Dance Teachers – We Feel Your Pain
Most dance teachers, as we understand it, get into dance because of their extreme passion for it!
I don’t think we’ve ever heard of any dance teacher who said they were in it for the money ;)
And, unusually, we hear that dance teachers don’t expect to make money from dance – they expect to lose money :(
How does that happen?
We feel your pain.
Having chatted to quite a few of you, seen facebook posts, tweets, ran surveys and met lots of amazing dance teachers – we have heard the following:
-
I never get to see my family and friends as I work unsociable hours
-
I worry about getting enough bums on seats to cover the venue hire
-
I have no idea how to market my classes – that part doesn’t really interest me
-
I spend a lot of time in the car going to and from various classes
-
I spend tons of unpaid time choreographing and preparing for my classes
-
I worry about school holidays as most of my dance work is term time only
-
I’m scared to be ill as I have no-one to cover me
-
Sometimes it’s lonely teaching on your own
-
I hate all the paperwork side of things and the late payers
-
It’s hard juggling all the elements of running my dance classes, invoices, health and safety, keeping everyone happy
-
I sometimes works for 5-7 difference dance companies to try and make ends meet
And we hear about the things you would love:
-
I would love to feel like a valued member of a team – that my opinion mattered
-
I would love to give my creative input into choreography and get paid for it
-
I would love to turn up and teach and know I am being paid well for it
-
I would love to learn how to get bums on seats to my classes and camps and make a great profit
-
I would love to know that I can get cover if I am ill or on holiday
-
I would love to earn money during school holidays
-
I would love to spend more time with my family
-
I would love to work more sociable hours
-
I would love to work for just a couple of companies or just for myself
-
I would love to have time to do what I want to do