Dance is the UK’s fastest growing art form with more than 4.8million people regularly attending community dance groups each year. There are a number of reasons that have attributed to the dance boom. Not only is the country becoming far more aware of the health and fitness benefits that derive from dancing, but television programmes such as Strictly Come Dancing and Got To Dance have reignited people’s passion for dance.
Each evening, up and down the country, people of all ages, sex, ability and experience in dance are signing up to classes in their local gym. Dance studio or community town hall. However, as numbers continue to grow, an issue is slowly starting to emerge: quite simply, there aren’t enough dance instructors. If you’ve always dreamt of one day making a career as a dance teacher, then there’s no better time than now.
The Role of a Dance Instructor
Are you a creative, confident individual with a passion for dance that is able to demonstrate routines and lead by example? If so, then this job could be perfect for you.
A dance instructor has many roles:
- Choreographing dance routines for individuals as well as entire groups
- Demonstrating simple steps to designing complex dance pieces and performances
- Recording progress, evaluating performances and providing feedback.
- Teaching dance theory
- Devising dance routines to help people lose weight
- Developing fun classes for all abilities
As you can see, there’s a lot more to becoming a dance instructor than you might think. It’s a challenging profession but an extremely rewarding one. It requires commitment, dedication, patience and perseverance. You will need to be able to communicate and motivate as well as harness the enthusiasm and energy that is burning within a dance lesson.
Not only that, but you need to understand the health and safety risks that are associated with dance classes. Some sessions can have up to 20 students in a class and it’s important you take the wellbeing of each individual into consideration. As a dance instructor, you need to ensure that you are protected against claims that may arise from third party personal injury. Our insurance policy gives full cover should any accident occur to you or your students.
Where do I sign up?
Well, it’s not quite as easy as that. While experience goes a long way into becoming a dance instructor, whether you want to be a local dance instructor, work privately or in a state school, you will need to gain some qualifications.
The qualification you need is dependent on the type of teaching you want to do.
In schools and colleges:
In order to work in a school you need Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). All primary school teachers need to be trained in all subjects, but you are able to develop your expertise in specialist subjects such as physical education that would incorporate dance classes. In secondary school, you are able to teach dance as a single subject.
Remember, as a teacher, you will need to hold a postgraduate qualification (PGCE) and have a recognised profile as a practising professional performer.
For more information go to http://www.education.gov.uk/get-into-teaching
Private:
To teach dance privately, you need a qualification that has been awarded by organisations validated by the Council for Dance and Education Training (CDET). The Royal Academy of Dance and the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing are two of schools that have been validated by CDET. The CDET also accredits courses that have been offered by professional schools and colleges.
A life after dance:
A lot of dance instructors are retired performers. While they are unable to teach in schools and colleges, they are able to teach privately. Visit http://www.ndta.org.uk/ for information on dance instructor careers and qualifications.
Become a part of the boom
The interest that is surrounding dance has never been greater and what’s more, it doesn’t look like stopping anytime soon. As classes expand, the demand for instructors will increase, and this is where you can help.
Whether you’re a retired dancer, a student, or simply share a passion for dance, then becoming a teacher could be the job for you.
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