Is it the age? Dancers are younger and dance teachers are older. Right?
Oh, come on.
Some of serious dancers I know have many hats. The hats I see often are; Dancer, Dance Teacher, Judge and Event Organizer.
Certainly, they are different functions. I'll talk about the first two "Dancer "and "Dance Teacher" today.
To have a "Dancer" title on your name card you better be able to dance well enough to entertain and convince others that you are indeed a dancer. There is a difference between "she is a dancer" and "yeah, she dances". To be a dancer, you want to be (or better be) good at the art of dancing.
There are many different dances. Hip hop and slow foxtrot are entirely different dances. Good at one dance doesn't mean you are good at another. To some extent you can transfer the skills to other dance, though. "Good at dancing" is somewhat similar to that elusive notion of being "strong" in martial arts. You are at a certain level and it shows.
To have a "Dance Teacher" title you better be knowledgeable enough about a dance, you usually dance the dance yourself, are able to teach a dance to others, and most importantly, can get others dance well.
Some type of certification helps to standardize teaching, and it may help convincing students. Credentials on paper help in the same way. But think about it. They don't mean much, do they?
The best Dancer and the best Dance Teacher are not one and the same. You can be both, but it's not always the case. The best Dancers move and dance well by themselves. They are entertainers. The best Dance Teachers empower dances of others. The best Dance Teacher title can be claimed only through the dance of his students.
So here is the sticky issue. What if a teacher doesn't meet a good student? What if his students dance, hmm, not so well? It's a tough deal for the teacher, isn't it? I call it CTHD frustration. "CTHD" stands for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", that kung fu movie with flying swordsmen. In the movie the sword master guy had his frustrations for having difficulty finding a student to whom he can pass on his superhuman kung fu.
Let's face it. There is a certain degree of athleticism involved in dancing. If you are aiming at high level performance, it will be required. Like not everyone is able or meant to run 100m in less than 10 seconds, not everyone is able to dance like young Baryshnikov. It does take good luck for a teacher to meet a student with both potential and willingness.
However, everyone can strive to achieve the best of what they got. Teachers can help them going for it. It is truly rewarding for a teacher if students achieve their best. And it is where all teachers should aim. In this sense, process is more important than result.
Of course, teachers, if you think this is BS, you are free to come up with some ideas to connect to the best students you can imagine.
