Who is Arthur Murray and how did his passion to teach dance created a legacy?
Ballroom dancing is one of the most widely known for social dancing as well as sports. When you feel like you want to learn how to dance, then there is one name that you can always be associated to it and that is Arthur Murray. Not only that he is known for being one of the most famous dance instructors of all time but also as a business icon for having the largest dance school franchise business that is named after him which is the Arthur Murray Franchised Dance Studios. Indeed his passion to teach ballroom dancing has reached out to a lot of people everywhere for over 98 years. However, this outstanding success and legacy has its humble beginnings.
Ironically, the young Arthur Murray was a shy teenager and had full of insecurities about his family’s financial stability as well as his tall and long-limbed appearance. Ever since a female friend taught him how to dance, he has come to realize of his talent in dancing thus he was able to mingle with other people and became popular with young women. The passion that this man has for dancing made him take every opportunity to practice that he even crashed into weddings. Though he had a job in an architect’s office, he quit the job and had further lessons at Castle Hall where he eventually became an instructor himself. Later on, he began teaching in resort hotel and eventually established Arthur Murray Correspondence School of Dancing. Since it has been an innovation at this time, it became a huge successful that he moved to New York and established an office in New York where he married his partner Kathryn. Later on, he setup his first dance studio in midtown Manhattan and has done a lot of intensive advertising and promotions for his studio. He even authored a bestselling book entitled “How to Become a Good Dancer. Eventually, he has taken advantage in the golden age of television when he had a TV show called The Arthur Murray Party which features dance instructions, contents, and comedy sketches which widely advertises his dance studios. The show ran for over a decade and his passion to teach people how to dance have reached throughout the country. In 1964, Arthur Murray and his wife finally retired and entrusted the dance studios to a group of franchisees to continue on his legacy. Though he was retired, he still remained to be part of the dance studio franchise as their consultant.
Under a new spirit of leadership, the franchised studios still live up to the vision of Arthur Murray as he evolves to keep up with the changes of modern world. As time changes, Arthur Murray Dance Studios still continues to live on with legacy of the founder with the proven and tested techniques in effectively teaching how to dance. Even after his death, the dance studios will forever keep him alive in the hearts of many not just in the US but also worldwide.