How Much Do Classes Cost?

[2 Left Feet]

I had a very disturbing experience tonight. I drove way across town to try and catch a class from a teacher I like. Traffic was murder. As class started, I was still about two miles away with no hope of getting there until well into barre. So I decided on plan "B". I drove to another studio with another teacher I like with a later class. I hadn't been there in some time. So, after an hour in traffic, a nightmare trying to find parking, I stumbled into the studio with 10 minutes to spare. I plop down my $12.00 for a single class and from behind the desk hear:

 

"Oh, the price went up."

 

"How much?"

 

"Single classes are now $18.00."

 

I thought I'd heard wrong.

 

"Excuse me?"

 

"They want you to buy a series of classes. They raised the price of singles so you'd buy more."

 

"But I never come here. This is ridiculous."

 

"$18.00."

 

Even though I'd driven clear across town in Los Angeles traffic (at it's stereo-typical worst), I grabbed my bag an left. I'm not a fool. $18.00. Hmmm, the choice was a class or a tank of gas for the car. I'd rather have the gas so I can drive to a cheaper studio.

 

So, I'm curious, how much do classes cost at your studio?

 

I'm also curious at what point do fees become an affront. Around here, it's usual to charge $12.00 for a single class. Hearing the figure of $18.00 about gave me a heart attack.

 

Now, as most single classes are usually bought by adults, it seemed to me as though I was being told, in effect, one of two things with this ugly price hike. One, the studio must be experienceing money problems, or Two, adult students are being penalized by way of excessive fees.

 

I am certain of one thing, I'm going to give the manager of this studio a piece of my mind tomorrow (free of charge) and I'll never go there again no matter how badly I want a class.

[Jaana Heino]

I'll give my school's prices for 90 minute classes - mine are 60, but I think 90 would be easier to compare?

 

Single classes are 12 euros, though taking single classes is much discouraged. You usually pay for a month at a time, and for a certain amount of classes per week - though if you have paid for two classes a week you can take four one week and none the next.

 

Anyway, monthly fees are 42 euros for one class / week, 70 for two / week, then 94, 116, 138 euros for 3, 4 and 5, respectively. (You can see that the billing system strongly encourages you to take more than one class a week. ;))

If you have classes that are shorter or longer you pay less or more, also, and if you have classes such that some are short and some long it starts to get a bit complicated. ;)

 

For 145 euros you can buy a so called "package" which entitles you to take as many classes in whatever type of dance you might ever wish, for a month.

[Kate B]

I'll do 90 minutes too. In London you can pay anything between five pounds and eleven pounds. A lot of the places have memberships, so if you have annual membership it's cheaper. But if you just want to go for one class a week or something, the price of the class, for example six pounds, is hiked up by a day membership of four or five pounds.

 

I think I would not do a class for more than nine pounds. I used to pay for a term of classes when I was at university, which was something like 90 pounds for three months of 3 1.5-hour classes a week. That was the best!:cool:

[Mr Robin]

I pay four or five pounds for a ninety minute class, which seems very reasonable - I don't think I'd pay any more than eight quid. Private classes, though, are only twelve pounds for an hour, which kinda makes a mockery of some of the London classes. Don't suppose that my school pays the level of rent that a studio like Danceworks does, though...

[Kate B]

Wowee - I'd pay 12 pounds for a private lesson!:cool: I lloked at the RAD site and they are like, 60 squid there!

[Brendan McCarthy]

£12 for a private lesson is amazing and I too would leap at that. The ordinary classes I go to in London cost between £5-£7.

[Xena]

I pay $11 for a single lesson for an hour and a half, but I usually then get an extra hour tagged onto the end of class in which we do rehearsals. The best thing is SUnday mornings, where I essentially get about 50 minutes of a private lesson for..$0, my teacher is a gem She just loves teaching me variations that she wouldn't even hear about it when I offered to pay money.

But for 4 classes a month its $40, for 8 classes its $76, for 12 its $108 and for 16 its $136. So not bad really.

 

Then I also do a workshop each month, which is $32 for 4 weeks worth of classes and they last 2 and a half hours. But I only do one and a half as the remaining hour is pointe work and I'm not quite ready for intermediate pointe yet.

 

Jeanette

[Guest Tibbit]

At my studio it is $8.00 per class or $50 for unlimited classes for a month or $120 for unlimited classes for 3 months.

 

Each week there is 1 pointe, 2 ballet, 1 beginner ballet, 1beginner tap, 1 advanced tap, 1 jazz, 1 modern, 1 aerobics. Somtimes lyrical is available, and hip hop is being considered.

Since I do just about everything, I pay every month, for the summer I did pay the 3 months. Since I may be moving, I will only pay for the month this time.

Not a bad deal.

[Mr Robin]

So what do private classes cost everywhere else? Twelve quid is a bit of a bargain, although the classes are with recently-qualified student teachers (one of the benefits of my school is that they run a vocational teacher training course). Even with fully-experienced teachers, though, it's only fourteen quid an hour, and the most expensive school I found up here is sixteen quid.

 

I've been thinking about moving to London to have access to more classes, but with the cost of classes there, and the cost of getting to them, it's probably cheaper to keep doing what I do now (one regular class and two privates a week), and I get more attention!

[Kate B]

I think you would, from a ballet class perspective at least, find moving to London incredibly frustrating! I know I have!;)

[Boots]

At the studio that I go to for most of my classes, a 90 minute class is $13, if you pay per class. But you can by a class card - the more classes you buy at once, the cheaper it gets - a 30 class card is $240. But I get my classes for free, sort of I work one 4-hour shift per week at the studio desk checking people in for classes and cleaning, and I get free classes in exchange. I only pay for special performance workshops and non-regular classes. It's a great deal.

[Brendan McCarthy]

I agree with Kate. Robin would find London incredibly frustrating. Two private classes a week at £12 a time is enviable.

[Guest luna]

A typical rate here is $14. for 1 1/2 hrs. if paying by the single class, or $40. for four (monthly rate for one class per week).

[ce]

Ed,

I have taken alot of single classes in different cities and $12 to $15 is average. Occasionally I get one cheaper, but once went to a class in a D.C. suburb and was charged $20. I decided to pay and check out the class. Imagine how upset I was when, 20 minutes into class, I found out the class was only an hour long! Needless to say I never went there again. People who pay by the class are discouraged at a lot of studios because there is no way for the studio to plan for "drop-ins". They much prefer the people who sign up and promise that faithful monthly payment.

Hope you at least enjoyed the class (or were you seething too much to get into the flow?).

Carole

[2 Left Feet]

Classes in LA tend to be 1 1/2 hours long. Usually beginning classes are the shorter ones. Classes seem to run between $9 and $12.00 for singles. I usually buy a "series" of 10 from my preferred studio for $100.00 -- $10 per class.

 

I didn't go to the class. $18.00 for Los Angeles is sooooooooo far out of line. It's so out of line in fact, that I felt it was an insult to the adult students at this school. They have a very successful kids program -- tons of kids. I find it hard to believe they needed to raise prices to 66% higher than any local competitor.

 

I've been losing affinity for this school for some time. This was the final straw. I'll only go there again when I'm desperate.