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
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.
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.
