Arthur Murray Celebrates 100 Years of Teaching the World to Dance with Live Streaming Dance Party on Arthur Murray's Birthday April 4, 2012

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Apr 02, 2012, 05:37 ET

CORAL GABLES, Fla., April 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- 2012 marks 100 years since a shy young man named Arthur Murray stepped onto the dance floor and into the history of American pop culture. Known best for the iconic Arthur Murray Dance Studios, Arthur Murray was a brilliant marketer and innovator, starting his dance teaching career in 1912. Following his lead in technology, Arthur Murray Dance studios will stream their dance parties online on Wednesday, April 4th in a carefully choreographed global dance party streamed live on facebook.

The live webcast will feature dance parties in Arthur Murray Dance Studios including Victoria (Australia), British Columbia (Canada) California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Quebec, Texas, and Virginia. The dance parties can be seen streaming live at www.100yearsofdance.com and on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/100-Years-of-Dance/123725754376198?v=app_142371818162. Contact your area Arthur Murray Dance Studio for local footage and interviews.

"Arthur Murray always looked for new ways to reach people and saw the vast possibilities of mass media," said John Kimmins, President of Arthur Murray International. "Fueled by a passion for sharing his love of dance, Murray embraced the latest in technology and media to bring joy to millions."

As a student in college, Arthur developed and marketed the idea of selling dance lessons one footstep at a time by mail. During the 1920s, he arranged for the first live radio broadcast of dance music, with the help of a group of young engineering students from Georgia Tech, bringing live music to a rooftop party in downtown Atlanta.

When steamship cruises became widely popular, Arthur made sure that every first-class steamship cruise included dance teachers from his studio system. When travelers returned home, they wanted to continue their dance lessons, and relied on the familiar brand name to continue with their dance lessons.

In the 1950s, Arthur embraced television, still in its infancy, creating the celebrated Arthur Murray's Dance Party television show. The show was a huge success, and ran for ten years on national television – enormously popular even by contemporary standards. These hugely popular TV shows were the precursor to today's ABC mega-hit "Dancing with the Stars." Indeed, many of the Arthur Murray's Dance Party shows had well known celebrities paired with dance professionals as dance contestants – voted on by judges and the TV viewing audience. The Arthur Murray Dance Party is being updated, re-edited, and will be available soon.

For history, photographs from the historical archives of Arthur Murray International and more information, and the Proclamation from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg declaring April 4, 2012 as "Arthur Murray Day", visit www.100yearsofdance.com.

Arthur Murray Dance Studios are located in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Austria, Latvia, Ukraine, Poland, Italy, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, UAE, Egypt, Turkey, South Africa, United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia. For more information about ballroom dance, visit the Arthur Murray International website at www.arthurmurray.com.