Choosing Guest Teachers

Bringing guest teachers into your space can bring new experiences, fresh outlooks, and inspiration to your dancers. It can also, unfortunately, as our research has found, bring negative experiences, unhealthy expectations, and pressure to your dancers.

So how do you make sure what your dancers are getting from a guest teacher leans more toward the former than the latter?

This starts with being mindful to not simply bring in a guest teacher because another studio did, their pieces are winning at competitions, or they teach at a popular convention. These can certainly be reasons to consider bringing them into your space, but they can’t be the only prerequisites.

Here are some tips to consider -

1. Make sure the teacher you are considering aligns with the values of your studio.

 - Selecting guest choreographers who behave or interact with your dancers in a way that doesn't align with your values could potentially cause confusion and frustration within your dancers and dance parents. 

2. Identify your goal for bringing in a guest teacher. 

Ie. Teach new skills, choreograph a challenging piece, teach a fun class, etc.

- Being clear about what you want to give your dancers, based on your values, will help you keep alignment throughout the experiences you are offering.

3. Make your goal clear to the teacher you’re thinking about bringing in and make sure they understand and are willing to meet that goal.

- Clarity between you and the guest teacher sets everyone up for success.

When you choose guest teachers based on the above, you are taking the entire well being of your dancers into account - not just their dancing.

We see you creating memorable, thoughtful experiences for your dancers. We are here to support you in any way we can!

Want to chat with a licensed therapist and dance educator about how to make decisions to create a healthier dance environment? Click below to book a consultation.