How does the US method of running a dance studio works?

Question

I am a dance studio owner in Budapest,Hungary. I've heard that dance studios in the US are offering 20-40 minute group lessons of single dances (such as rumba, cha-cha), instead of having only "rythm/smooth/etc." lessons, including a bunch of dances. Lessons cost ~$6-8 each, an all-inclusive pass that allows participation in all lessons cost $40. These studios mainly focus on having people attend private lessons, are located in a more suburban area and have only 4-8 teachers, altogether.
My questions:
- Isn't the "menu" style lessons (vs. 1 course with many dances) make ppl visit the studio several times a week, or only once for a few lessons?
- are lessons really the same price independently from length?
- how much a teacher gets from the income of the school?Are they employed on a fix salary, percentage, per capita?
- how many ppl usually attend classes a week?How many altogether? What is the income ratio (group lessons:all)?
- average number of weeks a dancer attends before stoping

Answer 1

There is no such thing as average way of operating a studio, it seems. US is very diverse, and what works in New York won't work the same way in a small town in Texas. I attend 3 different studios, and sometimes I visit one more (US). They are all privately owned. They compose their class schedule according to what works best in this area and to what type of crowd do they want to cater their classes (Social? Competitive? Young? Not so young? Beginners? Advanced?). They have both types of classes - they teach a series on a particular style, or they have drop-in lessons where people learn one dance. The first type seems to be of more interest to competitive crowd. The disadvantage might be that one has to commit to a lot of lessons, and people are often not ready to spend like $200 on 25 lessons. The advantage is you get consistent crowd that is easier to teach, because you can safely assume they've attended the previous class. There is no particular model, like I said, every studio does what they see fit. For example, one of the studios I go to has a series of 25 lessons on Standard, one has to sign up in advance (yes, there is waiting list!) and pay up front. No drop-in allowed. The same studio teaches Latin series, but you can take them one lesson at a time. They spend 4 weeks on each dance, and then the cycle repeats. This studio also has other drop-in classes of random nature. They offer private lessons too.

The number of students is limited from the top by the size of the room. Once it gets too crowded some people chose not to attend. The size of a class is anywhere from 20 to 100 students. This number also greatly depends on what level and what dance you teach: beginner salsa gets the most, advanced Paso Doble gets the least number of people.

How teachers get paid depends on how the studio operates, also depends on what kind of deal do they get with the owner of the studio. That greatly depends on the teacher, too - good teachers get better deal. I don't teach for money, this is only the guess of mine from many years of observation. Nobody really discusses their income.

Lessons tend to be either 45 or 60 minutes. Group class price seems to be independent of that. Private lessons are charged differently - $60 for 45 minutes becomes $75 for 60 minutes.

Average number of weeks a dancer attends before stopping... What a sad question. It is distributed unevelny: a lot of people give up after one or two lessons. A bunch of people seems to dance for like half a year to a year.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

i think its better for you to contact these dance schools on your own.look up their addresses in places like google and froogle and get in touch with them,better through e-mail and ask them these questions.there you can get the right answers not here.good luck in your endeavours.