Meet the couple behind the Ric Seeling Dance Studio

Decades of teaching Baton Rougeans how to tango, waltz and cha-cha-cha have earned Ric Seeling a kind of celebrity status.

“Everybody recognizes him,” says Ric’s wife and business partner Melanie. “It happens all the time.”

By now, thousands of students have been saved from dance floor embarrassment by the Seelings and their team of instructors. They teach around 45 different dance styles, and their clients range from festival enthusiasts eager for a crisp Cajun two-step to empty nesters looking for a new diversion. Generations of engaged couples and their parents have also sought the Seelings’ help in pulling off perfect wedding reception numbers.

These days, classes take place exclusively at Ric Seeling Dance Studio on North Harrells Ferry Road, but many across the Capital Region remember their wildly popular LSU Leisure Classes held at the Student Union.

As a young boy, Ric couldn’t repress the desire to move in time with the beat. Some of his earliest memories were made in a New Orleans dance hall with his mother and aunts, who said his footwork was better than theirs.

He would go on to minor in dance at LSU, become an instructor and open his first Baton Rouge studio in 1988. Three years later, he met and fell in love with Melanie, who was taking swing classes with a friend.

“I was really into it, and I wanted to get better,” Melanie recalls. “I asked for private lessons.”

Ric, choked up, remembers the moment. “She changed my life,” he says.

The two say they found common ground in their Christian faith and mutual love of dance. They married in 1994 and have raised three children.

Their studio is a haven for community, the Seelings say, with regular clients meeting up for Friday-night socials. The casual gatherings help dancers bone up on their moves while fostering new friendships—and even a few relationships.

“It’s really amazing what happens,” Ric says. “We have a dance family here.”