Arthur Murray Dance Studio by Pat Sides

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Pictured here in circa 1965, the Arthur Murray Dance Studio occupied the upper section of this building at 26-32 Main Street. The DeVry School of Beauty Culture and Rowe’s Import Shop occupied the ground floor, but within a short time, all the businesses would have to relocate when the building fell victim to urban renewal.

The dance studio was one of over 500 in the chain that Murray had founded in New York in 1912. He and his wife carved a successful career teaching such steps as the bossa nova and the tango in studios throughout the world, and they were regular performers on television and radio in the 1950s.

Although nearly 80 students were still enrolled in the Evansville studio in 1975, the business went bankrupt and closed its doors.