Starting to teach

If you are considering starting to teach here is a guide to help you achieve your goal.

Before we start though, a word of advice: the decision to start teaching is not one to be taken lightly. It requires commitment on your part, plus a genuine willingness to share your skills and knowledge with other people. I strongly advise anyone with less than 4/5 years experience not to even consider it, as you probably won't have the depth or breadth of knowledge necessary. The same applies to those will little or no performance experience. This is a performing art and as such you cannot expect your students to understand how to perform in public (or even in front of their classmates) if you have limited or no experience of this yourself.

That sounds harsh, but many dancers start teaching far too early and either pass on incorrect information or poor skills to their students. Worse still are those who have little or no knowledge of posture and pass on a legacy of poorly executed moves and a risk of injury to their students.

First of all the practical things:

As with dance gigs the last thing you want to do is set yourself up in direct competition with another teacher already teaching in the same area, especially if you both teach the same style of dance. So check around first to see if there are any already established classes. Setting up a rival class is not only unfair to other teacher who is more established, it will not do you a lot good on the financial front if you are both competing for the same number of students. 2 x teachers does not necessarily equal 2 x the students, or 2 x the income. Another advantage to getting on well with a nearby teacher is that you can refer students to each other and join forces to organise workshops and haflahs.
Do some market research and find out what other teachers charge for various types of lessons and courses, and don't undercut them. Undercutting the other teacher or teachers is unethical, a sure way of making enemies of potential colleagues, and won't do much for your profit margin. Work out what your expenses will be and then add a reasonable percentage to ensure you make a profit. Remember: you do want to make a profit, even if it is a small one. Although you may love your dancing and teaching, you still have to pay the bills.
Once you are sure that there is a market for your classes you will need to find a suitable venue. Look at several before you make your mind up and go for the one that offers the best facilities for the most reasonable cost. The cheapest might seem like the best option, but that may mean that it's poorly maintained, dirty or just plain unsafe because it's in a rough area. Don't put running a dance class ahead of being safe.
Ask about who will be using the space directly before you. If it's likely to be something that will make the floor dirty or messy, insist that the room and its' floor are made suitable for you to use well before your students arrive. Check to see if the activity before yours is something that will require a lot of clearing up time (like an indoor sport). If this is case politely make sure that everyone understands that you expect to be able to use the space at exactly the allotted time and not have to wait whilst they use your time to finish clearing up.
Always arrive a few minutes before you are due to use your venue. This will ensure that the previous booking knows you are waiting and it will encourage them not to run over. Don't be shy about going in and starting to set up if they run over - they are using your time! If this becomes a regular problem try to sort it out amicably, but if the problem persists inform the caretaker or the person you hire from. Tell the late-runners that you are making a complaint; it's your time and your money they are wasting!
When arranging the amount of time you want to hire the space for, be sure include some time either side of the class to enable you to set up and to give students a chance to ask questions at the end of the class. I find that 10 or 15 mins at either end of the class is usually sufficient. Make sure that you are ready to start on time when your students arrive, don't wait for latecomers as this is unfair to those that made the effort to arrive on time. Another good reason for a buffer zone at the start/end of the scheduled class time is that it may afford you the time to have a quick practice session just for yourself. It's important to make sure that you do get dance time just for you - you need time to be able to enjoy your dancing as well as giving the students time for them to do the same.
Public Liability Insurance and a Phonographic Performance Licence [PPL] are very important. You need to factor in the cost of this when deciding what to charge your students. Click here for more information on Public Liability Insurance and Phonograph Performance Licence.
Before you start your class check the dance space for safety. It's not your job to clean up the area to make it suitable for dancing, that's the responsibility of the warden or caretaker. However, it's not unreasonable to expect to sweep a room beforehand if you are going to use it in bare feet. This is a useful way of checking that there is nothing to injure you or your students. However, a floor surface caked with dirt, mud or sticky patches of food should be cleaned up by the caretaker before you use it.
Make sure you know where the fire exits are in relation to your room and that they are clear. Find out what the evacuation procedures are in the event of a fire. Keep a list of who is in the class and check them off when you are in a safe place. Most places usually have a First Aid Box but it's not always that easy to get to outside of normal office hours in a hall or community centre. So buy a reasonable sized kit that's easy and light to carry and take it with you to each class. Get a First Aid Certificate - it's not that expensive, and one day you may be grateful you did if a student has a heart attack or suffers a serious injury. If you don't have a mobile phone make sure that there's a phone available on the premises or very nearby in case of an emergency. I always carry a torch as part of my kit just in case there is a power failure (sounds mad but it's happened to me more than once!)
If you are using an in-house music system, check that it works properly before the start of every class. Most studios have spares available in an emergency, but not community or village halls, so always carry a boom box locked in the boot of your car. If you are using your own equipment make sure that it's up to the job. One that's small and easy to carry might be kinder on your arms, but not a lot of use in class if it doesn't have enough output. Electrical equipment used in a public place should be checked annually for safety. Many small electrical shops will do this for a very small charge. Things like having a First Aid Certificate and having your electrical equipment checked annually may help keep your insurance costs down.
You will need to market your classes so that potential students know you are out there, word of mouth will not be enough. Get some flyers made up and put them in places where you think you'll encourage potential students. Libraries, community centres and halls are good places to start. If you are going to a haflah just outside your catchment area then ask the organiser if you can put some flyers out. Get yourself listed in your local dance publication - Mosaic, Taqasim, NADA, & Guedra all have this sort of listing, usually free or low cost if you are a member or subscriber. Do some internet searches to see if there any web sites around that might list your details, it's quite surprising how many people look for classes online. State clearly what style of dancing you are offering and if you are happy to accept mixed classes (men & women). You'd be surprised how many men out there would like to learn given the chance.
How will your students pay? If you are teaching via the Adult Education system or as an employee of a gym or sports centre this is not a problem as your employer will collect the fees and then reimburse you at whatever the agreed rate is. If you run your own classes on a private basis then the best way forward is to work out a reasonable cost for 10 or 12 weeks and ask students to pay for it all up front. Collecting payments on a week by week basis is a sure-fire way of ending up making a loss if you have a run of classes with only a few students.

