MyFoxNYC covers the celebration! New Yorkers gather to praise Arthur Murray Franchised Dance Schools 100 years of teaching the world to dance.

Arthur Murray Dance Studios - 100 Years of Ballroom Dancing

Things are heating up in NYC this weekend with our World Dance-O-Rama! The fine teachers of Arthur Murray Franchised Dance Studios in NYC have put together a quick resource for those attending and those who wish to attend via proxy!

Arthur Murray NYC’s Social Media Resource can be found here: http://arthurmurraynyc.com/ballroom-dancing-blog-nyc/arthur-murray-world-dance-o-rama-social-media-resource-center/

Join in the fun from twitter using the OFFICIAL Arthur Murray Event Hashtag for 2012 #AMDANCE12 ! Not familiar with hashtags or twitter? Visit this link: http://support.twitter.com/articles/49309-what-are-hashtags-symbols

Want an easier way to engage the Official Chat? Use this handy Tweet-Chat link: http://tweetchat.com/room/AMDance12

Good luck to all our dancers and everyone have a GREAT weekend!

Dancing is movement- and unless you’re a sponge, movement is life! By the transitive property, Dancing = Life. So given the choice, between standing, arms crossed, stern faced with slack shoulders and floating across the floor on two legs who wouldn’t choose dancing? Think about it- how do people celebrate the best moments in life?

Imagine if a newly wed husband and wife walked into their reception and promptly stood still for several minutes while their wedding song played before going to greet their guests.

Imagine a world in which high school seniors spent thousands on tuxedos, gowns and transportation only to practice their posture at prom!

Imagine getting a promotion and going out with your friends to celebrate with a good night of standing!

When you stand you observe life go by, but never take an active part in it. When you dance you are part of life! So, as the picture says: No standing! Only dancing!

A dedicated dance teacher can give lessons to anyone- or anything! Arthur Murray Franchised Dance Studios in Redlands California shared this picture last week on their Facebook Page. This dancing elephant was trained to do gravity defying dance moves. If this elephant can beat the odds- so can any student who walks in the doors of an Arthur Murray Franchised Dance Studio and meets with our specially trained dance instructors.

While its clear that our studio in Redlands, CA likes to have a bit of fun- they also are currently running a very special program, we’ll let them say it in their own words:

Our Waltzing Warriors Program is starting off with a big bang. Our new Veterans are saying, “never knew I’d love dancing so much” and “I’m dancing with my wife for the first time in 44 years”

Why is Redlands offering special ballroom dancing lessons to our Military Veterans? First as a gesture of gratitude for the sacrifices they made by their service. The second reason may have to do with a post from January that Redlands put on their Facebook Page:

We humans are pack animals that need others in our lives. We humans need to keep our minds and bodies active. Sooo LEARN TO DANCE.

The gift of dance is not just lessons- this is social dancing, after all! Which means that dance is a way for people to come together and that is a powerful idea.

There’s a certain grammar our ballroom dance students use after they’ve begun their dance lessons.

“I am a dancer.”

Rarely do you hear anyone say, “Once I became a dancer…” And there’s a very good reason for that.

Our students, and students worldwide, have always been dancers. Even if they didn’t step into a pair of dance shoes until long after their kids graduated college they were always dancers, they just didn’t start dancing until later.

“The greatest artist does not have any concept which a single piece of marble does not itself contain within its excess, though only a hand that obeys the intellect can discover it.” – Michelangelo Buonarroti, Genius.

Whether you’re from the iPod generation…

Or the greatest generation…

You were always a dancer.

Arthur Murray Oceanside has been updating us for weeks on the choreography of their dance-flashmob scheduled for March 10th. The final video went live last week and you’ve got to see what they’ve put together! A great mix of Jazz and Ballroom dancing. We’re sure they’ll have cameras rolling on the date! Check back here for the final event video!

