down to business, trying to push a $4,000 (NO LIE) tuition package upon us to continue with lessons. There was no intermediate package. THAT WAS THE COST TO GO TO THE NEXT LEVEL. Disgusted, we left, and once we got into the car, we apologized to each other for having ""made"" each other go to dance lessons. What started out as a fun idea to get out and exercise a bit completely turned into a dreaded ordeal. We definitely felt taken advantage of. We spent more than $500 to basically watch Rick impress people with HIS moves. To make matters even worse, Rick called us incessantly in the following weeks -- calling both my cell phone and my husband's -- leaving messages about how we had better continue or we were going to forget everything we learned, and our previous lessons would be a total waste. Well, he was right about that very last part. \r
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Do yourselves a favor and take dance lessons at the Fred Astaire Studios if you want serious lessons that are a good investment for your money.
Pros: Um...open on weekends?
Cons: EXPENSIVE / OVERPRICED! Rude & high pressure staff.
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