Why Did My Dance Teacher Leave?
This is tough. No one likes it, and like so many things that seem to be unfair in life - it's never the grand design to have your dance teacher leave the school you're in.
So let's peel back the layers and take a behind the scenes look at this. While it's not an easy topic, it doesn't get any easier by keeping the context under wraps. So we're going to communicate on our end so we can eliminate any speculation on yours.
But first...
Why We Love Our Dance Teachers
1. Multi-faceted Job Description
Let's be honest, a great dance teacher goes way beyond teaching you where to put your feet, arms, and hips. They have a compound role: Motivator, Counselor, or Fashion Consultant - to name a few.
When we are hiring for new staff, it may take 50-100 people we evaluate to find the one person that makes it onto the Arthur Murray staff. It's a full time job, within the job. We consider all sorts of aptitudes and assessments before we decide who will be the best fit for our team.
2. Breakthrough
Imagine any picture taken at a ground breaking ceremony, a monumental discovery, or a championship award - each person involved will be remembered and celebrated for their part in the production.
The breakthrough in your dance journey is exactly the same. Now, no one is going to give you a Nobel Prize for your dance frame, but we tend to hold the dance instructors responsible for our success near and dear to our hearts.
3. Support Through Struggle
Learning to dance can expose stress points, coping mechanisms, and shed light on insecurities you may never have planned on showing anyone. Your dance instructor was there to support you through those moments that went beyond learning the steps.
This is one of the many reasons why it's easy to build trust and confidence in any teacher. Through the challenges, you've experienced change, and they played a vital role in that endeavor.
4. Off the Floor
Learning to dance may have been your initial goal, but for a great instructor - it's just the beginning. Their objective is to not only help you develop the confidence to use your dancing in public, but to maintain that confidence even when you're not dancing.
Taking an active interest in the benefits you receive off the dance floor is not unique to your teacher, it's part of the Arthur Murray culture. Nevertheless, this is another reason why the bond with your teachers gets stronger.
Why Teachers Leave
To preface this, there are times when even the studio owners won't know the full story as to why their teacher is leaving. In other cases, it could be something work related that may be better left private.
It is important to note that it is very rare that a teacher leaves specifically because of a student. In general, as you'll see in the list below, it's typically just a normal life situation - even if they have exceeded the "normal life" duties of a professional in a business you frequent.
1. Follow Their Passion
Sometimes working as a dance instructor is the warmup round for something they are truly passionate about. Whether it is pursuing an acting career, or a chance to join the Peace Corps - it's hard to be angry when you know they are leaving for something more fulfilling.
Owner's Note: In nearly all our personal examples of this with staff, we've maintained a great relationship and receive many messages of how the training they received at Arthur Murray equipped them for new opportunities.
2. Financial Gain
There have been teachers in the past that have decided to trade in their teaching positions for a higher paying position in a cubicle. This may not necessarily result in job happiness, but it may pay more.
Owner's Note: While this has worked out for some, we have had teachers leave for a "normal job" only to follow their hearts and return to teaching.
3. External Pressure
Teaching dance for a living could, quite possibly, be the most misunderstood type of employment through the eyes of non-dancers. It isn't as recognizable as being an engineer, manager, or customer service representative, and therefore, the departure could be due to scrutiny by family and friends.
Owner's Note: You may have experienced a version of this as a student. The world of ballroom dancing as a hobby may not be familiar or sound exciting to people in your inner circle. In some cases, you may have had to explain how your dance hobby has been beneficial. In other cases, you may have had to hold back on showing your salsa moves in front of those less-than-supportive individuals.
Now, imagine this same type of response, but for a professional pursuing this as a career.
4. Job Expectations
As in any industry, there are those that don't fit the part - and aren't hired. There are those that do fit the part - and are hired. Then there are those that fit the part, but only after being hired does the management realize that they don't, after all, align with the goals and culture of the team they are on.
Whether this is due to work performance, or just basic things like showing up on time - sometimes people leave because they were not the right fit for this industry and are let go.
Owner's Note: In addition to being a dance school for our students, we are a Dance Professional University for our staff. We are very thorough with training and development and feel that nearly everything can be improved through steady input - just like hip motion and dance frames.
A big learning lesson for us was understanding that some challenges with staff can't be trained past in a reasonable amount of time and, in the long run, we'd never want to hold someone back from a job where their skills will be a better fit.
5. Personal Matters
A teacher may leave for reasons that aren't for public consumption. Whether that's based on how they were interacting with their co-workers, a breakdown in communication, personal relationships, or otherwise. Keeping this discreet is no different in any other industry - except Hollywood 😅.
Owner's Note: We have our fraternization policy for a reason - we don't want your student experience to be filtered or distracted in any way by an unprofessional relationship or choices. In the same way that we'd never want our staff sharing personal information with you, the student. We respect the privacy of our staff and the professionalism of Arthur Murray to keep their personal lives out of your dance hobby.
What You Can Do
The easiest solution is to give everything up - all the progress, all the breakthroughs, all the challenging moments that this person coached you through - it would be easiest to ditch it all.
Just kidding - That's a lousy solution.
There are countless examples in movies where one actor was set to take on a role, only to have something change and another actor filled in. Michael J. Fox wasn't originally cast for Back to the Future, the iconic role of Marty McFly was filled by Eric Stoltz. But, as fate would have it, even with the movie almost completely finished filming, the producers opted for Fox.
While Stoltz had the resume and the skillset, it was Fox's ability to infuse more comic relief that made him the Marty McFly we all know and love today.
Your dance program is like a Hollywood movie. The studio is where the filming takes place and the curriculum is the script that everyone follows.
The beauty of the Arthur Murray system is that even if the actors change from time to time, we care about getting the entire production finished... just like you.
If you've been dancing with us for a while, you've seen some teachers come and go. Some are harder to remember than others, but all of them were cast in the production of your dance program - even if they had a non-speaking role.
Your dance story is ongoing, and as life situations ebb and flow, we understand that the key players on your dance team may not all be there by your next honor dance.
Owner's Note:
We treat our staff like a family. As much time as you've spent with your teachers, imagine how much more time we have had to get to know them - from the very first minute of their careers until now.
That being said, just like family, we know that at some point, kids will be kids. Some will set off for college, some will pursue a job we may not agree with, but like any parent, we want to encourage and love them no matter what.
It is never our plan to hire and train someone for thousands of hours only to enjoy watching them leave. Our heart is to create a viable career for each member of our staff. To create a life that intertwines all the qualities of a great job with something that also fills their hearts. It's never fun to watch them leave, but we understand that that is part of what we've signed up for.
But if we truly care for them. If they truly are family, then we will support them and make their transition as easy as possible.
Final Thought
This article is not meant to diminish the connection you've had with any instructor that you miss. What it is intended to do is give some insight into the human side of the dance business. As great as they may be at teaching dance, they may be even greater doing something else.
Just like your grade school teachers in years past, you can sit back and reflect on what they taught you, how that prepared you for future learning, and appreciate the role they played. It's no different with the teachers you'll have at Arthur Murray.
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