teaching ballet

[hfbrew]

thanks everyone, i've found this thread really interesting to read up on!! 

 

in terms of ballet being zumba-ised, have any of you heard of DDMIX? the dance exercise programme created by Darcey Bussell? i think that's probably as close as you can get to ballet zumba, they're very similar. 

 

my eventual plan is to become a professional dancer after completing my dance degree, then after that go into teaching properly when i have actual experience etc as some of you were talking about earlier. right now, i'm just looking to put on classes in the evenings or weekends to make myself some extra money. i have an exercise to music qualifcation so that's first port of call, however i thought with 15 years of dance training and studying it would be a possibility to put on a dance class as well. obviously i wouldn't be looking to train children for exams or competitions or anything like that, it would be purely recreational. but i do think i have enough basis of technique and good structured dance classes to set one up myself?

 

Seems to me that you are a serious student who has already taken steps to have some sort of qualification. It's not as if you are a recreational student who has just decided to run her own Ballet classes without an appreciation of how many years training it actually takes to have a full in depth knowledge and competency in Ballet. I'm still learning after over 30 years teaching#

 

So yes, go for it but do ensure that you have public liability insurance and you would need to be registered self employed if you are doing this for yourself or are being paid by someone else on a self employed basis. I also strongly urge that you do a first aid course and be aware of the need for risk assessments and safeguarding policies.

 

Long term, a teaching qualification with RAD or other board is a good idea. Knowing the syllabus is only a tiny part of it, indeed trainee students are strongly encouraged to include as much free work in their classes as possible to show that they understand the foundations of classical technique and what is appropriate for the students in front of them. Only teaching syllabus is a big no, no, after all a syllabus is just the selection of work that is required to be shown in an examination. A good teacher should be ensuring a much broader knowledge than this. (Surely this is the same for any subject?)

 

Good luck

[LinMM]

That sounds like good advice hfbrew.

 

I'm sure with your long experience of ballet Anondancer you could set up and teach a simple ballet class at recreational level but of course I have NO idea about the logistics of running such a class in a Gym or similar type of establishment in what would be required of you to work there and so on.

But as your mum is a fitness instructor could she not help you with this aspect?

[Mummy twinkle toes]

To teach in gym/leisure centre you can be employed. Average rates £15-20 an hour. You can also do self employed and you need to register as such. The tax office usually run info classes on setting up, ni contributions, filing expenses and completing tax returns.

Yes, Zumba is 1 day course, as is step and some circuit qualifications. It depends which board you do it with but Cyq and ocr usually expect a level 2 qualification such as etm, gym instructor. Personal trainer, fitness post pregnancy, fitness for cardiac rehab are all level 3.

[invisiblecircus]

anon, have you thought about setting up a youth/ community dance group?

I think this would tie in well with your university studies and if you go into performance work after you graduate, you might well find yourself either giving workshops in schools or working with youth companies and groups so it would be great experience for that.

This is what I did when I was at uni, and after a while I also got a job teaching two weekly youth groups at a local theatre (so I was saved the hassle of looking for a venue, advertising for students etc.)

 

Edited because it came out aligned to the right for some reason!

Edited January 15, 2017 by invisiblecircus