We mentioned Arthur Murray’s Dreamworld, a wonderful visually oriented Facebook Page for one of our studios, a while back.

Last week they shared a great photo that we had to bring to the rest of you!

While its not quite Halloween yet, while reading through some links via our amazing Arthur Murray Ballroom Twitter friends (click that link, its the most comprehensive collection of Arthur Murray official Twitter Channels on the Net! compiled with the help of our friend Ana at the Danvers, MA studio!) and came across this “haunting” link.

The song is by Matthew Fisher and is called “Ballroom For Ghosts”, at first we were expecting something perhaps a little more Disney than Debussy? But we were surprised- this is an elegant and moving bit of music that would be perfect for a riveting showcase should anyone take up the challenge! I’m sure Matthew Fisher would love to see it! So please take a listen- you won’t regret it.

If you made it out to the Coral Gables Valentine’s party last Thursday we’d love to see pictures! We’ll be watching Facebook all week for a few great shots!

Also, when Coral Gables announced their Valentine’s Party they dropped a good reminder of two major events coming up very soon!

Upcoming Arthur Murray Events!

Don’t forget about…

Fun-O-Rama dance competition is just around the corner! This year’s Fun-O-Rama will be in Orlando, FL and will be hosted at the Hilton Orlando Hotel on February 24-25. If you’d like to find out more information on signing-up please call 305-444-6136!

And

Next Month is The World Dance-O-Rama and will be hosted in New York City at The Sheraton Manhattan! This is one of the largest competitions of the year and it will be between March 21-25.

Here at Arthur Murray we read a number of blogs about ballroom dancing, usually starting with the latest news from our dance studios across the world and then trending off into whatever our Google Alerts lands in our inbox.

We found a very charming blog written by Daniel J. Hogan, a writer, wine drinker, collector of old typewriters, adventurer and man who wears a very stylish eyepatch. It seems Mr. Hogan stepped into his ballroom dance class, expecting the usual assortment of samba, swing, jazz and what have you- but was instead greeted with a (perfectly dance-able!) big band version of both Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit and Van Halen’s classic cut JUMP from 1984.

Read his (hilarious) reaction here:  http://danieljhogan.com/home/2012/02/16/lets-dance-ii-the-dancening/

While there are a number of great Jazz versions of modern songs- we think Daneil’s melting-reaction might have been caused by the uncanny Paul Anka cover!

Country Western night at Arthur Murray Dance Studios of Etobicoke

Our friends at Arthur Murray Dance Studios of Etobicoke posted on Facebook last week reminding their followers of where their blog is located (http://arthurmurrayto.wordpress.com/). As followers we of course clicked the link to explore the wide world of Dance Lessons at Etobicoke!

How can we say it? Their blog is a wonderful example! There is so much to explore on that site- from updates on events and studio news to simple notes direct from the studio to their students. We just kept scrolling and truly learned the story of the dancers at Etobicoke!

So take a look- you won’t be disappointed!

Arthur Murray Dance Studios in Naperville is hosting friend of Arthur Murray Studios worldwide and renowned dance coach Ron Christy! Ron has graced the dancefloors of Arthur Murray Studios all over the country. Arthur Murray San Jose has some great words on what Naperville can expect:

 What can we say.  He’s a man made of almost steel with an almost steel head and can almost see through anything.  He can however see what we need to work on.  Students had a blast working with him one on one and in his workshop.  Have you ever witnessed a miracle in your life?  That’s what takes place during a lesson with a coach like Ron.  He not only astonished and amazed our students, but our staff as well.  We had a field day trying to understand the man known as Ron Christy.

They’re in for a great night of ballroom dancing and fun!

Last week we brought you a story from Arthur Murray Kenilworth about how to keep time with music when Ballroom Dancing. It was a great lesson for all! Well, they were gracious enough to give us a phone call about it! Turns out one of their gracious students brought in an old Arthur Murray book full of tips for ballroom dancing!

