Dance Lessons with Robert
How do you know you have the right dance teacher.
You should know there are two kinds of dance teachers:
Teachers that have been trained to teach others to dance
and
Dancers that are teaching.
What’s the difference?
Dancers that are teaching may be and usually are Competition or Showcase dancers who’s goals are to finance their needs to pay fees and entrance costs for functions and competitions. Their interests are “their own” dancing and their students are simply a means to supply the cash flow to achieve this end.
You definitely do not want this teacher!
Dance Teachers. These are individuals who have trained or been train as a “Teacher of Dance” through a studio or training system with the specific Goal Set of teaching others to dance.
These Teachers main interest will be their students wants, needs and dance goals. They may also have competed or danced in production and showcase events but this is not what your lessons will be about.
So, how do you know the deference?
Simple! Ask!
Where was the teacher trained and by whom? What standard of teaching degree did he/she achieve. How long has the teacher been teaching? (Less time in means less experience but not a lesser teacher.) Are they part of a recognized dance organization? And the main deciding and most important fact, do you feel comfortable and feel you can learn from this particular teacher.
There is a third teacher category and one to be avoided at all cost. This is a person who took a few lessons in a group or even private lessons and think they know ALL about dancing. Through time and repetition they may appear to know and be able to teach “Step Patterns” but that is all they know. When it comes to an understanding about dancing, why you are taking lessons or the true benefits of dancing they fall terribly short. Don’t waste your money!
How do I chose a dance teacher?
Grene Kelly Dance Studio
The BIG THREE!
Back “in the day” (around the 1930’s) and when dance studios were just being established as a mainstay two movie stars names appeared as the signature to the studios in which to learn. Fred Astaire, known movie actor, singer and dancer and Gene Kelly, also famous in movies and for his dancing.
They were simply paid to endorse a Franchise Organization and were paid a royalty for the use of their names. Actually, they never had anything to do with the studios personally.
These studios thrived for years and produced many good dancers as well as some amazing dance teachers. However, both had their own criteria for the patterns and technique they use ending in the result that if you learned at one studio you couldn’t dance with anyone from the other studio.
You could boast: “I learned to dance at . . . !”
The Third Player on the field was a little known Chorus Line Dancer who saw an opportunity to teach people the latest variations while making extra income teaching at the local New York dance halls.
His name, Arthur Murray.
He established his first studio in Manhattan (1938) where the studio remains to this day.
Prior to the onset of Dance Studios and if you wanted to learn dancing and social graces you either attended dances at local dance salons or hired a private teacher and learned in your home.
Arthur Murray was credited with establishing the dance studio/school as we know it today.
I am proud to say: I was a member of the Arthur Murray Dance Studios where I achieved my Bronze, Silver and Gold Ballroom Medal Standard.
