Dance Instructor Tenure

Spitfire

Spitfire

Well-Known Member
What would you say is the average time one is employed as a dance instructor at a studio? From what I've seen most stay with it less then a year. Some who stay longer will go from studio to studio.

Other then those who are owners/managers of a studio the longest I've seen of the ones I've known is five years.
 
My instructor has been with the studio for over 10 years. One other has been for over 5 years. It's not unusual at our studio at all. I believe there are a couple of instructors interstate that are approaching 10 years as well.

Usually the ones that leave are the new recruits who either don't measure up and get kicked, or discover that it is not what they want to do after all. That is usually within a couple of months of them starting to teach.
 
Sounds like many of the instructors follow a path not unlike that of many of the students.

Dancing is not for everyone of course, but I have to wonder how many of those who leave either the activity or the setting do so because the way it was practiced in the place they tried was not consistent with the role they wanted dancing to play in their lives. If they find someplace else more to their liking, then this is just an example of a market system at work... but if someone who could have been good completely gives up because they happened to encounter only bad situations, then that is a loss to all of us.
 
From what little I've seen, the financial aspect of getting started as an instructor (in the US system) drives some people away. It's a hard business to break into, and it takes a long time to build a clientele. Meanwhile, you suffer financially, or get a day job. Or you give up and quit before you come into your own. :?
 
studios are funny... it depends on the owners and their personality. some owners just can't keep teachers for very long while others create a great environment for teachers to grow in. i know many instructors who have been teaching for 10+ years but prefer not to associate themselves with any one studio.

the feeling i get is a sense of being trapped and obligated when i'm working with a studio. especially if youre expected to help sell lessons. you do not have the freedom of choosing who you want to teach and when you want to teach them.

i like having a home studio teach in. i choose who i want to teach and when. and so far i haven't had any trouble booking my available hours.

i taught in the studio arena for 10+ years. 5 years at one studio and 2 years at two other studios and 1 at a 4th. really the only studio i liked was the last one that i worked at for 2 years before it closed down.
 
Wow -- my studio is defintely abnormal!

We have 6 male instructors who have been there: 5 years, 4 years*, 3 years*, 3 years, 3 years, and 1 year*.

We have 7 female instructors who have been there: 10 years, 5 years, 5 years, 2 years, 1 year*, 1 year and 1 month (me). :)

The * denotes instructors who had previous ballroom experience within the franchise, as instructors, before coming to our particular studio.

So, I think that gives us about a . . . . 3.25 year average at our studio! I had no idea that this was unusual. :)
 
pygmalion said:
From what little I've seen, the financial aspect of getting started as an instructor (in the US system) drives some people away. It's a hard business to break into, and it takes a long time to build a clientele. Meanwhile, you suffer financially, or get a day job. Or you give up and quit before you come into your own. :?
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BINGO! it sucks being a instructor and first starting out. there is no money in it for atleast 18 months. i'm glad i dont have to worry about money otherwise i would have had to quit a long time ago. now that i'm into it i'm doin fine. its funny but i'm finally consistenly hitting 20 teaching hours which is huge. i'm the only one in our studio doing it right now. my goal is for 25 hours a week.
 
I get the impression that the one way to break into the good part of teaching without doing as much of the bad is to gain experience and name recognition as a competitor before starting to teach. The problem is that you have to be able to finance that based on something else.
 
Or like a day job, which could interfere with the goal? It ain't easy. Or, at least, that's how it looks from the outside. Not easy.
 
or you find yourself a sugar daddy/momma-student or two that has MONEY and is willing to take 5-10 lessons a week and pay for comps and costumes and travel and lodging. just so they can dance.

i've seen that happen quite a few times.

rich widows(ers) or just weathy people who have made their fortune and now want more out of life.
 
Yes. I know a few of those.

It's dangerous emotional ground for the student in question, though. At least, I've seen a couple cases where the student formed a mother/son kind of emotional attachment and got really taken advantage of.

In these types of situations, the teacher should certainly sell as many lessons as the student wants to buy, IMO. But they have a huge ethical responsibility to keep things professional, in order to protect their students. My two cents, from the student perspective.
 
pygmalion said:
From what little I've seen, the financial aspect of getting started as an instructor (in the US system) drives some people away. It's a hard business to break into, and it takes a long time to build a clientele. Meanwhile, you suffer financially, or get a day job. Or you give up and quit before you come into your own. :?
Click to expand...
I think getting started as a dance teacher shouldn't be thought of much differently than going to college. Do many college students make career-worthy wages while they're in school? Many take 1 or more part times jobs to make it through (or even a full time job). If new teachers (aka trainees) set their expectations the same way we have them set for college, they could be less disappointed and perhaps more long-term goal oriented, instead of looking to "get rich quick".
 
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