- A dance teacher is a professional instructor who specializes in different areas and styles of dance. Many dance teachers have formal training in ballet, tap or ballroom dancing, while others specialize in a specific genre, such as Latin, jazz or hip-hop. A dance teacher may have majored in dance at the college level or trained in a private studio at an early age. Dance teachers can find work in a variety of places, including in colleges, high schools, private studios and cruise ships, to name a few.
- Professional dance teachers spend a typical eight-hour workday in dance class, working with and training a variety of students and dancers. The teacher leads the class in the warm-up, stimulus and cool down. The first part of the lesson, the warm-up, consists of stretching exercises to get the muscles ready to engage in dance. This is followed by practicing the steps to one or more dances for several hours. The dance teacher leads the class in the dance, but also carefully watches the students, corrects mistakes in technique, perfects a step or stance, demonstrates the proper way to perform a step and tries to prevent injury by supervising closely. The cooldown is a way to relax the muscles after all the strenuous activity. The dance teacher leads the class in a series of mellow stretches and deep breathing activities to end the session.
- A dance teacher also works as a choreographer on projects such as operas, ballets, dance competitions and theater productions. Some workdays are spent inventing new steps and dance routines for a variety of professionals, including figure skaters, musicians and seasoned competitive dancers. Oftentimes, teaching and creating choreography go hand in hand for a professional dance instructor. Many contemporary musicians seek out talented dance teachers and choreographers to produce their live tours and music videos.
