BLOG | 2020 | August
INFLUENCERS VS. EDUCATORS
When dance competitions and studios plan their conventions and hire faculty, their first priority as a business is to earn money. In the age of social media, the best way to do that is to schedule and promote teachers with a large following—sometimes at the expense of your dancer’s education.
The New York City Ballet, a world-renowned ballet company established in 1948 by George Balanchine, has 462,000 followers on Instagram while a 17-year-old commercial dancer from the popular reality television series Dance Moms has 13 million followers. Is your dancer more excited about taking class with a company member of New York City Ballet whose name they don’t recognize or the So You Think You Can Dance contestant who posts exciting content every day? We’ve outlined a few best practices for choosing classes and teachers for your dancer.
Sign up for both!
For every class taught by a celebrity, make sure your dancer attends the less-popular technique classes taught by educators and industry masters. Register for classes with company members, choreographers, and college educators in addition to the convention stars to expose students to the full spectrum of teaching styles and experiences. A teacher with years of teaching experience may be better suited to evaluate and improve your dancer’s technique than a new teacher with a performance background.
Do your research!
Don’t just take the convention’s word for it. A quick internet search can answer many questions about a potential teacher’s experience. Where did they train? How long have they been teaching? What other organizations hosted classes by that teacher? Check out any footage of their classes available online. If the teacher is doing most of the dancing or focused on themselves, how are they watching and helping the students? Ask other students and parents who took class with that teacher how they felt and what they learned. Did they only learn choreography? Or did they learn about technique and expression and music and more?
Know the difference between a master and a guest teacher!
A master class is taught by an expert in the industry. Popularity does not make someone an expert. Be weary of conventions or studios labeling guest teachers as masters. This is a ploy to make money, not to educate your dancer.