|
Ask Rhee
Gold
Advice for dance teachers
Q
: Hi Rhee,
I have been an
owner/director of a studio for 16 years. I have had a group of
teens for a while now, my competition team, who are pretty
dedicated, good kids. One of them is the daughter of one of my
teachers. That teacher told me that a girl who is very
negative and disrespectful is upsetting her daughter, and she
mentioned going to another studio if her daughter is not happy
here. I love this teacher and her daughter; they are very
loyal and hardworking. I would hate to see them leave because
one girl is upsetting them. Then I heard of two other girls
who are not happy and may go to another studio next year, and
I don’t know why.
I called the
mother of the girl who is negative to see if she could talk to
her daughter about being more positive and having more respect
for her teachers and fellow dancers. She told me she has not
been happy. So five people are not happy, and my competition
team is small, only 20 kids. I know at this age the girls can
be very cliquey.
How do I handle
this? I would say I run a disciplined school, but I have to
admit that I can be a pushover. It seems like when the kids
get in high school a lot of them leave for some reason or
another. I would like to stop this and keep at least most of
them at the studio until graduation. Do you have any advice?
—Confused and Upset
A: Hello
Confused and Upset,
I would have a
rap session with the five girls who seem to be disgruntled.
Start out with something like, “I’ve called you all together
because I feel that you’re not happy in my classroom, which is
causing tension that I can feel while I am teaching. Please
take this opportunity to let me know what’s on your mind,
because I love what I do and I love you guys, but I can’t deal
with the tension.” Stay totally calm. Don’t allow yourself to
get upset by anything they say, and be sure that they act
respectfully toward each other. Use this talk as a learning
experience to give you more insight on how situations like
this arise. (There’s a lot to be learned from our students.)
If you
discover that the problem leads back to the one dancer that
you describe as negative and disrespectful, it may be time to
give her directions to some of the other schools in the area.
That may seem harsh, but her negativity will continue to
impact the attitudes of the dancers she encounters.
Overall, I
would not sit back and wonder what’s going on. It’s better to
confront the problems now rather than letting them fester
throughout the rest of the season. That usually leads to
students ending the season on a negative note, which means
that they would be less likely to return to your school. Make
the changes needed to bring harmony back. Good luck! —Rhee
Q:
Hi Rhee,
I’m in terrible
distress and feel I have nowhere else to turn. I’m a
24-year-old studio owner who bought an existing business with
the help of my parents last year. I graduated as a dance
pedagogy major from a major university a couple of years ago,
so when this opportunity presented itself I was thrilled. But
I’m feeling very alone. I didn’t realize what a lonely
business this is, or maybe I just need to make friends with
other studio owners who have the same weird work hours that I
do.
I have almost 250
students, employ 4 people, and teach 36 hours a week. Running
this business, preparing to teach classes, ordering costumes,
etc. is exhausting. I feel drained of all the passion I ever
had for dance. I need to choreograph for the end-of-the-year
show, but I’m bogged down in negative thoughts about life and
dance and the pressure I feel to keep the standards as high as
they were with the previous owner.
I’m overwhelmed
and searching for any kind of inspiration I can get. I’m
heartbroken that my dream of having my own studio has left me
depressed, stressed, anxious, and lonely. I can’t do anything
without thinking about the studio. It has completely taken
over my mind, like an obsession. I want so badly to run the
business perfectly and be an amazing teacher and
choreographer, but the stress is eating me alive. I guess I
just want someone to tell me it will get easier with
experience. How can I pull myself out of this rut? —Sasha
A: Hello
Sasha,
Most school
owners will tell you that they are happiest when they’re in
the classroom with the kids. The perfect scenario is a shut
door with no disruptions or phone—just the teacher and the
students doing what they love most. Unfortunately, most of
them don’t get enough of that “behind closed doors” time.
Instead they’re dealing with all the non-dance stuff that must
be accomplished to keep the school rolling. And that’s not
always easy.
When you own a
school you usually wake up wondering what to do first. Should
you focus on the choreography that should have been finished
last week, or is it more important to call the mom who wants
to know why her daughter isn’t in a higher-level class? Maybe
you should fill out that rental application for the
recital—but that needs a copy of your insurance policy and you
have no idea where that is. When you do decide what you can
accomplish that day, you have to keep in mind that you must
open the school at 3:00 and teach until 9:30 that night.
So why do people
do this job? Because they just can’t help themselves;
somewhere in their early journey a teacher instilled that
“dance passion” in their blood, and it can’t be disregarded.
Sharing that passion with their own students becomes a
mission.
After you’ve
owned your school for a few years you’ll discover other
rewards. For instance, you know that 6-year-old who spent her
first couple of classes in the back of the room crying for her
mother? Twelve years from now she will be a confident young
lady who has learned things like discipline, commitment, and
the value of working hard to accomplish her goals. Eventually,
if she does something cool like land a scholarship at an Ivy
League school, it will be due, at least in part, to the ethics
you helped to instill in her. She and her parents will credit
your school as the place that gave her some of the tools she
needed to become a successful adult. What could be more
rewarding? This scenario will play out over and over again,
guaranteed.
You write that it
can be a lonely life and I agree with you. Part of it has to
do with the hours and part of it to the fact that friends
often don’t understand the kind of commitment this job takes.
The best thing to do is to find some “dance friends.” Check
out the dance teacher organizations or attend conventions,
conferences, and workshops where you will meet others who live
the life you do. There is nothing better than just hanging out
with people who understand what your passion is all about!
The struggles you
are having now do become easier because owning a school is a
live-and-learn process. Though we can pursue a degree or
certification to make us the best teachers we can be, there is
no educational program that teaches us how to run a dance
school. Think of the first few years of school ownership as
continuing that education you started in college. This time
you’re going for your “master’s” in running a dance school.
You won’t get a diploma, but you will go through a process
that will make you a much smarter businessperson, and along
the way you will develop organizational skills that
make all that non-dance stuff easier.
You are not
alone. You’ve chosen one of the most exciting professions in
the world, and I have a feeling that you’ll agree once you’ve
been through the learning curve. —Rhee
Q:
Rhee,
I offer
incentives to my customers to pay tuition for a full season
(September to June) at the start of the year. Recently I have
had to give refunds to several customers who chose not to
complete the season. I would prefer not to offer refunds on
tuition, but I’m afraid that if I don’t, fewer customers will
pay for the season up front. What should I do? —Robin
A: Dear
Robin,
I think you are
doing the right thing by giving refunds to those who request
them. If you do not you probably will find, as you suspect,
that your customers are apprehensive about paying for the year
up front. But you might consider initiating a policy that
states that there are no refunds past a certain date in the
season or that a partial refund will be given in some cases.
For example, if a child withdraws after you have completed
choreography for the year-end performance (in which the child
was included), I think you would be justified in not offering
that family a refund. Or if you used studio funds to pay for
costumes for the child, it is reasonable to deduct the costume
fees from the refund. And if the child were to withdraw in
late spring, I would have to contemplate whether I would offer
a refund.
However, if a
child stops dancing within the first few months of the season,
I would give a refund because I would want that customer to
speak positively about my school. And maybe the child will
decide to dance again, and I would want my school to be their
first choice—which it probably would be if they didn’t leave
on a sour note. It’s not easy to offer refunds when you’re
barely keeping up with expenses, but there are times when it
is better for business to just do it! Good luck! —Rhee
Send Page To a Friend
|
