Arthur Murray: Spinning Shyness Into Gold
It’s fun to dance
“It’s easy to understand why good dancers are in demand. Just watch any crowd on a ballroom floor. Those who can dance well look happy — they seem in tune with the gaiety and music. Not only are they enjoying themselves, but their partners are having a fine time, too. People like to dance — they are born with a deep and inherent love of moving to rhythm.” (page 13-14)
The Arthur Murray’s Dance Secrets By Arthur Murray
In the early part of the twentieth century when America was defining itself as an international power in every sense of the word, the son of German immigrants took a personal experience (shyness) and turned it into dancing gold. When Arthur Murray (1895-1991) discovered his own popularity on the dance floor because he knew how to dance, he was determined to share this formula with others and make a living doing it. With a keen eye for publicity, the savvy young businessman made a fortune capitalizing on everyone’s natural desires to dance and be popular.
Arthur Murray Teichman grew up in turn-of-the-century New York City and worked at different jobs as a young man, one being with an architectural firm while studying drafting in night school. He would rely on this training when it came time to create a unique marketing device for his future ballroom dance studio business.
Murray (he dropped his German sounding last name during World War I) took his first social dance lessons from a friend. He practiced by crashing wedding receptions and later trained at the Vernon and Irene Castle studios, eventually becoming one of their instructors. From there, he experimented with a variety of ways to expand his love of dance by teaching as many students as possible. At one time, his classes in an Atlanta hotel in 1919 had 1,000 students enrolled.
Among many novel ideas, one of Murray’s claims to fame is his method of selling dance lessons via mail order. He called upon his early work as a draftsman and sold paper footprints through the mail to students who couldn’t get into his studios. About the same time, he franchised his methods and name to spread the gospel of social dancing according to Arthur Murray. Today, there are Arthur Murray Dance Studio franchises all over the world. While the initial idea of selling dance through the mail seems impossible, that notion is what established Murray as a phenomenon in the dance business.
Besides studios and mail order lessons, Murray wrote books, and his wife Kathryn hosted a popular television show for ten years during the ‘50s. “The Arthur Murray Party” was a sales tool that manufactured a whole new audience for the fledgling media known as television. Viewers couldn’t get enough, and sponsors clamored to buy advertising. The show was a precursor of dance shows like “American Bandstand” and “Soul Train.” Besides social dance instruction, the show boasted guest stars and skits.
Murray pioneered the codification of ballroom dancing, providing a written system from which just about anyone could learn the basics. His book “The Arthur Murray’s Dance Secrets” provided the rationale for learning to dance (popularity, health and enjoyment) and explained techniques such as leading, following and posture. The books encouraged readers who looked for lessons in his studios to then become teachers and franchise owners themselves.
His wife Kathryn wrote about why Murray did what he did.
“He has a high regard for the value of good dancing. Perhaps this is because he was a very bashful boy — and dancing brought him friends and happiness. He is deeply satisfied when he can help someone who is shy and awkward to become graceful and self-confident; when he can see a lonely man or girl become popular and happy.”
His success and recognition are still synonymous with quality and class. The world of ballroom dancing is currently experiencing a phenomenal surge of popularity and change. Isn’t it amazing that an early twentieth century dance teacher and businessman is still part of the wave as it waltzes over us all?
Resources Murray, Kathryn with Betty Hannah Hoffman. My Husband, Arthur Murray. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1960. Murray, Arthur. The Arthur Murray’s Dance Secrets. 1946.