How to choose a dance school: a guide for parents

Choosing where your child will spend two afternoons a week for the next few years is worth twenty minutes of thought. Here is what we would look at if we were the ones choosing — including the questions we would want a parent to ask us.

The teacher

Training, and training in teaching

A great dancer is not automatically a great teacher. Ask about the teacher's own training, but also about their experience teaching children, which is a separate skill: adapting technique to different ages and levels of maturity is not something you pick up from performing.

Group size

Ask for the actual number

«Small groups» means nothing. Ask how many children are in the specific group your child would join. In dance, a teacher who cannot see and correct each student individually is not teaching technique — they are supervising an activity.

How groups are organised

By age and by level, not by convenience

A five-year-old and an eleven-year-old cannot learn together. If a school mixes wide age ranges into one group, it is usually because there are not enough students to split them — which tells you something in itself.

The trial class

Go, and watch

A school confident in its method will let you try. Go, and pay attention to things other than the choreography: does the teacher correct individually or only lead from the front? Are the children engaged or waiting? How does the teacher handle a child who is struggling?

Practicalities that decide whether you last

Distance, times, cost

A school close to home makes regular attendance far more likely, and regular attendance is what produces progress. Be honest about the timetable and about the cost across a whole year, not a month.

Ask directly what the year costs in total, whether there are extra charges for costumes or the end-of-year show, and what happens if you miss classes.

The end-of-year show

Ask what it involves

Most schools hold one. Ask whether it is compulsory, what the costume costs and how many extra rehearsals it means. It is usually the best experience of the year for the child, and it is better not to discover the logistics in May.

And then listen to your child

The only test that matters

Ask questions, watch a class, compare. But after the trial, listen to your child. If they feel comfortable, respected and excited, you have found the right place.

If you would like to see how we work, our children's classes in Telde offer a free trial with nothing to sign.