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Note: We will not
be taking on any new private-lessons students until Fall
2010 at the earliest. We are out of town for the 2007-2010
academic years.
Frequently asked
questions:
When are private lessons a
reasonable idea?
Private lessons are a very expensive way to
learn how to dance; they are much more expensive than
group lessons. We think they only make sense if you are
learning fast enough to warrant the cost difference. That
is, if private lessons cost, say, 7 or 10 times as much
as group classes, then you should be getting 7 or 10
times as much out of them. Which means that only rarely
are private lessons sensible:
- Private lessons offer a learning pace that is
tuned to you in particular, which usually means a
slightly accelerated learning pace over group classes.
The more skilled you are, the more true this becomes.
(At the absolute-beginner level, there is almost no
difference between good group classes and private
lessons, apart from the cost.) So for skilled dancers,
private lessons are sometimes worth it. For highly
skilled dancers, private lessons are definitely worth
it.
- If you have a lousy group-class instructor,
private lessons will teach you more. But really, you
are better off changing to a better group-class
instructor first, and taking private lessons later if
still necessary. Ahem, may we point you to our
Upcoming Dance
Classes schedule?
- Private lessons are good for feeling what an
excellent partner should feel like, because you get to
dance directly with the instructor, who, in theory
anyway, is pretty good at this stuff. Private lessons
are also good for being coached on what you should
feel like, since the instructor can give you feedback
on a moment-to-moment basis.
- Private lessons are good for working intensively
on details after you have taken some group
classes. Usually this involves the details of bedrock
technique skills, and sometimes involves little
details that go wrong in your leading (men) or
following (women).
- Private lessons are good for intensive pre-wedding
polishing, especially after you have taken some
group classes. In one or two private lessons, we can
polish the little things that aren't fixable in a
group class; work on styling (tuned for dancing in
wedding clothes); and deal with "first dance"
choreography -- how to pattern the moves across the
floor to look good.
There are three other minor circumstance in which
private lessons are reasonable :
(a) Your schedule absolutely cannot accommodate any of
the group classes being taught anywhere near you. (b) You
wish to redistribute your wealth. We dance teachers are
cheerfully willing to assist you in such altruistic
endeavors. (c) You are in a desperate hurry. This last
case should be extremely rare, because almost the only
thing important enough to warrant emergency dance lessons
is your own wedding, about which you presumably had some
advance
notice.
Group classes have
some advantages of their own, besides the lower
cost:
- Group lessons are considerably less intimidating
and less exhausting for most people, because there
isn't the constant, nonstop spotlight of the
instructor's attention.
- In group classes, you get a sense of the pace at
which other people learn, which is reassuring enough
that it helps most people learn faster.
- The early phase of learning to dance simply
requires lots of repetitions (in a context of clever
and instructive progressions), to let the body acquire
an automatic feel for the fundamentals. Doing simple
stuff over and over is the very best way to master
certain aspects at the beginning. While doing simple
repetitions, there is no advantage to private
lessons.
In our opinion,
overall:
- You should definitely take group lessons -- from
us or someone else -- before you take private lessons
anywhere. The cost-benefit ratio for private lessons
is much more favorable after you have the basics under
your belt. Of course, we recommend our own group
classes (surprise!), but since our group classes are
much better than anyone else's, in this case we're
just giving you good advice.
:-)
Do you offer private
lessons?
We offer private lessons, but we have almost no
time slots available. We try to
reserve all of our tiny number of private-lesson time
slots for folks who have already taken our group
lessons, for several reasons:
- It helps us allocate our tiny number of available
private-lesson time slots by letting us give priority
to someone.
- We like to stuff you full of basic skills and
knowledge at a low price (in our group classes),
before we start polishing the details at an extremely
high price (in our private lessons).
- If you have taken our group lessons, we already
know you and your dancing a bit, and you already know
our dance terminology and teaching style a bit, so we
can all be much more efficient in the private
lessons.
- We feel unethical teaching you group-class
material at private lesson rates.
Since our group classes are nearly as good as
private lessons at the Beginner level -- we're almost
unique in that regard -- we recommend that you save the
expensive private lessons for fine-tuning after
you have learned the fundamental moves and technique
skills in our group
classes.
How much do you charge for
private lessons?
For private lessons, we charge $125 per
hour (60 minutes); 1 hour minimum. We do not teach
half-hour lessons; sorry. The price is the same for 1
person or 2 people; higher for greater numbers.
This is among the very highest rates in the Boston
area. Most dance teachers charge about $60 to $80 per
"hour" (usually 45- to 55-minutes) these days. We do not
mind at all if you take group classes with us and your
private lessons with other folks, although we won't go so
far as to recommend any particular other
instructors.
Why so
expensive? We charge so much for a few
reasons:
- We actually rent our dance space by the hour, and
nearly half of your fee goes directly for the extra
rent. (Sorry, there's usually no savings if you
provide the space, because then we have to take travel
time into account.)
- Our private lessons are pretty darned good:
tightly focused, somewhat intensive, extremely
effective.
