Again its the supply and demand thing and people will pay that rate. You're away on a weekender, have time to work on things you learn, are relaxed and enjoying your dancing, access to teachers you otherwise would have to travel to have a private with - all those things mean that it might be worth paying a bit more than you usually would.
My dance partner had a private lesson this weekend, giving him useful feedback and teaching things that he wouldn't have got in a larger class. It was really helpful and for us it was worth it.
Otherwise, I'd say anywhere between £25-£40 is an acceptable rate for 'regular' private lessons, depending on the experience and expertise of the teacher.
I wouldn't confuse the rates charged at weekenders with the rates charged by CTA instructors on their own patch. As a second point, courting controversy, I would tend to agree with you that a fair proportion are probably not well trained/experienced at teaching one-on-one .... they may not have the experience in analysis, dance form and theory and know teaching methods (but then again have YOU Mr DB? ).
Having said that, there are some CTA who DO have an impeccable dance background or whom are simply talented and able to teach one-on-one impeccably. Its ultimately down to what the student is after and whether the teacher can help in that aspect.
I'd like to hear more on this thread about techniques or teachers who represent excellence in coaching. Lets collectively improve the standard of teachers who want to improve and shame the shysters out of the business.
I do not understand this statement.
When a person teaches dance I assume a teacher is concerned about the general wellbeing of their pupils, specificaly their joints, their back and their body generally and they have the relevant knowledge to fulfil this responsibility. In my opinion this is at least as big a responsibility as that of the plumber and probabally far greater.
I would suggest that if a dance teacher is not aware of this and therefore does not have the knowledge they should not be teaching dance.
To reiterate my core point. A plumber is trained by professionals to a Government defined safety standard. If he gets it wrong people can die.
MJ teachers are usually punters who have stepped up to the stage. Even the trained ones have little coaching in teaching psychology, learning styles, physiology or risk limitation. there are no standards. Outside of aerials I'm hard pushed to see how students can damage anything other than their wallet and ego.
There is NO comparison between the effort required to be an MJ instructor and that to be a qualified tradesman. If someone wanted to compare my teaching qualification to my professional qualifications I would either be seriously insulted or conclude they know little of what it takes to be a MJ teacher ... IMHO
PS: On the UK dance scene there are probably only about a dozen or so instructors who have the experience, expertise and training to be regarded as true PROFESIONAL MJ instructors, e.g. N&N, S&N. {Would be interesting to see who would/wouldn't make it on most peoples list }
May be I am just lucky, in my part of the world, the teachers all very experienced and very good. I have not paid for any private lessons, but I often get helped after the class, the help is allways very good and very professional. I dont know how much they would charge, but I would expect to pay similar to what I charge for photography and that is more than £50 per hour
PS I do have a paper qualification but basically I charge for knowledge and experience, not my paper qualification
Last edited by philsmove; 26th-May-2011 at 01:59 PM.
What you said was there was no comparison in responsibility. How a teacher goes about fulfilling that responsibility is a different question.
If a teacher does not understand the responsililties to their pupils and taken steps to ensure that they meet those responibliities then they should not being teaching dance in any professional capacity. In private lessons where the emphesis is usually on the individual technique of the pupil and may require adjustments to their body mechanics this is crucial.
Nope, just putting some context round your comment which could have been seen as disparaging to many competent instructors ... I made no reference to myself.
Back on thread ... I must admit I'm a little surprised, and gladdened, about the rates that students think a good teacher is worth. However it would also be nice to see a few more comments about what dancers would expect for partying with their hard-earned cash.
Has anyone taken geography into account? London is usually more expensive than anywhere else.
Fair comment, but its a bit more complex than that. On the 'expensive side', punters tend to have more money darn sarf, the majority of the top instructors are there and there are probably more dancers per sq mile. against that, there is probably a stronger network of experienced dancers coaching each other, more 'advanced classes/freestyles to advance dancers and more instructors ... back to supply and demand. Up North there is unfortunately a poorer education of dancers as to what 'good is' and pretty poor instructors can exploit this lack of knowledge to charge top whack for stuff they've simply taken off DVDs or copied form proper instructors (IMHO)
I think we all use different sources of inspiration for our lessons. Some of us are so busy teaching we don't get time to take many MJ lessons ourselves: DVDs, t'internet etc are good sources of inspiration or memory joggers - I'm not too proud to say that I probably use one of these sources once every 2-3 months. You might say I should know it all as a teacher. But there is a danger of getting stuck in a rut if you don't get inspiration elsewhere - and I seem to forget things too
Also, I ask myself whose MJ lessons I'd attend? Many classes near me have teachers who are not really dancers and just make things up - this is even worse than learning from DVDs and on-line. One teacher I know seems to re-invent the dance for each lesson and makes up moves by trial and error with no consideration for proper footwork, frame, etc - he's very dedicated and devotes many hours to each intermediate lesson. At his classes the footwork is never wrong - "there isn't any"! Quite often the routine continues to evolve during the lesson and the timing changes
I have agree with Gus that some MJ teachers are a bit dodgy as dance teachers, however, I usually learn something from every lesson I attend, no matter who the teacher. Sometimes I come over all Zen and learn something about myself, but nothing about dancing.
To get back on track, Quite some time ago, as part of my own CPD, I started having memory-jogging private lessons from a very experienced and highly qualified ballroom teacher - £12 for 30 mins including the hall.
RIGHT. Having seen the names of those who are willing to pay £40+ for a private lesson ... I'll be calling on you all shortly as safe-bets for relaunching my teaching career. Please pay in crisp £20 notes please.
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