What Makes For a Qualified Dance Instructor?

[Spitfire]

During one of my trips out of town I was talking to one of the people who was hosting a swing dance that I attended and I was asked by this person what the swing scene was like here and I told her that it was not to good anymore. Well, she suggested to me that the problem might be in part due to a lack of qualified instruction.

This makes me wonder; what is it that makes for a qualified teacher for any dance? is it their knowledge of a particular dance and how much experience they have had with it or should there be more to it?

[d nice]

What makes someone qualified to teach a dance is the detailed knowledge of the dance, where it came from and where it is going, ability to break it down to the smallest detail when necessary.

The ability to make it fun and to energize dancers both on the floor and in class are NOT part of what makes a qualified instructor, but they are certainly part of what makes a good instructor.

[twnkltoz]

I like D Nice's response. People tend to get caught up sometimes in certifications and so forth...sure, it's nice to have a certificate, but that doesn't necessarily make for a good teacher, and in the case of my studio, there just isn't a mechanism for getting teachers "certified."

One thing that I would look for in a teacher is whether they continue to update their education. Do they attend classes and workshops or take private lessons from senior teachers?