Being a good choreographer does not automatically make you a good teacher. It doesn't make you a teacher at all, really. Think about it this way: being a Biologist doesn't qualify you to become a Bio Professor. You have to go into Education. It's one thing to know the subject, another thing to know how to teach it. But there is no official, systemized way that choreographers in our community can earn the right to teach. It's mostly based on the quality of their choreography videos or the relationships and networks they form.
A breathy voice murmurs the count as a dozen dancers move in unison across a studio at Chapman University. The people that look back are a mix of skin colors and body types, uniform only in their diversity. Between the mirrors and the dancers sits the choreographer. Someone presses play on the stereo. A rock anthem blares out.
As glamorous and rewarding as it looks, teaching a dance class is a tough job. You have to make sure that each student understands the movement, learns something new, and challenges themselves. Inevitably, some things make this hard job even harder. If you are a choreographer who totes get these struggles, share and spread the word!