Choosing a Dance Instructor
Trying to find a dance instructor? Here are some tips on finding the right person to teach you to dance.
There are the obvious things to look for, of course. Is the teacher certified by a national dance organization or have other dance instruction credentials? What sort of teaching experience does the instructor have? Is the price right? Are the dances you want to learn being taught by this instructor?
Once the obvious questions are answered, try looking at how that instructor's students dance. By observing students in various stages (beginner, intermediate, and advanced), you will get a pretty good picture of the overall teaching method and the effectiveness of that method. This is not to suggest you should form an opinion of an instructor based on one or two students. This observation can be easily made a local dances. If you spot couples on the dancefloor who dance well and make you feel, "I could do that! I want to dance like that!", chat with them off the dancefloor and ask about their instructor. It might be someone you want to check out further.
Don't be afraid to comparison shop for an instructor. What you are looking for is an instructor with whom you are comfortable and compatible. If you sign up for lessons with one instructor and find you are not a good fit, don't hesitate to try out another instructor for your next round of lessons. This does not mean you should jump from one instructor to another during your training. You do want to find someone from whom you can easily learn and stick with him or her. Each instructor has his or her own teaching style and constantly jumping from one to another will only slow your progress.
Here are some questions to ask yourself after beginning lessons with an instructor:
1. Do you like the atmosphere in the classes?
2. Are you feeling some measure of success during and after the instruction?
3. Does the instructor provide information to help you connect with local dance activities?
Another consideration when choosing a dance instructor is the number of steps or movements covered in the lessons. You may find some instructors will teach a lot of steps or patterns and not give much attention to styling and technique, while others will teach fewer patterns or movements while emphasizing technique, styling, leading and following, and so on.
Once learned, social dancing is something you will enjoy throughout your life and the learning experience is only the beginning. Finding the right instructor will help make it a good beginning.
There are the obvious things to look for, of course. Is the teacher certified by a national dance organization or have other dance instruction credentials? What sort of teaching experience does the instructor have? Is the price right? Are the dances you want to learn being taught by this instructor?
Once the obvious questions are answered, try looking at how that instructor's students dance. By observing students in various stages (beginner, intermediate, and advanced), you will get a pretty good picture of the overall teaching method and the effectiveness of that method. This is not to suggest you should form an opinion of an instructor based on one or two students. This observation can be easily made a local dances. If you spot couples on the dancefloor who dance well and make you feel, "I could do that! I want to dance like that!", chat with them off the dancefloor and ask about their instructor. It might be someone you want to check out further.
Don't be afraid to comparison shop for an instructor. What you are looking for is an instructor with whom you are comfortable and compatible. If you sign up for lessons with one instructor and find you are not a good fit, don't hesitate to try out another instructor for your next round of lessons. This does not mean you should jump from one instructor to another during your training. You do want to find someone from whom you can easily learn and stick with him or her. Each instructor has his or her own teaching style and constantly jumping from one to another will only slow your progress.
Here are some questions to ask yourself after beginning lessons with an instructor:
1. Do you like the atmosphere in the classes?
2. Are you feeling some measure of success during and after the instruction?
3. Does the instructor provide information to help you connect with local dance activities?
Another consideration when choosing a dance instructor is the number of steps or movements covered in the lessons. You may find some instructors will teach a lot of steps or patterns and not give much attention to styling and technique, while others will teach fewer patterns or movements while emphasizing technique, styling, leading and following, and so on.
Once learned, social dancing is something you will enjoy throughout your life and the learning experience is only the beginning. Finding the right instructor will help make it a good beginning.
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Comment by kat cannella on November 2, 2009 at 3:30pm - Great advice Lee! Of course our opinion is that you and Paulette are the BEST instructors in town, but as you said, it is about who the students feel most comfortable with learning from.
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