- The lesson preparations -- yes, we actually do
separate preparations for your private lessons -- and
administrative back-and-forth usually add up to
another hidden hour. Unlike lawyers, for example, we
do not charge for that time.
- Ken used to be a lawyer, and feels ridiculous
charging so much less than lawyers do.
Note again that our group classes, vastly
better than the average group classes, cost a mere $12
per hour or so. Hint,
hint.
Can you recommend someone
else?
There are many dance instructors in the Boston
area, in virtually every category of dance. Almost all of
them are excellent dancers, and a tiny number of them are
excellent teachers (a completely separate category of
skills).
We do not mind at all if you take group classes with
us and your private lessons with other folks, or even if
you skip us altogether! But, sorry, we will not go so far
as to recommend any particular other instructors. (We
used to, but since they never even thanked us, let alone
returned the favor, we figured the heck with
it.)
Scheduling: When do you offer
private lessons?
In general, we are very flexible about day and
time, as long as we can all synchronize. Of course, we
cannot teach during our regular group classes -- and we
do not schedule any private lessons during the first week
of a new session of group classes -- so it's a good idea
to check our schedule. (See Current
dance classes and Upcoming
dance classes). Our contact
information is at the bottom of this
page.
In general, we have extremely limited evening
availability, but much more availability in the
afternoons.
We are getting married. Will
your group classes (Ballroom or Swing) teach us enough, or
should we take private lessons?
First, congratulations on your upcoming wedding!
Our group classes will teach you almost enough.
For your first dance at your wedding, you probably want
something a little spiffier than the usual casual
dancing, or at least some coaching on what to do when all
eyes are watching. Some folks find it helpful to take one
or two private lessons with us (or with any other
instructor) after our group classes, for
a little choreographic
enhancement.
Are you available for giving the
"freebie" lesson before our major dance event
(campus or corporate)? If so, how much do you charge?
We are available for doing a 1-hour lesson (or
more, or less, as you prefer) before major dances, either
on campus or elsewhere. We charge modest prices for these
events, beginning at $180 for non-profit events and
ranging upward, depending on the particular organization
and event, and travel requirements. For fees and details,
please contact
us.
Some free advice to
organizers on how to offer such lessons, based
on our experience in teaching them:
We know that you are tempted to offer the freebie
lesson for perhaps one-half to one hour immediately
before the music begins at your big dance. Easier
logistics all around, right?
However, we have found that this scheduling usually
makes your freebie lesson an almost complete waste of
money, if your goal is to have people actually attend the
lesson and learn something. This is because:
- People arrive late to dances, not early.
Almost no one arrives early
enough for the lesson. We have taught lessons with
zero or two people.
- People are inhibited by the folks standing around
NOT wanting to learn anything, and are distracted by
the talking and drinking going on around them.
The freebie lesson is best held
in a place physically separated from all the
non-dancers.
- At your dance event, people are in a Big Dance
mood -- a mood of glitter and glamor, a mood for
relaxing and having a good time. They are all dressed
up and feeling fabulous. They are not in the mood --
let along in the clothes! -- for the completely
different mindset of taking a dance lesson.
The one good thing about this standard scheduling is
that it is popular with guests, and plays a beneficial
psyhological role. Even though almost no one will show up
for the lesson, your guests will be aware that they could
have done so. And somehow that puts everyone in more of a
dancing mood, even if not a single soul actually attended
the lesson.
However, we think the best solution is to hold
the freebie lesson on a different night from the big
dance event itself, preferably exactly one night before
the dance. In keeping with the pre-festive atmosphere,
the lesson can be in a far less formal setting than the
dance -- even a cafeteria or similar space will do.
You will get a larger turnout to the lesson, and the
lesson will have a much better atmosphere -- it becomes
something like a mini-social event of its own, an
informal Pre-Big Dance unwinding and bonding event. It
should be exactly the day before the main event, or two
at the most;
any more than that and people will forget everything.
Keep in mind that most big dance events are on a Saturday
night, and most people start to get in a festive mood a
day early anyway, so the Friday night before the dance is
usually pretty good for the freebie lesson. And if people
are doing something major on a Saturday night, they
probably are not doing something else major on that
Friday, so it's available on their calendars. This is
especially true for exactly those folks (couples) who are
most likely to show up for a freebie
lesson.
Do you offer group lessons at
private parties, fraternity parties, sorority parties,
wedding receptions? If so, how much do you charge?
Sorry, we no longer do these sorts of private
parties. To be candid, this is because of the
frustrations in trying to teach a genuinely good dance
lesson in the middle of a good party. The atmosphere at a
good party is just too different from the atmosphere that
makes for a good dance class, that is, one in which
everyone is willing to concentrate for a full hour on
mastering new dance skills. If people don't learn
something substantial, we feel we haven't given a good
lesson. We hate not giving a good lesson! We mean it when
we say on our web site's home page: "We are fiercely
dedicated to good teaching as well as good dancing."
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