Imagining an Arthur Murray Dance Studio With the All Stars
The Arthur Murray All Star competition heads to Portland, Oregon the first weekend in October. There, the Arthur Murray Quarterfinalists from Northern California will face similar groups representing Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, and Western Canada. While they prepare, let's imagine a studio comprised of our All Star representatives.
The Roster
While each Arthur Murray Dance Studio will have different sizes of staff, all of them will be comprised of the same basic types of staff. The selected All Star Team will be made up of the following:
- New Student Director
- Supervisor
- New Student Specialist
- Instructor
- Office Administrator
- Rookie
The Details
1. The New Student Director is the manager overseeing the early stages of the student body. From the first step into the studio, to the first steps on a new dance program - the New Student Director is the coach and guide for anyone new to Arthur Murray.
New Student Director Quarterfinalist: Joey Sena
2. The Supervisor is to advanced students what the New Student Director is to new students. The Supervisor oversees the instruction and planning for students in Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Gold Bar. As all expert teachers in their own right, the Supervisors help stimulate a student's learning with coaching, special assignments, and graduations from level to level.
Supervisor Quarterfinalist: Evan Boyer
3. The New Student Specialist works under the direction of the New Student Director to help non-dancers transition smoothly to an Arthur Murray dance lesson. This group of teachers are hand selected for this department based on their ability to connect and make first time dancers comfortable and see progress immediately.
New Student Specialist Quarterfinalist: Ashlyn Smith, Alex Coloma
4. The Instructors work alongside the Supervisor to execute and deliver on a dance program. Utilizing the Arthur Murray method of teaching, they are constantly refining their teaching techniques to continue to deliver the product in a Fun, Quick, and Easy way.
Instructor Quarterfinalist: Genevieve Paz
5. A dance studio can be a lively environment, but that would turn to chaos without an Office Manager. They are the first point of contact for both New and Advanced students, handling everything from tuition, scheduling, and coffee orders. It's no wonder that ownership will commonly refer to this position as the "Central Nervous System" of the studio.
Office Manager Quarterfinalists: Christina Chapman, Charlotte Keezer
6. While there are new staff in just about every location around the world, the Rookie in the All Star Testing is any employee within their first year in the industry. For the first time, the Rookie from Northern California happens to be an Office Manager, also from Walnut Creek.
Rookie Quarterfinalist: Carolyn Serquina
"A Day in the All Star Studio"
Just like in any major sport, an All Star Team is a collection of the top talent from a variety of teams. While watching them in action, it's common to imagine, "What if they all played on the same team from now on?" In this case it is no different. Let's imagine what this hypothetical All Star Studio would be like.
While Christina Chapman greets new students at the door, fellow Office Manager, Charlotte Keezer explains the details of the New Student Group Class to a recently enrolled couple. Carolyn Serquina wraps up scheduling an advanced student for their coaching lesson with Bobby Gonzalez, and all is well at the front desk.
New Students are in great hands on the dance floor with Ashlyn Smith and Alex Coloma. Ashlyn is working with a new couple preparing for their wedding, and Alex is covering the basics with a student who's learning to dance for an impending Office Party.
As the New Student Director, Joey Sena checks in with Ashlyn and her couple to see how their wedding dance is progressing. He'll assist with a carefully planned section of choreography with Ashlyn before he pops in to check on Alex and his student.
Across the room we can see Genevieve preparing her student for the District Showcase. Like a well rehearsed sitcom entrance, Genevieve smiles as Evan Boyer falls right in step with her and her student to offer some pointers to make the event a success. He mentions that his arm styling feels a bit awkward, and Evan explains the Curve of Learning, that awkward is part of the process, and, with a sheepish look, the student realizes something, "I just realized that Genevieve told me the same thing last week."
Just then, there's an announcement:
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is Bill and Sandy" says Ashlyn, standing with a smiling couple behind her "and they'd like to show you their wedding dance."
The studio cheers as the nervous couple finish with a dip, a kiss, and a high five from Joey and Ashlyn. They're one step closer to the big day, and this was a big milestone. Joey heads over to Alex and his Office Party student. They've done a few basics in the most essential social dances, and she's got no time to lose. Just as Alex attempts to check if his next appointment time is available, Charlotte has read his mind.
"Took care of it. She's all set for her next lesson."
While Christina talks wedding details and the New Student Group class to Bill and Sandy, Carolyn just wrapped up a phone call with a potential student who has been putting off dance lessons for 10 years. She smiles wide and tells her, "then let's not wait any longer to get your first lesson started."
As we zoom out we see everything from hip motion to arm styling. We see a collection of people who are allowing dance lessons to change their life in increments large and small. Behind it all is a team, a collection of positive people, teaching their passion with passion.
The only difficulty is trying not to smile so much.
Final Thought
Customer service representatives in any major industry work on pleasant phone voices, quality assurance, and basic problem solving skills. Arthur Murray staff, on the other hand, need to provide these things, and more, within the confines of a dance frame. The All Stars moving into the Semi-Final round are a collection of great professional customer service reps, that also just happen to know a few things about ballroom dancing.
