What do the dance categories really mean?

There are 3 main terms to explain so you understand what you’re entering into at DOR, “standard”, “category”, and “age group”. 

Standard is the level you're currently working on in your lessons, that is, the standard you have attained in your Bronze, Silver or Gold Programs. If you're new, you’ll probably be on Bronze 1 or 2, so your standard is Associate Bronze. This will be the standard you will enter into at DOR and be judged along with the rest of the Bronze 1 and 2 students.

Category is a classification given to the way you can compete, the materials you can use, and how you’re judged. Closed, Open, Scholarship and All Around are all various categories you can enter in your respective standard. 

Age group is purely a way to finally make things a little fairer, and place people together that are around the same age, keeping the playing field even.  

Newcomer
This is a category only new students can enter, thereby giving them a bit of an advantage for their first competition. You must have been learning for less than 12 months, had less than 50 lessons and be on Bronze 1 to enter this category. 

Closed
This is the all-round category for everyone to participate in. It’s exactly that, closed, meaning you compete using the materials you learn on your every day lessons and in groups. If you can dance at a party, you can do the closed category. Freestyle is just dancing using patterns you're confident in and can lead and follow with ease. 

Open
This category can be as simple or as involved as you would like. A lot of students enter open and just repeat what they did in closed, just as an excuse to get on the floor and dance again. But, this category gives you the opportunity to break away from the norm, and delve into materials that you would not normally learn at your current level.

Scholarship
This is reserved for students at the Silver and above level. This is where you get to see students freestyling at the highest possible standard, usually involving intricately choreographed routines, to make the dances special and more of a performance than a competition. This is a pro/am event only, meaning that every couple is made up of a professional teacher and student.

Amateur 3 dance
This is a category reserved just for students, no teachers allowed! They can be couples that learn together, or just 2 students that decide to compete together. The 3 dances are the standard 3 ballroom and standard 3 rhythm dances. 

All Around
All for one, and one for all! Everyone gets to dance together, and have a great time doing it. To put a twist on it, couples dance 2 of the smooth and 2 of the rhythm dances, BUT, you won’t know which 2 they are until you’re on the floor as the judges draw them from a hat! 

What are the different levels of dancing at Arthur Murray?

With over 270 studios worldwide, Arthur Murray hasn't become the world leaders in dance instruction by mistake. It's the method of instruction that sets us apart from others.

Our dance programs are the key to this success. They have been designed over a number of years by the world’s top dancers and dance board members. Every program has been divided into different standards on a step-by-step basis, allowing for differing levels of perfection along your dancing journey.

Bronze is the first of these programs and is designed to make students “dancers” as opposed to people who can dance. This can be compared to a high school level of education. 

Associate bronze is the mid-way point. Here you will learn all the basics, such as footwork, dance positions, styling and poise. The Bronze 1 level gives you the opportunity to experience exams for the first time and to feel a sense of achievement.

By the time you move through Bronze 2, 3 and 4, there really is no need to say you have to “learn to dance”, meaning you have now achieved the highest level of social dancing. You know everything there is available to learn at a social level; motion, floor craft, technique, style, confidence, and probably have more patterns in your brain than you can remember!

But is enough really ever enough? 

Silver is the standard for those that wish to take their dancing to a University level. Meaning, you don’t need to “learn to dance” but are seeking that extra knowledge and level of perfection usually reserved for the large dance floor.

Those students that can’t dream of not dancing, or having their weekly lessons continue on to Silver more as a hobby rather than learning how to dance.

The finer points of showmanship and performance, advance materials and styling give those students the qualities that start to rival those on the pro-circuit. I know from personal experience, that guests at DOR can have a hard time figuring out who is the teacher and who is the student, when watching these couples on the floor. 

Gold is pure hobbyist. Reserved mainly for those that have made dancing a permanent part of their lives, enjoying their one-on-one time with their instructors, and becoming the best they can be at what they love to do best. Let’s face it, there’s not a lot of people to socially dance Gold material with, so when you see this standard, it’s one of fusion and complete unity as these couples move effortlessly as one on the dance floor. 

However far you wish to take your dancing, however many steps, patterns or techniques you're looking to learn, there's a program for you, and we're always here to challenge you, push you and guide you along every step of the way.