It’s time to make a choice: are you going to find a dance studio, or are you going to find THE dance studio?
Plenty of people choose a dance studio every day, performing a quick google search and clicking happily at the first studio name to catch their eye. Knowing little about the world of dancing, they walk in to the first dance studio they find and, so excited to just learn already, they sign up on the spot and never consider that the empty, uncared for studio they’ve just pledged their weeknights to might not be the best choice. I mean, we’ve all seen the movies set in those little studios, nearly falling apart but full of spunk! That’s the sort of place you want to learn, right?
Sorry, but no.
When It’s Time to Choose a Dance Studio…
There’s a lot going on behind the scenes in some of these studios and, if you’re not privy to it all you might find yourself under-served and never know the difference. So let’s talk about three major things you want to know about your new studio before signing up.
1: The Staff Works For You, Together
Some studios operate as a base for a bunch of independent instructors to rent while they teach lessons. They pay a small fee to the owner of the dance studio, but otherwise have no connection to anyone else in the building.
Operations like these don’t serve the best interest of the student. You’ll find that self-employed dance instructors can be very competitive with each other, with some even going so far as to undercut each other and attempt to attract students away from their rivals. This can interrupt your learning experience and create an atmosphere where your teacher is more worried about impressing you than she is about actually helping you grow as a dancer.
Don’t be suckered in by that. Look for a dance studio where the staff is one organized team. At Arthur Murray we call this “Team Teaching”, and it’s a system in which all the instructors form a unified plan to help each student reach their maximum potential. We don’t have to compete over students, because every instructor is there for every student, any time.
2: Your Teacher is an Accredited Dance Instructor
“I can teach you how to dance”, is a line anyone above the age of five can say. That doesn’t make it true.
Dance studios worth their salt have accredited instructors. It’s a widely believed fallacy that good dancers automatically make good teachers, but learning well and teaching well are two totally different things.
An accredited dance instructor is one who not only knows that material, but has been rigorously tested to confirm that they can take what they know and deliver it to students in an easy-to-understand way. Arthur Murray instructors are always accredited to guarantee that your trip to their dance studios are as productive as possible.
Make sure your dance studio has instructors who are as good at instructing as they are at dancing.
3: Your Dance Instructor Has a Plan
Success at your new dance studio will come from strong, guided direction toward your goals. You work together with your instructor, telling her what you want to get out of your dance lessons and then you embark on a truly life-changing learning experience together.
You’ll end up building an amazing friendship with your instructor, and a bond of trust. It feels great to know there’s someone in your corner, cheering you on and working everyday to make you a better dancer and a more talented person.
Alas, not every dance studio has that sort of quality instructor to offer you. At Arthur Murray dance studio, our instructors undergo training not just to teach dance steps, but to harness their passion for dance education in a structured way that focuses on achieving goals.
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