Arthur Murray Royal Oak

Wow. Never thought I would step foot in a place like this.
My wife made a reservation for us to «brush up» on our dancing skills for our wedding first dance. Came in with our first dance song in hand. Lillian popped it in the CD player and immediately exclaimed «Foxtrot!» I was hesitant at first.
Three lessons later we had learned 11 different dance steps. Lillian shot video of us practicing which turned out to be crucial in our practicing.
Wedding day rolled around 1 week later and we nailed it! Total surprise for the guests. Amazing.

I’ve been a student at Arthur Murray’s for just over a year. It’s been a great experience for both my husband and myself. We have enjoyed all the classes, private lessons, dances, and special events. We can’t say enough about the staff and the friendliness of this studio. We hope to see you there soon!

If you want to look like a professional on the dance floor; if you want to enjoy being in the arms of your special someone; if you want to be a unique spotlight at your wedding, then there is only one place to go: Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Royal Oak. I’ve danced there for 13 years and have yet to tire of the experience. Dancing is a great way to stay in shape, meet new friends, and have fun all at the same time. Not only do the instructors allow you to work at your own pace, but they patiently and creatively encourage you to do what you’ve never imagined: blossom. I like the parities, the group lessons, the line dances, and the atmosphere. It doesn’t matter how old you are — whether you are a pre-​teen or senior citizen — if you can walk, you can dance.

I went here with a groupon, which came with one group lesson and two private lessons. I scheduled the group lesson over the phone and was instructed not to wear tennis shoes or rubber soles. They also had a 24 hour cancellation notice. Note to people with groupons — ALL of your lessons must be used up before the groupon expires, not just the first lesson.
The group lesson was 30 – 45 minutes long. There were about 6 – 8 couples and 2 – 3 single ladies. The instructor introduced us to a few basic steps and had us practice them, rotating partners. Instead of holding hands, everyone touched palms as if frozen while playing pat-​a-​cake. This weirded me out a bit because I realized I had not touched anyone’s palms (boyfriend excluded) in years… hahaha. But I will admit that changing partners was helpful for practicing, especially since the instructor did the man’s steps, so we ladies got to practice with the instructor several times. We did the box steps for waltz, rumba, and foxtrot.
After the group lesson, you could schedule your two private lessons. Each person/​couple also received a sheet where we could note the steps we had learned and which instructor we had; Arthur Murray then keeps this on file. We ended up scheduling our two private lessons back to back, as they were 20 – 30 minutes each.
In the private lessons, we reviewed the steps from the group lesson and learned how to turn and how to place our hands/​arms so that we looked more like we were actually dancing and not that pat-​a-​cake thing.
We were then given information on signing up for the real classes and were also invited to join a practice ballroom session where people just show up and dance, with instructors roaming around and helping. I think this might have been included in the groupon. We weren’t able to fit the practice ballroom session into our schedule, so we ended up skipping it. I wanted to sign up for classes, but they were kind of pricey. I would definitely need a lot more classes/​practice because I have two left feet and also a terrible memory. I get better each time in class, but then I forget the steps so quickly. :(
The dance studio is located on Main, north of 11 Mile, across the street from Hollywood Market (and slightly north of it). If you are coming from the north, the building is really hard to see because the Arthur Murray sign only faces south, so get ready to turn right when you see the used car dealership. It’s just after the dealership, and it’s a brown brick building with a brown roof.
For the longest time, they did not have a website, but now they do… finally!