Teaching your class

Before you start your classes sit down and think about what you are going to teach and how you are going to teach it. Lesson and Course Planning are vital to a successfully run class. If you are teaching a course over 10 weeks for instance, you will need to outline exactly what you aim to teach over that period and how you intend to teach it. Then break it into weekly segments, and then down into smaller segments for your lesson plan. Think about how you want to structure your classes and have a clear idea about what you want your students to achieve by the end of the course. Make sure that you have outlined a clear progression through the course and give students the incentive to graduate to the next level of learning once they have mastered a set of basic skills. Don't try to teach classes beyond your skill level or in a subject you are not familiar with.
Once you have this down on paper you can start to plan your weekly classes. Have a list of what you wish to teach each week and then write down the teaching methods you will employ to teach each skill. It's always a good to idea to allot some time to reinforce work done in the previous class. Work out how long each element of your lesson plan should take, and try to stick within that framework during the class. Be prepared: if your students are really struggling with a step or movement it may be worth abandoning another part of the lesson to ensure that they get it right. Have an extra step or movement held in reserve just in case everyone has a really good class and are ready to move on quicker than you anticipated.
Use a variety of different teaching methods and be prepared for some students to learn quickly whilst others take longer. It's important to keep a balance, so don't rush on ahead with the quick learners, but don't hold everyone back for the sake of one or two who don't quite get it. A useful way of doing this is to offer the quicker students a variation on the movement to practice, whilst you help out the other students. You will need to be able to verbalise and breakdown what you are teaching to ensure that everyone understands how to do it, and demonstrate the movements from different angles to give everyone a clear picture of it. Encourage your students to ask questions if they are unsure about anything.
As part of your class structure or plan you will need to factor in time for a warm up period at the start of the class and a cool down at the end. This is extremely important for the well being of your students' bodies and should never be left out, even if for some reason you are running late. If you are not sure what constitutes a safe warm up or cool down, make some notes at a workshop then ask the teacher about them at the end of the session. Alternatively, you could try asking a more experienced teacher for some advice. It's also worth contacting a fitness centre to see if someone could advise you what's appropriate for the level of activity in your class. Some organisations like Mosaic run dance safety days, specifically aimed at helping teachers to do this safely.
Plan out what music you are going to use for each part of the class. If you are using music cassettes it may be worth putting two segments worth of music on several individual tapes, rather than having the whole class on one tape and make a backup. This will save a lot of time that would be wasted winding back and forth to cue a piece of music. If you are using CDs it's worth writing up sticky notes with the track you want to use and what you are going to use it for to stick on the case of each CD. Again this will save you a lot of time. If you have access to a CD burner it would be well worth your time to burn a CD with the music on for individual classes (always take a back up copy). This will not only save you time but make your bag lighter too!
Class wear. I prefer to wear one of the following when I am teaching: a unitard, leotard and tights/leggings, or jazz pants and a leotard or top, finished off with a hip scarf to give a clear view of my hip line. This gives students a very clear view of exactly what each part of me is doing when I am demonstrating a movement. If you don't feel comfortable with that, wear a skirt that can be lifted or tucked up so that your students can see what you are doing. Encourage your students to wear similar clothing to yourself - or loose fitting clothing that is easy to move in. Layers that can be taken off and put back on again depending on the level of activity are also a good idea.
