Becoming a great dance teacher takes lots of practice and experience.
Most dance teachers start out by dancing themselves. Most dancers begin formal training between the ages of five and 11. Being a dancer means having lots of competition and years of training and working out to get physically fit and develop artistry in dance. Being a dance teacher creates the opportunity for the teacher to share the art of dance with the world and her students. Dance teachers should have a lot of credentials on their resume and extensive experience in the field of dance.
Instructions
1. Take lessons in a dance studio. Dance lessons can be a bit expensive, so prepare to pay up. Start off with beginner classes. Later, you may even want to enroll in a conservatory such as Juilliard in New York City or the State University of New York at Purchase. Conservatories are devoted to students who wish to pursue careers in the arts, including dance, acting, singing, technical theater, choreography and directing.
2. Continue to build your resume. Work for as many dance groups, Broadway shows, companies and well-known choreographers and dance camps as you can. The more extensive your resume, the better your chances are to get hired for events, record labels, artists and other companies. It's important to study more than one type of dance as well to give your chances of getting hired a better shot. Most dance teachers have been dancers and/or choreographers, so it's important to have a broad range of experience as a dancer to give yourself credibility.
3. Watch videos on the Internet and DVDs and try to mimic the style of dance that you love and want to teach. Read books and learn as much about dance as possible. Practice as much as your schedule permits. The more practice you get in, the better your performance will be.
4. Join a dance team or company. Joining a dance team or company will enhance your dance skills and help to keep you in shape. Joining a dance team will also help to keep your skills and dance moves up to date and fresh. Auditions are usually required to gain entrance into a professional dance group.
5. Apply for dance teacher or choreography jobs. The best areas to obtain jobs like these are in highly populated areas such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston. Other job opportunities for dancers or choreographers are in university dance departments on the staff or as artists-in-residence teaching master classes. Decide which form of dance you would like to teach. There are many different types of dance, including ballet, modern, jazz, hip-hop, swing, salsa, tango, waltz and ballroom dancing. Dancers and choreographers face intense competition, making it extremely difficult to land jobs unless you are outrageously talented and unique in dance or dance instruction technique.
