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- If you love dance and helping others this could be the role for you
- Physical work with lots of evenings and weekends
- Highly creative work, but you'll also need patience and good communication skills
As a dance teacher you'll train students to become professional dancers or help people to learn more about dance and movement. You'll design or choreograph dances routines for your pupils, depending on the job.
DAY-TO-DAY DUTIES
- Showing students how to warm up and move safely
- Demonstrating how to perform dance moves
- Designing dance pieces and performances
- Keeping records of students' performance and progress
- Providing feedback to students
- Entering students for dance exams
- Maintaining your own dance skills and techniques
DAY-TO-DAY ENVIRONMENT
Many private dance teachers are self-employed, running their own business or working freelance for several different schools.
You may have classes during the day, evening, and weekends. You'll also need to work at the weekend for dance events and performances.
You'll work in classrooms, halls and dance studios. Facilities can be quite basic in some venues.
You'll need
This role is ideal for someone with a love of dance, excellent verbal communication skills, leadership skills and creativity.
You'll need to pass enhanced background checks for this role, as you may be working with children and vulnerable adults.
You'll usually need qualified teacher status (QTS) to teach in a state school.
You could work your way into this role if you've got several years' experience in dance. You could start as an assistant in a private dance school and do teaching qualifications with a relevant dance organisation. The Council for Dance, Drama and Musical Theatre has a list of approved awarding organisations.
You'll need at least a level 3 qualification in performing arts dance or higher, if you want to teach, for example in a further education college.
You could also do a relevant degree in dance or performing arts.
As a primary teacher, you would be trained to teach all subjects, but may develop a subject specialism in physical education, which could include dance or creative movement. At secondary level you could get the opportunity to teach dance as a single subject or combined with other subjects like physical education, drama or performing arts. To be a lecturer in a university you'll need a postgraduate qualification or a recognised profile as a professional performer, and teaching experience. To train as a private dance teacher, you'll need to complete a recognised professional qualification. There are some degrees in dance that include teacher training.
CAREER PROSPECTS
In a school you could become a head of department, a head of faculty or a head teacher. As a private dance teacher you could develop your own business and run your own dance school. You could also move into choreography or dance movement psychotherapy, with further training.