Mr. P and I have received most of our dance training in a studio (L.A. Dance Experience - see link!) that focuses on social dancing, and provides a rich schedule of group classes so that students can enhance their skills economically. Group classes are great for establishing an "instant" community of dancers. They are also great for brushing up your basics after some time away from dancing, and always for meeting new people.
Learning partner dancing is like learning a new language. First you have to recognize words, then begin to string them together; you progress to understanding modifiers, changes of tense, or viewpoint; and thus to eloquence. Dancing is the same: nobody starts out knowing more than that C-A-T means "cat."
Not surprisingly, it can take a long time to achieve proficiency in group classes. The class will typically be designed with specific material to be covered, and the instructor will move through that material based on the average learning speed of the students in the group. The students as a group will rarely progress beyond a mechanical understanding of the figures, usually chosen from a Bronze syllabus. Depending on the studio, there may not be a schedule of group classes covering more advanced material. At L.A. Dance Experience, there are five levels of ballroom classes, so we got lucky! We stayed in those classes for years.
But we also took plenty of private lessons along the way. We needed private coaching to focus on dances that weren't covered in the group classes, to address our specific technical problems, to assemble or refine competition choreography, to improve our performance quality and musicality, etc. It really isn't possible for a group instructor to address each individual dancer's issues in the context of a group class. (And you know, we all have our issues.)
It's fair to say that, had we chosen to invest in private lessons from the start, we could have achieved a high level of proficiency more quickly. We could have caught some very basic errors of technique before they became ingrained habits, and we could have learned a broader range of material much faster. Plus, over the years, we probably spent nearly as much on those group classes as we would have in privates over less time.
Of course, money isn't everything. We really enjoyed those group classes (and still do). Repeating classes meant that material we didn't absorb the first time could sink in later. Most of our close friends are from the dance world, and we might not have met some of these great people if we hadn't gone through the group classes. Plus, with busy work schedules, some weeks those classes were the only real exercise we got!
Anyway, this is the trade-off most students see: go the less expensive route that takes longer, or the faster route that costs more. But it doesn't have to be either/or. I think it's wise for a dance lover to strike a balance. Take group classes to build that community, so that when you go social dancing you will see people you know and are comfortable with, and to build a basic vocabulary of dancing. But also take private lessons, to make sure that your particular dancing goals can be reached - and so that you can "speak," not just a word or two of dance, but complete beautiful paragraphs.
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