You may have had a lesson with Bob Long, but it never should have happened.
The dance legend, the Arthur Murray consultant extraordinaire, the guy who seems to be ballroom dancing’s version of MacGyver – nearly didn’t make it. In fact, if you’ve ever felt like giving up on something before you really got started, Bob’s story might just change your perspective. Here’s what happened.
Bob Long Shares His Story, And How It Almost Ended
AML: Let’s pretend I’m writing your biography. Under “notable achievements” what should we include?
BL: Certifying Chris Lynam in Full Bronze (laughs). Also, I won some pretty prestigious awards as a teacher and, in my dancing, being a United States American Smooth Finalist.
AML: What was the lead up to you getting hired?
BL: I saw Saturday Night Fever and my buddy saw an ad that Arthur Murray was hiring. So we figured we could learn the Hustle for free.
What makes this origin story so relatable is how unplanned it was. Two friends, a movie, and a newspaper ad. No grand vision of becoming a dance legend. Just curiosity – and maybe the desire to impress someone at the disco.
AML: There are all sorts of legendary tales about you. One of them was how you nearly got cut from your training program for not knowing the Cha-Cha. Can you set the record straight?
BL: In my training class everyone already knew how to dance. I was the only one who had to start from scratch. The ladies who ran the class told the franchisee that they wanted to cut me because they thought I’d never learn how to dance.
Read that again. The guy who would go on to become a U.S. Finalist, a traveling consultant, and the President of the Arthur Murray Dance Board was almost cut from his training class because people thought he’d “never learn how to dance.”
AML: So what happened?
BL: My franchisee took me aside and said, “You have something, I don’t know what it is, but it’s something.” Then he explained that if I wanted to teach, I’d have to go to the new school he was going to open in New Haven.
The Moment That Changed Everything
Sometimes the people who see potential in us are the ones who matter most. Bob’s franchisee didn’t see a polished dancer – he saw something else. Drive? Character? The willingness to work harder than everyone else? We may never know exactly what “something” meant, but it was enough.
AML: How did you respond to that?
BL: Since I was too dumb to quit, I told him I would go.
There it is. “Too dumb to quit.” That phrase should be on a t-shirt – or maybe tattooed on the forearm of every student who’s ever felt like giving up. How many careers, relationships, and dreams have been lost to smart people who quit at exactly the wrong time?
AML: What happened to those ladies running your training program?
BL: I told my boss that I would still be here when they’re gone. And I am.
Not bitter. Not arrogant. Just factual. The people who doubted him are long gone, and Bob is still teaching, still judging, and still making dancers better – decades later.
AML: In addition to being an awesome dance consultant, not many people know that you’re the president of the Arthur Murray Dance Board. What does the president of the dance board do?
BL: Oversee the dance board, which consists of traveling consultants and key franchisees. The board creates the ground rules for the Dance-O-Ramas, the professional competition rules, and we also are in charge of how any new Arthur Murray syllabus is rolled out.
AML: Speaking of the syllabus, how long does it usually take to develop a new Arthur Murray level?
BL: About 3 years from development to recording the training material.
Three years. That’s the level of precision and care that goes into the system that’s been teaching people to dance since 1912. Every step, every figure, every transition has been tested, refined, and approved before it ever reaches your dance lesson.
AML: OK, if it were up to you (and it might be), what dance would you love to see added to the silver and gold syllabus?
BL: Hustle. The students seem to like dancing it.
Full circle. The dance that brought Bob to Arthur Murray might someday be officially added to the upper levels of the syllabus. There’s something poetic about that.
AML: We hear you’re quite the audiophile, can you divulge a must-have album or two?
BL: The collaboration with Antonio Carlos Jobim & Frank Sinatra. Best song is “Agua de Beber” (Give the Flower Water).
AML: You’ve judged about a million Dance-O-Ramas, what would you say to students who are considering it for the first time?
BL: At some point in every student’s dance career, be it in Bronze, Silver, or Gold, a student must attend a Dance-O-Rama. It is the crown jewel to any medalist program. A student will see they are a piece of a big puzzle and they will see everything in the Arthur Murray world. In all my years I have never seen a student regret it or not have a good time.
Never. Not once in all those years. That’s a powerful endorsement. If you’ve been on the fence about attending your first dance competition or showcase, this might be the nudge you needed.
7 Rapid Fire Questions For Bob Long
1. Favorite non-dance activity?
BL: Fly fishing
2. Celebrity lookalike?
BL: A young Robert DeNiro
3. A song that should be removed from every studio playlist?
BL: “The Masochism Tango” by Dr. Demento
4. Shall We Dance or Dirty Dancing?
BL: Shall We Dance. Japanese Version.
5. Antonio Carlos Jobim or Stan Getz?
BL: There’s no comparison: Antonio Carlos Jobim
6. The technique that people stress way too much about?
BL: CBM & CBMP. It’s just walking but everyone makes it so complicated.
7. What’s your bold prediction about Arthur Murray?
BL: Much like Cher and cockroaches, we will be here even after a nuclear explosion.
Final Thought
If this interview indicates one thing, it should be this: Bob can connect with anyone. Anyone who operates as an expert in any field runs a great risk of disconnecting from their audience.
Not Bob.
Maybe it’s his sense of humor, or perhaps his working knowledge of how the entire world works. Or could it be that the kid from Connecticut, who nearly lost this opportunity, has never forgotten that story?
That’s Bob.
What Can We Learn From Bob’s Story?
Here’s the thing about stories like this – they only become inspiring in hindsight. When Bob was standing in that training room, watching everyone else dance circles around him, there was no guarantee of a happy ending. He didn’t know he would become a champion. He didn’t know he would shape the future of Arthur Murray. All he knew was that he wasn’t ready to give up.
Your comfort zone voice (that inner critic we all have) loves to point out when you’re the least experienced person in the room. It loves to remind you that others are further along. It will even suggest that you should quit before things get embarrassing.
But here’s what your comfort zone voice doesn’t know – it can’t predict the future. It doesn’t know what you’re capable of becoming. It only knows what you are right now.
Bob Long was once the worst dancer in his training class. And then he wasn’t.
What’s your “too dumb to quit” moment going to be?
