Summary: While choosing a dance school in not rocket science, there are many considerations to choosing a school that is right for your child and your family. Whether you're looking to enroll your child in his first dance class or you're looking for a new school, here are 6 Tips to help you choose the right school. 1. Location While it may be convenient to enroll your kids at the closest location to your home or work, it’s only one of the factors you’ll want to consider. You may want to dig a little deeper into the school itself using some of the other guidelines we’ll discuss later in the show. 2. Facility Facilities, especially floors, are often overlooked when considering performing schools, but as a parent, this needs to be very high on your priority list. Just because a school has a large space with smooth-looking floors, doesn’t necessarily mean those floors for dance. As a dancer, I’ve danced on a number of surfaces and trust me, you can tell the good from the bad in just a few jumps or rolls. I’ve walked into lots of schools that look nice, with polished wood floor, but are really nothing more than laminate or linoleum atop concrete. I’ve even seen painted concrete floors in dance studios! While concrete is great for sidewalks it’s not meant for movement. So what should you look for in a floor? Ideally, for any type of movement classes, you want to look for floating floors. As the name implies the floor “floats” above the subfloor. If the subfloor isn’t concrete, a solid wood floor is also ideal. There should be a professional dance floor known as Marley on top of the wood. A Marely floor is a dense vinyl flooring that is tough and durable and sold in rolls that are secured on top of the wooden surface. Marley floors are designed to prevent slippage, provide an extra layer of cushioning, and absorbs much of the shock of movement which can prevent injuries. To put that into perspective gym floors are usually very sticky to accommodate sports such as basketball when traction is important, but are too sticky for dancing, especially without shoes. How do you find out this information? Ask lots of questions of flooring. If schools aren't forthcoming about their flooring, they're probably not up to par. Believe it or not, there are even schools out there that don’t believe the type of floor is important at all! The reality is that most schools don’t spend the thousands of dollars it costs to purchase good flooring. They’ll usually make due with what is already in a building, including carpeting, or substitute cheap wood floors covered in some sort of sealant to make the floors appear smooth. In addition to the proper flooring, the facility should be equipped with ample mirrors and barres. Barres are long wooden or metal apparatus which can be free standing or attached to walls that dancers use primarily in ballet. Take note of the feelings you get when you first walk into a school. Does it feel inviting? Do you feel comfortable? Does it look like a place where kids should be? Is the building well maintained and a place where you’d want to wait for your kids? A professional performing arts school should be well maintained, safe for the activities being taught, and be a place where you feel comfortable leaving your most valued possessions - your kids! 2. Staffing (And this is a biggy!) Teachers do make a difference! Teachers that are dynamic and and truly care about the outcome of the kids, create a positive and caring environment, provide feedback to help them grow, and instill a love of learning are what I look for when hiring teachers. Professional schools have professional staff that receive are paid, receive on going training, take pride in the work they do, and enjoy seeing the growth in their students and applaud their efforts. Look for a school that has staff that can assist you with your questions during classes.
