Chapter 4: Dance in Elementary Education:

I have experienced many teachers and teaching styles. One thing that I have learned is that great dancers don’t necessarily make great dance teachers. The longer I teach, the more I realize that teaching is an art unto itself. Dancers are not generally taught how to teach. There are many dancers who simply decide to teach as a natural progression of their careers—they teach because their performing careers end around age 40 or because they sustain a serious injury. Rarely do dancers set out to become teachers as in other fields of study. Most dance teachers are hired by studios based on their professional performing experience and whom they have studied with themselves. Degrees in dance education are generally required only in schools that have dance as part of the curriculum, and in my experience, these are few and far between. This is often the case because arts programs are the first to be cut whenever there is a lack of funding. Some dancers return to school for an advanced degree once their performing careers are over; however, even these programs often focus on choreography and performance rather than pedagogy.