You meet a lot of teachers when you hang around the dance community. You occasionally meet a few professional competitors, too.
While I could attempt to write a comprehensive guide to dance teachers, there are already several Web sites out there which provide lists of dance schools and teachers. Since I have never met most of them, much less actually danced with them, there is literally nothing I can say about them that isn't already there.
But I have observed plenty of teachers while waiting for my classes or private lessons to start. They all share a certain intensity and professionalism that I respect very much. In their private lessons, they are totally focused on helping their students learn to improve their dancing.
A typical working day for a dance teacher can involve between six and ten hours on the floor with students. Many of them seem a little thin, but that is due more to fitness than anything else. When you see a 50-55 year-old man spin across the floor with excellent timing and precision that most 20-year-olds will never match, you begin to appreciate just how much time and effort these people put into their profession.
If you have the opportunity to watch a dance school's showcase performance (usually offered once or twice a year), go for it. Dress up, take a date, or just go with a group of friends. You will see your community's best local dancers at their best. And you will have a fun, enjoyable afternoon or evening.
|
When you are ready to take the plunge and learn some dance moves yourself, don't agonize over your first teacher. You may have to try out with more than one.
While you want to choose a teacher who knows a great deal more than you, what it really comes down to is the personality mix between teacher and student. Each teacher is different, each student is different.
I have watched people walk out of classes and lessons with expressions of complete and total joy. And I have seen people walk out of a class after paying a non-refundable $40-80 simply because they didn't like the "style" of the teacher.
Many schools and teachers will NOT let you come in and observe before you decide whether to sign up with them. The ancient expression, caveat emptor (let the buyer beware), holds true in dance instruction as well as in any other field.
I don't think 10 minutes is really sufficient time to evaluate a teacher's style and personality, but some people make judgements very quickly.
The profiles I provide here for Gloria Jones, Johnny Walden, German Hernandez, and Salsa Eddy introduce you to four very different people. They each have a different style. It would be a rare student, I think, who could find equal rapport with all of them. But they all extend themselves to work with any willing student.
###
|
