Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for the course. We will teach you everything needed to become a professional instructor from the ground up.  Our course is also designed to benefit experienced dancers who wish to become professional dance instructors. 

Attendance
This is a professional level course and we cover a lot of material at a fairly fast pace.  Missing class is not advised as you can easily fall behind.  If you do have to miss a class, you can generally arrange to work with one of the other students to help you catch up.  You can also schedule private lessons with the master instructor or one of the faculty members of the Ballroom Teachers Academy to make up any work you miss.

Exam Schedule
Exams are scheduled during regular class times.  If you miss an exam, you may schedule a make-up exam with the master instructor for an additional private lesson fee.

Practice
The class meets a total of 4 hours a week.  Most students spend quite a bit of time every week studying the material and practicing what they have learned.  Though the amount of outside time varies greatly from student to student, please expect to commit one hour of study time for every hour you spend in the class. Becoming a dance teacher takes dedication and practice.

Materials
The DVIDA Manuals (please see Schedule for which manual for each semester) and the Ballroom Teachers Academy Binder are required textbooks for the course.  The accompanying DVIDA videos are recommended, but optional.  The DVIDA Bronze Manuals and videos are available from Dance Vision, and may be ordered online at www.dancevision.com, or by calling 1-800-851-2813.  The Ballroom Teachers Academy Binder is provided in class and costs a one-time fee of $75.  It includes all class handouts that are distributed over the entire 20-month program.

Shoes
All students will be expected to have proper dance shoes by the second class.  This is not an arbitrary aesthetic or fashion consideration.  To teach dance, you need the "right tool for the job", and proper dance shoes are literally the foundation for your dancing!  There are different styles of dance shoes for different styles of dancing, but most Ballroom Teachers Academy students wear a basic "practice shoe", a durable suede-soled dancing shoe that is made to be comfortable and wearable for long periods.  Some students wear flashier shoes or high heeled dance shoes, but this is matter of personal comfort.

Presentations
Because this is a teaching class, there is a strong emphasis on presentation.  You will be expected to present material to the class on a regular basis.  You may be asked to demonstrate a figure or to present a brief history of a specific dance.  Don't worry, we hand out assignments in advance, so you will have plenty of time to prepare!

Dancing Both Roles
In order to teach a specific dance or figure, you need to be able to articulate and demonstrate both the leader's and follower's part.  We spend equal time in class working on both parts and every other student as both leader and follower, regardless of gender. This is standard practice for professional dance instruction.

Please feel free to give us a call 512-339-9391
or send us an email at teach@godancestudio.com  
with any questions regarding Teacher Training.