They’ve made a blog series out of this new venture and we invite you to stay tuned to Kenilworth’s weekly blog updates! They’re full of great tips, inspiration and rules for every type of social dancing.

Click here to see what they’ve come up with: http://arthurmurraynewjersey.com/category/blog/

ARTHUR MURRAY INTERNATIONAL CELEBRATES 100 YEARS OF TEACHING THE WORLD TO DANCE

Arthur Murray Dance Studios - 100 Years of Ballroom Dancing

CORAL GABLES, FL – February 1 ‐ 2012 marks 100 years since a shy young man named Arthur Murray stepped onto the dance floor and into the history of American pop culture. Known best for the iconic Arthur Murray Dance Studios, Arthur Murray was a brilliant marketer and innovator, starting his dance teaching career in 1912.

“Most people remember Arthur as an older gentleman smiling in grainy dance photo poses from the 1950s, many times accompanied by his wife Kathryn, a television celebrity in her own right.  But Arthur was a visionary,” said John Kimmins, President of Arthur Murray International. “Fueled by a passion for sharing  his  love  of  dance,  Murray  created  new  marketing  methods  and  embraced  the  latest  in technology and media to bring joy to millions.”

As a student in college, Arthur developed and marketed the idea of selling dance lessons one footstep at a time by mail.  During the 1920s, he arranged for the first live radio broadcast of dance music, with the help of a group of young engineering students from Georgia Tech, bringing live music to a rooftop party in downtown Atlanta.

Later, after developing his own dance studios, Arthur made sure that every first‐class steamship cruise included  dance  teachers  from  his  studio  system.  When  travelers  returned  home,  they  wanted  to continue their  dance  lessons, and relied on the familiar brand name to continue with their dance lessons.

Arthur was a dance impresario, travelling throughout the Caribbean and Latin America to bring Latin dances to America – still the most popular dances today.  At his direction, many Arthur Murray Dance events took place in Cuba so that the dance instructors would learn the Latin dances in as authentic a manner as possible.

In the 1950s, Arthur embraced television, still in its infancy, creating the celebrated Arthur Murray’s

Dance Party television show.  The show was a huge success, and ran for ten years on national television– enormously popular even by contemporary standards.   These hugely popular TV shows were the precursor to today’s ABC mega‐hit “Dancing with the Stars.”   Indeed, many of the Arthur Murray’s Dance Party shows had well known celebrities paired with dance professionals as dance contestants – voted on by judges and the TV viewing audience.  The Arthur Murray Dance Party is being updated, re‐ edited, and will be made public in the early spring of 2012.

In celebration of the 100th   anniversary of teaching the world to dance, Arthur Murray Dance Studios world‐wide will hold a variety of special events and dance competitions in the dance studios.

Larger events scheduled for 2012 include:

• March 21 – 25 ‐‐ World Dance‐O‐Rama ‐ New York City, NY
• April 4 – World‐wide 24 hour dance party to celebrate Arthur Murray’s Birthday
• April 11 – 14 ‐‐ International Franchise Convention – Miami Beach, FL
• October 31 – November 4 – Superama 2012 – Las Vegas, NV

For dance celebrations in your community, contact your local Arthur Murray Dance Studio, and as Kathryn Murray always said at the close of each TV episode, “Put a little fun in your life. Try Dancing.”

Arthur Murray Dance Studios are located in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Austria, Latvia, Ukraine, Poland, Italy, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, UAE, Egypt, Turkey, South Africa, United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia.  For more information about ballroom dance, visit the Arthur Murray International website at www.arthurmurray.com.

For  history,  photographs  from  the  historical  archives  of  Arthur  Murray  International  and  more information, visit www.100yearsofdance.com.

Arthur Murray Federal Way shared a great photo archive a while back that warrants a revival! What happens when ballroom dancers go for a picnic? Find out for yourself!

You can view the archive at Arthur Murray Federal Way’s Website!

