I can find all kinds of information and video on the WWW, what do I need professional instruction for?
Learning how to dance is not only about memorizing patterns you can easily find info about on the WWW. Internet is inundated with video clips showing all levels of dancers performing, practicing, even explaining particular moves and combinations of patterns. With all those resources at your fingertips, the idea of saving on consulting the specialist is really tempting. But if you went that route, you'd loose big time in the long run. and here's why:
It is many times faster to learn something correctly in the first place, then to learn it wrong and have to then unlearn and relearn it because of bad habits.
Repeating something several hundreds of times is not going to give you improvement you seek, it will make the movement you are practicing automated. Which means if you practice a move without understanding, and you have mistakes berried in the structure, you'll just ingrain them, and make them so much harder to unlearn later.
That is why it is of upmost importance to understand in details what it is you are trying to practice and to practice well. This is where professional instructor comes into the picture. With many years of experience devoted to passing the knowledge on, the instructor can see and understand tings at a far deeper level then their students can. Having that perspective can allow the teacher to both adjust the learning to suit the particular need of the student and make sure the bad habits are minimized.
Three steps forward, two steps back.
Learning how to dance is just like any other learning: a process of simplification so that the brain can go from the big picture to the details. It in many ways is about getting the rough idea first, and then filling in the blanks as you get to know more. Once acquired, the knowledge doesn't just stay untouched, it gets added onto, expanded, it's scope ever broadening with an evolving understanding. It is therefore a process of constant reworking of what at some point in time we would even consider already learned. Hence the constant return to basics. In some way it is constantly three steps forward and two steps back.
Watching videos on social media puts you in the position of the instructor - a very inexperience instructor at that. By being your own teacher you lack the distance of having seen others go through the process, hence you will not know of, and be able to avoid many pitfalls an experienced instructor will be able to guide you around. Your learning is going to be of incredibly pour level.
Don't skimp on your knowledge, avoid "hitting a plateau", get the best information you can.
Bad habits can stifle your learning. You might find yourself in years to come hoping to move up a level or two, and hitting the wall as your body will have already acquired bad habits that are so hard to weed out. You might feel stuck, and I don't mean for few classes. I mean you can get stuck for weeks, months, and even years. It is not worth it. Seek professionals with many years of experience and credentials. And when in doubt, always seek a second opinion.