Dance clubs in the US???

[daley]

As some of you may know from my previous posts, I was born and raised in Austria, where I also learned ballroom dancing. In Austria, dancing is a rite of passage for many teens, and virtually everybody I know/knew is familiar with the basic steps of most standard and Latin dances.

I already know that this is not the case in the US. However, the thing that always shocks me is the price of lessons in this country! In Austria and Germany, I was a member of a Tanzclub (literally translated, a dance club) for about 200 Euros per person per year. There was a minimal fee of 3 Euros for lessons and free access to the floor space. The level of instruction was excellent, and it was fun. We were mostly social dancers, but there were some competitive couples as well.

Do you know of similar institutions (outside of universities) in the US? I find the prices of dance studios utterly ridiculous. My husband and I are not interested in competition dancing, but enjoy high level social dancing. We are not really interested in courses for the general community as they tend to focus on ballroom basics...Ideally, what we are looking for is something like my former dance club in Vienna

Any ideas or suggestions? Thank you in advance.

[Pathogen]

I agree, dance studios are crazy expensive, but you have to keep the lights on and the rent paid.  Although, one fo the best ways I have found to get relatively cheap dance lessons is to find them at bars or some resturants that offer evening dancing.
Check the YMCA, some offer ballroom dancing.

While I was living in Santa Fe, there was a bar that offered free swing lessons weekly, midweek.  Another place offered Salsa lessons.

Now I live in San Diego and there is a local resturant that offers evening tango lessons for a couple bucks, free with dinner.  I saw a flyer at a StarBucks about another place offering swing lessons.  Some gyms offer HipHop dance combined with cardio.

I assume you just have to keep your eyes open to find a place or maybe ask around at local resturants and coffee shops.  You never know what you can find.

[tRiCkHaTT]

~Zip Code+Google...but thats me good luck ^^...