“Dance, when you’re broken open. Dance, if you’ve torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance when you’re perfectly free.” This quote by Rumi best describes the talent of dance. A form of expression, dance can be used by anyone and everyone to express emotions. However, teaching others to dance professionally might not be such an easy task. A dance instructor needs precision, patience, and tonnes of experience. If you are a dance teacher, or aspiring to be one, here are ten important lessons to learn before you teach your class.
Select a niche: It’s important for any dance teacher to specialise. Learn everything there is about your dance form to give your best to the class. Use the Internet and TV to choose your niche dance form(s).
Be a good teacher: There is a difference between a good dancer and a good dance teacher. As a dance instructor, it’s your duty to understand the need of your students. Make your dance session fun and interesting.
Richard D’costa, founder and director of Richards Academy of Dance and Arts suggests, “A proper jovial and loving environment integrated with proper technical dance education is the perfect key to connect with students.”
Prepare yourself in advance: As a dance instructor, you should also come prepared. Be ready with your checklist of what you will teach in your class. Take care of the technical aspects. Make sure the music system is working fine, the correct song list is uploaded and the dance floor is clean and ready before the class starts.
Work for a dance institute: Working in a well-know dance institute will help you learn the basic skill of teaching dance and also help you build contacts. The big brand name will also help you promote your talent when you go solo.
Participate in dance events: Connect with various college fests and dance events to promote your dance classes. This will help you in connecting with the right audience and get you more students.
Create a rapport with your students: Don’t keep your dance class as a typical school-teaching session. Connect with your students at an individual level and have one-on-one sessions to understand their needs in a better way.
Yashna Lalla, dance teacher at Dance Dynamix says, “Connecting with students is a big priority. Your students need to feel comfortable around you. The one way to do this is not to talk about only dance in your class. You can probably spare five minutes to talk about their general life or discuss the latest movie. This helps them open up with you.”
Market your skills: It’s important to market your talent locally. Put out flyers and pamphlets in the local newspaper to get attention from the right people. Arrange for a free workshop and give a free demo to give people a feel of your dancing classes.
Adding to the above point Ashwini Tondelkar, Dance trainer at Flips and Toes Dance Academy says, “Word of mouth publicity is the best way to market your class. Use social media like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to promote your classes too.”
Never stop learning: As a dance instructor, you should always keep learning new dance forms. It will help you gain knowledge and keep yourself updated.
Discipline is important too: Your class may have a mixture of students who are either passionate about dance or have participated just for recreational purposes. You have to learn and balance between these different types of students.
Give and take timely feedback: Every week evaluate your own teaching skills. Take feedback from your class. This will help you learn and improve as needed.
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