Hello Everbody,

I'm an 18 year old girl who is, come September, going to be training at a stage school within a variety of dance styles: ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary etc as well as singing, acting, musical theatre etc etc.
I'll be there for a year and then I'll be going it alone!

Now, performing would be want I want to do but I know how competitive this industry is so I'm prepared for that, however, I love to teach!
I've been doing some student teaching at my private dance school and I love it.

My question is...is it possible to teach within a private dance school, or even set up your own dance school, without having syllabus qualifications??? i.e. within IDTA/ISTD.


Any help much appreciated
Dancer246
x x x x

Well, it's possible in the US but I am not familiar with what is typical over the pond. Maybe some of our other UK coleagues can give you some tips.

Hi there,

you can teach if you can teach. But I know that in a few countries you will have to have some kind of teachers diploma to be able to open your own ballet school.

I live in Germany, and here anyone can open a ballet school, and I do not think that that is the best solution. There are just too many who go to ballet school, and after years and years, thy do not know anything, because there is no "controling organ" of the ballet teachers. I think in standard dance etc there is a much stricter control!

Cheers

Hi,

Sorry to come to this discussion late. I am a teacher based in the UK and I ran my own school for 9 years. In my experience most teachers who run private dance schools in the UK will have a teaching qualification from one of the major societies i.e ISTD, IDTA, RAD. Not only does this give you a recognisable qualification it also means you can enter pupils for exams. However there are some schools that just offer free syllabus work without exams and for there experience would be the main criteria.

I would advise all prospective UK teachers to gain an associate qualification with one of the big societies- it just gives you more employment opportunities. For schools that teach syllabus work it is a must, for those that don't it gives them a marker as to your level and technical abilities.

As an aside there is no legislation in the UK that says you must have a qualification to start your school, technically anyone can do it. It is obviously favourable to have a good deal of teaching experience and knowledge before doing this.

I hope that helps.

I'm new to this, but I found a teaching forum that led my to this fantastic site by accident, wen I was looking for better music and addvice with my adult classes. I think it's fantastic you love to teach. It's perfectly possible too. I live in a remote area, there was no dance, so with support and guidence from my teacher have set up my own dance school. I teach BBO sylabys, this is fantastic. I am a registerd teacher with the Brittish ballet organisation, but we are advised to get a lot of experience first and attend teachers corses before sitting the teaching exams. After these you will be recognised and it will be much easyer to teach where you like, and gain reputation too.

Hope this is helpfull good luck!

Marama