Arthur Murray Sherman Oaks shared a fantastic letter written by Goldie Levenstein, an 89 year old ballroom dance student, to the producers of the Today show.  We couldn’t improve on the content whatsoever, so here is the letter in its entirety.

Dear Hoda Kotb & Kathie Lee Gifford

c/o The Today Show, NBC

I’ve watched your show for many years and enjoyed it very much.  However, a few months ago, you had a segment featuring five women in different age groups (20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s).  The five women were talking about going after one’s dreams and passions at any age.  I thought:  how about after the 60s?  I took exception to this.  It was as if you were saying that no one past their 60s was worth knowing or listening to.

I am an 89 year old woman who has taken up ballroom dancing at ARTHUR MURRAYa little over a year ago and it has really become my passion.  I’m striving to become a good dancer without making allowances for my age.  Dancing has given me a new lease on life.  I’d hate to think what I would be doing now if I hadn’t gone after my new passion.  I know I would not feel as if I were getting younger all the time.

I am sending you a DVD [see clip in this article] showing my Solo Dance featuring my instructor, JOSH BECKET (28 years old) and myself dancing.  The music is titled “Sugar Mama” to show you I have a sense of humor.  The audience, as you’ll see/hear, went crazy.

Another thing I’ve noticed is on your Friday Makeovers:  there are no older women.  You know, we older women like to look good also.  I also wonder at your ignoring this segment of the population as they are becoming an ever-increasing segment and are likely to continue growing.

Thank you for listening to me.

Goldie Levenstein

Valley Village, CA

Go get ‘em, Goldie!!

We had the pleasure of a tweet from “Arthur Stuff” this week sharing the following video! Arthur Stuff is a website celebrating all things Arthur related! It was only a matter of time until they came across Arthur Murray Dance Studios.

Our friends in Arthur Murray Kenilworth posted some great advice for every ballroom dancer!

From their blog post titled: How to Keep Time to Music and Develop your Sense of Rhythm

There is a mistaken impression that learning to keep time to music is difficult.  This unfortunate belief that one has “no sense of rhythm” keeps many people from enjoying the pleasures of dancing. If you can march to band music, if your foot can beat time to ordinary dance music, you have well enough sense of rhythm to enjoy dancing. Everyone was born with a sense of rhythm. Nine out of ten good dancers do not know one note from another, but they can keep time. Knowledge of music is not necessary in order to keep time to music…

But you’ll have to visit Kenilworth’s Site to learn the secret!

Our friends in Arthur Murray Vancouver shared this stunning album of photos from the recent Hularama!

The archive is here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150546195389176.400006.263130544175&type=1

We came across this amazing initiative by Arthur Murray Boston:

Arthur Murray Dance Studio of Boston Takes Steps to End the Prostate Cancer

On January 27, 2012, between noon and midnight Arthur Murray Dance Studio of Boston is taking dance steps with its 4th Annual Teach-A-Thon to benefit AdMeTech Foundation’sDance for a Cure of Prostate Cancer. “One in six men is diagnosed with prostate cancer, and every 16 minutes a man dies. There is no community in the United States left untouched,” said AdMeTech Foundation’s President, Dr. Faina Shtern “Arthur Murray’s teachers are inviting everyone to dance for our fathers, brothers, husbands, partners, friends and neighbors who have faced or lost their battle against prostate cancer,” stated Kia Kenney, Manager of Arthur Murray Dance Studio of Boston.  

“Arthur Murray Dance Studio of Boston will conduct a ‘Teach-a-Thon’ in support of AdMeTech Foundation’s world leading efforts to improve early detection of prostate cancer, which is so critical for saving lives. Our dance instructors will volunteer the entire day of January 27th to teach ballroom dancing to the current students and any interested members of the general public,” said Mark Lightner, New England Area Chair of Arthur Murray International.

Thank you, Boston, for this act of love and generosity. We’ll make sure to update on how the vent went when information comes!