Dance teachers don’t just show up for class and wing it. A good dance studio employs teachers who go the extra mile, each week, to ensure their students get the most out of their classes. From creating choreography, to staying up to date with industry trends, dance teachers spend a lot of time outside of the studio planning ways to ensure classes and performances are perfect for their dancers.
Picking and Editing Music
Dance teachers are responsible for picking their own dance class and performance music. As such, they spend hours online listening to music, and trying to find the perfect mix of music for classes and performances. On top of that, they typically purchase their own music. Many edit their own music and spend hours working to get the perfect edits for their classes. One could say a dance teacher is a DJ in training!
Creating Choreography
Choreography takes time and planning. Dance teachers create pieces that aim to bring out the best in all their dancers. To do this, dance teachers put in a lot of time to create choreography and formations for their dances before bringing it to class to teach their students. They come in early, stay late, and dance in their living rooms and basements when planning a dance. They keep notebooks full of ideas and tips. And they do all that “extra stuff” on their own time, for free.
Costumes and Props
Costumes and props for a performance don’t just magically show up at the dance school one day. Teachers and studio directors spend a lot of time picking costumes, measuring dancers, ordering items, and making props. The costume and prop process can be an exhausting one, as teachers want to make sure the costumes and props fit their dance themes, and are going to be comfortable for all the dancers in their class.
Training and Classes
Good dance teachers never stop dancing! Some of the dance teachers at our Winnipeg dance studio take regular adult dance and fitness classes to keep up with their training. It also helps general fitness and flexibility. For those who can’t fit regular classes into their schedules, drop in workshops and teacher classes fill the void. When teachers go to conventions with their students, it’s very common to see them up dancing in the background, or signing up for special teacher classes that are being offered.
Many studios also make it easy for teachers to continue training, by offering their staff opportunities to drop into any of the weekly studio classes. Regardless of where or how teachers are continuing to train, it’s done on their own time, at their own cost.
Professional Development
Good dance instructors are always on the hunt for new ideas in the industry. Whether it be new teaching tips, costume trends, music ideas, you name it! Teachers take online dance courses, attend teacher conferences, follow YouTube channels and dance blogs, and subscribe to dance magazines and newsletters, to keep their professional development up to date.
They Are There for Their Students
Dance teachers take the time to get to know their students and become their biggest cheerleaders. Dance teachers want their students to succeed, and by getting to know their dancers, they can find the perfect ways to direct and encourage them on their road to success. Dance teachers share moments with their students. Sometimes those moments are happy, other times they are filled with frustration or failure. Either way, good dance teachers take those moments and use them to help all their students improve as both dancers and people.
Why Dance Teachers Go the Extra Mile
It seems like dance teachers do a lot on their own time and don’t care about the cost or time it takes. Why would they do that? It’s simple. They care about their dancers, they are passionate about dance, and they want their dancers to have the best dance experience possible. When a dance teacher cares, opportunities for their dancers are endless.