Becoming a ballet teacher is not one of those things that you decide when you are in matric at career day. Being a ballet teacher is not something that you can become without years of ballet training prior to the event. Ballet dancing is a specialised art form that requires years of training the body and disciplining the mind, and it is not an art form that you can perfect overnight. They say that it takes ten years to train a dancer, I think the same goes for the training a ballet teacher.
As ballet dancing is a gradual training of the body, it would be best if you started your lessons before the age of ten. Some great dancers have been known to start later, and male dancers are especially well known to be late starters. Most schools take children as young as three, but five or six years is also a great age to start off your ballet training. It takes years of careful training to develop turnout, strengthen the muscles, and the feet in preparation for pointe work, and to gain that special delicate and graceful quality and poise that looks like it comes so naturally on most good ballet dancers.
Ballet teachers are a product of years of training, and then still more specialised training in the art of teaching. If you want to become a ballet teacher you also need to have the following qualities:
A good brain, as there is a lot of syllabus as well as terminology to remember.
Good musicality;
A good eye for technique and must be able to see any fault and correct it before it becomes a habit,
An ability to break down and analyse movement and then be able to transfer this knowledge onto someone else:
Highly motivated and also highly organised;
A really good sense of humour;
A ability to communicate with children, and of course must enjoy working with children;
A huge dose of patience.
Not all ballet teachers have danced professionally. It is a bonus but not a requisite for becoming a teacher. Ballet dancers need to think hard when they give up their professional careers to become teachers, as teaching is not for everyone. Professional dancers often battle to come down to a learners level after being surrounded by talent and must remember not everyone that comes to a ballet class is going to become a professional ballerina.
As a teacher of ballet dancing, I find it both rewarding and challenging. Ballet teachers will never be without work, as there are job opportunities world wide. The flexible hours are great, especially if you have children of your own. Ballet teachers can choose whether they would like to own their own studio’s or work for someone else. Both have their pros and cons. If you decide that being a ballet teacher is for you, you will have a fulfilling and exiting career ahead of you, and it is wonderful to be able to do something that you are passionate about.
Tags: Balet Dance, lord of the dance