Try to ensure that everyone goes home feeling that they have achieved something, no matter how small, and you can be sure they'll be there for the next class. Fun is very important. Whilst your students need to respect you and pay proper attention when you are teaching, there's nothing wrong with having a laugh or a giggle. People learn much faster in a friendly environment than a stern or strict one. Don't get over fond of your ‘authority’; it's always useful to remember that just as you want your students to respect you, they deserve the same level of respect in return.
Be wary of getting too friendly with your students. Whilst it's nice if you all get on, you don't want to take your work home with you. Don't give out your home phone number or address, give a mobile phone number or email address so that they can leave you a message outside of class time if necessary. You may well become friends with students who stay with you a long time, but there will also be those who move on after a few terms (or even classes) this happens in all types of classes. Don't worry yourself too much if people disappear after a few classes, or don't turn up at the start of a new course, there are lots of reasons why this happens and the vast majority of them have nothing to do with you or your teaching. Having said that, a high turnover of students on each course, with few students returning at the start of each new term should ring a few alarm bells. Either you are not offering the type of dance that students were expecting to learn or perhaps you need to have a look at your teaching methods or style of teaching.
Although it may be easier to use Western style music for your warm up and cool down segments, it's best to avoid using anything but Middle Eastern music for the rest of the session; after all you are teaching Middle Eastern Dance. There is plenty of Middle Eastern pop music available that is fun, up beat and suitable for repeating core movements. You can see & buy some of my recommended titles by clicking here.
Try to give your students a sense of how the dance as a whole has developed. Give them information about the different styles of dance that are out there and explain the differences between them. There is a brief primer here that may help you. It's also useful to get students thinking about the rhythms used in the music and how to dance to them early on in the course. A period of 'free dancing' or improvisation at the end of a session is a great way of helping students to put into practice what they have just learned and will give you a good idea of what you need to focus on as a follow up in the next class. However, it's not a good idea to stand and watch your students whilst they dance; as this will make them uncomfortable and nervous if they think you are assessing them. Instead help inspire them by dancing too, using the same group of movements so that they can see how to link them together.
It's worth remembering that as your students grow and blossom under your tutelage, you will do the same as you become more confident as a teacher. A good teacher will always be looking for new ways to inspire her or his students, ways to help them develop their skills. Keep you own skills updated by attending workshops and seminars and, when your students are ready, encourage them to do the same. If you want to improve your teaching skills it is well worth investing the time and money in doing an adult educator's course to improve your technical knowledge on how to teach.
Encourage your students to study with other teachers, exposure to different teaching methods and styles of dance are useful to all of us. Don't keep your students in the dark about what else is going on in the dance community - they'll find out eventually and will think less of you when they find you kept that information from them. You do not 'own' your students, nor do you have a 'right' to be their sole teacher. Working on your motivational skills and thinking of ways to inspire your students will help to earn their respect and your classes will be an enjoyable experience for you all. Don't turn the whole thing into a chore for either you or your students - remember dancing is fun!

To get a feel of what else you may need to think about by reading the article titled Looking for a Teacher.

Afra offers a training course for prospective teachers, click here for more information.

If you are a part time teacher looking to turn professional and work full time as a teacher and performer there is some useful information here.

Starting to Teach