Arthur Murray Dance Studio is all about ‘Puttin’ on the Ritz’
Published 1:30 am Saturday, March 7, 2026
EVERETT — Ray Legaspi came to Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Everett in the fall of 2023 after his wife passed away.
“I had not danced for 30 years, except for square dancing,” he said. “I was a new widower. I came here to meet people and try something new.”
Legaspi couldn’t believe how friendly everyone was, from instructors to fellow students.
He had just finished a dance lesson with his dance partner and friend, Laurie Everli, where they went over the Night Club Two Step. It’s a smooth, romantic slow dance that uses rock steps, a two-step move executed in two beats of music, along with pivots and turns.
Legaspi met Everli two months after he joined Arthur Murray, though not at the studio. Soon she became a regular as well.
Everli, a retired accountant, day care provider and pre-kindergarten teacher, said her parents engaged in ballroom dancing.
“I always liked it,” Everli said. “When I was 20, I took an introductory class.”
But that was 40 years ago. Now retirement allows her to pursue dancing regularly.
Dance studio owner Anya Malakhova said about 100 people attend the Everett studio, which is located in a small shopping center on Evergreen Way. She has owned the Arthur Murray Everett franchise since 2005.
Originally from Russia, Malakhova said that ballroom teaching was an after-school activity in her Russian school system. She was taught English in Russian schools, but when she came to the United States, it was still hard for her to understand American English.
“My mom said maybe you should do some dancing. So, dancing becomes its own language,” she recalled.
The dance studio she enrolled in at age 16 was an Arthur Murray in Federal Way.
“And then when I turned 18, the manager said, ‘Well, you seem to be doing really well with your dancing. How would you feel about possibly training as a teacher?’ I was so elated and excited.”
She took the opportunity in 2005 to buy an Arthur Murray franchise and open the Everett studio.
The studio teaches 36 styles of dance, from the rumba to the waltz to salsa.
Malakhova said what has changed over the years is the loneliness factor.
“People are more isolated because of social media, because of working from home or being separated from family,” she said. “The whole COVID thing separated people.”
Many clients are seeking human connection when they come to the dance studio for lessons, she said.
Attending the studio isn’t inexpensive.
Monthly packages start at $400 a month for two private lessons and go up to $1,400 for more extensive packages. The private lessons, however, also allow clients to attend small-group instruction held nightly during the week, as well as frequent dance parties.
The studio does offer a weekly class for seniors for $10. After attending a senior health fair last year, Malakhova was motivated to help seniors become more active and connect with others.
Many studio regulars come because they love dancing.
Alexis Bartsch has been dancing since she was 4 years old. First, it was ballet from 4 to 18, then after she graduated from nursing school, she started coming to Arthur Murray to learn Latin dance styles. It’s been four years, and Bartsch has no plans to stop. The 25-year-old is constantly improving.
“I’m going to weddings and other functions, and the instructions all add up and help you move to the music,” she said.
Some weeks, Ray Legaspi and Laurie Everli visit the studio as many as five times to take private dance lessons, small-group lessons and attend dance parties.
Then they take breaks and go on vacations for as long as three weeks.
In 2025, they went to Disneyland in California, Walt Disney World in Florida, the Bahamas, Hawaii and Charleston, South Carolina.
Dancing stays in their minds even when there is no dance floor.
‘We actually danced in downtown Disney in California,” Everli said. “They had live music and there was room, so we just danced.”
For 2026, they are looking at a cruise, but with an actual dance floor, of course.
IF YOU GO
Arthur Murray Dance Studio Everett
5307 Evergreen Way
This story originally appeared in Sound & Summit magazine, The Daily Herald’s quarterly publication. Explore Snohomish and Island counties with each issue. Subscribe and receive four issues for $18. Call 425-339-3200 or go to soundsummitmagazine.com
