Thursday, August 18, 2016

4 Guidelines to Selecting a Dance School

<img src="Lisa-Machos.jpg" alt="Lisa Machos"
With the school year starting and the coming of Fall, an important step for many parents at this time is selecting a dance school for their child/ children.  Selecting a dance school can be a daunting task.  Depending on your area, there are usually many to choose from and selecting the right fit for your student is critical to their happiness, their dance education and their long-term success with their dancing career, should they decide to pursue that avenue.   It’s true that while many young students looking for their first school, perhaps around the age of 3-6 years old, the following guidelines may be a bit premature.  However, it’s still beneficial to have your dance student start that young if they show an interest as it always begins the process of fine tuning motor skills and balance and lays the foundation for other benefits for life skills that dance provides.  And, as your dance student matures and shapes their focus, being at the right type of dance school is critical.

1. Know What Your Dance Student Wants
This again is largely dependent on age or in some cases, drive and maturity.  A first time student and/ or younger student may be trying dance out.  The parent may be looking to expose their child to various activities to see what holds the highest interest.  If this is the case, most any school choice will be fine, keeping in mind more personal conveniences such as lower tuition costs, schedule ease, proximity to home or regular school, etc.  

Many schools can offer little more than a glorified social atmosphere and the dancing is amateur and more of an extracurricular activity.  For some, this is the type of school you want.  If your child is merely looking for the social and/ or fitness aspect, then most schools will be okay.  However, if your dance student is perhaps older, has an established interest in gaining skill and ability, and has expressed enthusiasm for pursuing dance on a more serious level beyond an extracurricular activity, a more pre-professional school will be a better fit.  A great way to determine where your child might be happiest is if when asking your child how their dance class went, if your dance student  responds with a one-word answer like, "Fine" or "It was okay" vs. being descriptive about what they learned, and describe the fun aspects of the class or upcoming performance, etc. that is a way to understand the commitment level your child has. 

Another perspective to consider is most parents, especially after some years of the dance student attending classes, will want to make sure that the money being spent on lessons is serving a greater purpose than just another place for their child to socialize.  The next “level” in dance schools to identify is the performance opportunities.  While almost all dance schools will provide their students with at least some sort of annual performance or recital, some of the more professional schools will offer additional performance opportunities, including competitions and Spring and/ or Holiday performances or other smaller opportunities, in addition to the annual performance.  These schools will also support students either attending other summer intensive programs or provide their own.  Most students of these types of schools will be avid students until they graduate high school but may even continue their dancing afterward and will gain knowledge of life skills that they will use time and time again outside of the dance world.

The most advanced level of school is one that provides the multiple performance opportunities, combined with serious study and educational parameters.  These schools provide a structured curriculum and educational path of development specific to age and level using classic methodologies, such as the Vagonova Syllabus or the Royal Academy of Dance Syllabus.  On the ballet side for ages of around 11 years+, the school will require a minimum of 3-4 ballet technique classes per week as well as pointe and other disciplines.  The school also provides seminars and master classes from other professional dancers and instructors, usually with some renown within the dance world, as well as brings them in for choreography to expose their dancers to other styles and build their professional resumes and networks.  Their staff are all true ex-professional dancers from professional ballet companies and/ or Broadway, and/ or have professional certifications in a classical methodology.  This is not to say that there aren't first class teachers out there even if they were not professionals, but down the road, your dancer may want to be "raised by a dance family" as I call it, that has established connections and a network with other professionals within the dance world, as this is a useful aspect in garnering a paid position at some point.


The very highest pedigree of schools also provide scholarship opportunities for their students.  This is not just a tremendous benefit for students and their families facing the very large financial investment (perhaps even burden) of pursuing dance, but it is also a major indication that the school is stable (discussed more below) and well-managed.

2. What You Can Tell (or Can’t Tell) From a Website
One the first things we notice about websites before reading content is to notice their
images and photographs, and a dance school website is no different.  If the images presented on the website mainly show kids hugging each other or an instructor kneeling down with their arm around a student, they are usually an amateur type school.  Pictures showcased like this tell me they have no real dance photos of their students and they want to project that they are a school that fosters team work and nurturing environments.  And again, there is nothing wrong with this atmosphere, especially for the younger or first time student, but just don’t expect the dance education to be high caliber or actual pre-professional.  Although it might be possible, in general, your dance student’s skill to be an advanced dancer is unlikely if this is the type of school you choose.

For a more advanced school, their websites will generally showcase actual photos and sometimes videos from their performances.  Beware of the “staged” dance photos taken in costume, with static poses in front of a back drop.  These are like school pictures and don’t really show anything except whether or not the school has tasteful and age appropriate costume selections.   

Another defining factor between various schools is if they lean more towards competitions or towards a repertoire.  A competition school will showcase the competitions they attend annually and what awards they have won (the studio is usually littered with trophies), and their focus tends to be on hip-hop, jazz and tap.  A ballet or professional arts school will showcase repertoire with classics the school performs, such as The Nutcracker and other classic ballet works or other famous works of great choreographers, whether it be full productions or excerpts.

