Let me say that I look biracial and have long red hair but I STILL think something was up. I auditioned last night for them–a group class. I am an attractive girl. I have danced for 15 years and have near flawless technique. My hair was perfect, totally cute outfit (I’m a size 5), my makeup was great. I knew all of the dances, was very outgoing friendly, and made sure not to exclude anyone whin choosing a partner, but I still didn’t get an interview. But you know who did? This blonde girl who was also pretty, but told me during the audition that there was a guy (there were six in all) that she didn’t want to dance with because he was ‘weird’. How snotty! All six gentlemen were all nice–a couple were shy, but still. It’s not a marriage! It’s for fun. Something else that bothered me was that she and some of the other girls (when we were asked to move to the next guy) would act like they ‘didn’t see’ the two black guys toward the end. (The ‘wierd’ one was black.) Anyway, when I was researching what to wear for the audition, I looked at dozens of Arthur Murray websites, facebook and Myspace as well, thinking back there were NO black females, and maybe ONE black guy. This realllly bothers me! Has anyone ever seen any African American women working for Arthur Murray??? P.S. The entire female staff there was blonde barbies. Am I alone?
Note: I have nothing against blondes, or Barbies, lol. I’m kinda like a toffee Barbie, lol. 
You won’t see many African-Americans on ballroom websites for the simple reason that few African-Americans get into ballroom. It’s self-selective, so you’ll see an over-representation of Russians and Ukrainians, and an under-representation of other groups. That’s just the way it is. Also, you should understand that both AM and Fred Astaire are generally franchises, so hiring isn’t done by a national organization, but by local studio owners. Perhaps you were slighted for that or another reason, but it would be a gross misrepresentation to expand that to the entire AM system.
December 9th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
You won’t see many African-Americans on ballroom websites for the simple reason that few African-Americans get into ballroom. It’s self-selective, so you’ll see an over-representation of Russians and Ukrainians, and an under-representation of other groups. That’s just the way it is. Also, you should understand that both AM and Fred Astaire are generally franchises, so hiring isn’t done by a national organization, but by local studio owners. Perhaps you were slighted for that or another reason, but it would be a gross misrepresentation to expand that to the entire AM system.
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