Faculty and instructors are usually also provided on the websites.  If you are looking for a more advanced school for your student, the faculty experience and background is critical to review.  If most of the faculty looks like they are in high school or college, they likely have little to no professional experience.  Beware if this is the ballet instructor depicted if you are looking for an advanced ballet school.  If the dance education is limited to college courses or their own education at a local school, it’s likely not going to provide a professional level of expertise.


Dress Code on dance school websites may sound like they are very strict and disciplined schools, citing the requirement for black leotards and pink tights only for ballet class.  However, dress code is never an indication of the discipline instilled or skill at the school overall.  Many of the mid-level schools boast a strict dress code on websites but they aren’t really enforced and many professional schools rarely have to cite a dress code because a professional dress where instructors can see the lines and technique of your dance student is simply a given and not necessary to cite on a website.

3. Observe a Class Before Registering
If a school won’t allow you to observe a class before registering, run away.  Observing a class is the best way to find out what is true about the school and what is fluff.  In particular, note how the teacher is and how the body of students responds.  Does the teacher have full command and respect of the class, or is it basically social hour for the students every time the music stops?  Do the students have varied levels of skill yet are all grouped together in the same class perhaps because they are close in age?  This is important to note if you are looking for a more serious school; intermediate to advance level classes will have a uniformed skill level regardless of age with only a few exceptions, if any.  If the class has varied skill levels, it is usually indicative of a school desperate to fill classes (see #4.guideline) rather than shaping a meaningful curriculum.

Also notice how the teacher teaches, even if you yourself have no experience with dance, you will be able to notice the following:  

  • Does the teacher critique individuals or lectures the same critique to the whole class every time?  An instructor that does not provide individual critique is not providing enough instruction.  It is important that both you and your dance student recognize that critique from an instructor is invaluable and is a positive aspect.  Generalized instruction to the entire class is fine some of the time or especially if a new step is being introduced, but most critique should occur at the individual level. 
  • Does the teacher themselves have an expert education with regards to steps and vocabulary?  This one is a bit trickier to pick up on, but it is possible without a formal dance education.  If the instructor demonstrates everything and does not call each step by the ballet term (French adjective), it's safe to assume they don’t really know the steps to be teaching them, or if they do, they have not made it part of their teaching to pass that along to students.  And unfortunately for some reason this is becoming an increasingly lacking piece to dance education.  For example, the director of a school I once taught at gave her students a leap to perform in several competition pieces and they practiced them across the floor in her jazz classes.  When they came into my ballet class, I instructed them to do a [grande] coupe jete entournent, the students looked confused and protested they did not know the step and that they needed a demonstration of it.  I thought this curious since I had seen them do it in their dances several times, and once I demonstrated it, they responded with “Oh! You mean ‘The Russian!’” I was appalled that the director of the studio would make such an egregious teaching error, and as you can imagine I did not teach there long after that incident.
4. Understand the Balance Between the Business and the Education
Almost all schools, even the professional ones, must maintain a balance between keeping the studio a profitable business and ensuring the best education for the students.  While it may seem that these are intrinsic to one another, they can often lead to opposing objectives for the owner/ director.  Due to this, I always recommend that even if your student is “trying it all out” make sure you ask up front what all the fees are:
1.     Trying it out for a month 
2.     Continuing for a year 
3.     And continuing on their advanced path or competition path for the next few years.  

The reason this is important is because there can be many unforeseen costs that you would never expect and having a student continue their dance education and/ or have them participate in all the offerings is an investment and often times an expensive undertaking.  Understand and ask about fees such as: Registration, recital & performance fees, costume fees and outright purchase costs, attire costs to stay within dress code requirements, shoes, competition fees, competition music fees, Summer Intensive program costs, Master class costs, audition fees, private lessons and coaching, etc.  Fundraising efforts you and your student will be expected to participate in, if you choose a competition school or a non-profit dance organization, ask about local competitions vs. their participation in national competitions and the travel costs associated.

Many schools make their profit in this way.  I personally don’t believe that any of it is frivolous for the most part, and as long as it is clearly provided what to expect and why, this should not be viewed as a “scheme to take your money.”  Dance is expensive, but that’s why you want to make sure you and your dance student are receiving in turn the true type of education you are investing in.  With these fees and the investment, your child should be exposed to all the opportunities that have been listed here.  The very best of schools are managed well enough to also offer scholarships and financial aid to a) families that demonstrate the need and b) the student that truly deserves it; meaning they want a career, they work hard and they have a good attitude.


A Last Warning
I have heard that some schools want their students to sign contracts and sometimes loyalty contracts, ensuring your money is spent only with them.  If the studio you are looking into has this, run away.  This is where I would say the business means more to the studio, than the education or that the school is not being managed well.  Loyalty to instructors and coaches is earned and the best instructors and coaches will encourage their students to take from as many good instructors and other dance opportunities as they can, especially if the school is smaller or under-funded, to ensure their students get the most out of everything that is available to them.  When instructors or directors get petty about other places you might be learning from, it may be time to evaluate where their true interest lies.