5 Tips I Wish I'd Known as a New Ballet Teacher

The first time I taught class, I thought preparation meant knowing the vocabulary and having a few combinations ready. I believed that my dance training had equipped me with everything I needed to guide students successfully.

I was wrong.

Teaching ballet is an entirely different skill set from dancing ballet. After 27 years in the studio, I've learned lessons that no teacher training program covered—insights that would have saved me from countless mistakes and helped my students progress more effectively from day one.

Here are the five most important things I wish someone had told me before I taught my first class.

1. You Can (And Should) Change Your Mind

When I started teaching, I thought consistency meant never admitting I was wrong or trying new approaches. If I taught something one way, that was "the way," and changing would confuse students or make me look incompetent.

In my defense, this was also the way I was taught. The number of things I was taught were rules that I later learned were just one teacher's opinion is at least a dozen. While that may not sound like much, it adds up. Not only was I taught and then started teaching an incomplete picture, the rigid thinking this trained (never question the teacher, if you read something in a ballet book that is different it must be wrong, etc.) held back both my teaching and my students' progress.

The truth? Students respect teachers who grow. They appreciate honesty when you say, "I want to try a new approach to this to see if it's more successful than what we've been doing." They aren't wrong for learning the previous method, and you aren't wrong for having taught it. You're both growing and getting better together.

A few years ago I decided to change when I introduce pirouettes in my pointe classes. I wanted to realign my pointe curriculum so that it progressed the same way jumps do in technique class. (Two feet to two feet, two feet to one, one foot to two, one foot to the other, one foot to the same foot.) Pirouette is a two-feet-to-one movement and I had been introducing it after soutenu (which is one-foot-to-two). I told my students "I'm trying this a new way this year so I may change my mind in a couple of weeks but let's do . . ." Long story short, the class was very successful and I kept the change. (You can learn more about my pointe curriculum here→)

The lesson: Your teaching should evolve as you learn. Students trust teachers who admit they're still learning more than those who pretend to have all the answers.

2. Neutral Pelvis Trumps Turnout Every Time

I spent at least a decade bouncing around in my head over turnout. For the longest time I didn't push my students to increase their turnout at all, out of concern for their knee health. But that approach doesn't help dancers reach their full potential. On the other hand, I've seen way too many students force their feet to the side with no idea of the stress they're putting on their knees (and ankles, and lower back . . .)

When I started my mUvmethod certification, I learned about the importance of the Anterior Superior Iliac Spine and the Posterior Superior Iliac Spine as landmarks for each dancer's alignment. While most physicial therapists call them the ASIS and PSIS, in class I call them the hip points (what most people call their hip bones) and the hip dimples (those two indentations in your lower back that anyone with a back injury knows as their SI joint). It turns out that focusing on level hip points and hip dimples is the key. This alignment creates the foundation that allows dancers to safely strengthen and stretch their rotators over time, leading to MORE turnout in the long run.

The lesson: What looks impressive in the short term isn't always what serves students best in the long term. Build the foundation first.

3. The Spine Has Curves for a Reason

"Stand up straight!" seems like fundamental ballet instruction. I grew up thinking that this created proper ballet posture.

It doesn't. And this misunderstanding is dangerous.

The spine has four natural curves that provide shock absorption and support. When we eliminate these curves completely, we create injury risk rather than proper alignment. Proper ballet alignment maintains the spine's natural curves while creating length and muscular support.

There's a very successfully self-promoted teacher circulating right now who teaches children and their instructors to maintain completely straight spines. I'm not trying to pick a fight, but I have picked up the pieces when students have left studios using her method and arrived in my class. Sometimes doctors and physical therapists can help the stress-fractured spines, sometimes I can help them rebuild healthy movement patterns in their technique, but sometimes that dream of a professional career stays broken. It's awful and it was avoidable.

The lesson: Anatomy matters. Teach what's healthy for bodies, not what someone trendy at a convention claims is "better."

4. Boundaries Are Not Optional

I used to pride myself on being accommodating. I was trying so hard not to be the nightmarish stereotypical ballet teacher and there were always "good reasons" to let standards slide: the messy bun because mom was running late, starting class 60 seconds later because a few students were still arriving, allowing chatty behavior because the student was having a rough day . . .

Each compromise felt reasonable in isolation. Collectively, I consistently ended May frustrated by what I had let happen. I knew better, I just couldn't seem to remember to do better.

I've learned to write down my standards, keep them in my bag, and review them regularly—especially during the second semester when my energy is lower. Winter has never been a good season for me, and it takes significant effort to maintain consistent expectations when I'm already struggling with seasonal challenges.

But here's what I discovered: every "well, okay" is a step toward mediocrity. The most successful classes I've taught have been the ones with the clearest, most consistently enforced standards—not the most lenient ones. I'm still learning to be comfortable with strictness, but each time I choose to hold the line it gets a little easier.

The lesson: Accommodating doesn't equal caring. Students thrive with clear, consistent expectations, even when (especially when) maintaining them requires effort from you.

5. Students Love Classes Where They Work Hard

New teachers often fall into the likability trap. We want students to enjoy class, so we focus on being fun, friendly, and easy-going. We worry that demanding work will make students dislike us or quit.

This thinking is backwards.

Students like classes when they like you. But they LOVE classes when they like how hard they worked and how much success they achieved over a medium-term period—think 4-6 weeks of building toward a goal.

Being likeable today feels good, but it's less fulfilling for both teacher and students than demanding the work that will pay off soon. Students remember the classes where they surprised themselves with their progress, not the classes where they had an easy time.

I was reminded of this just last month. We wrapped the spring show and a couple of my students said things along the lines of, "I had a great time, but I wish we had worked a little harder." If one student was willing to say this to my face---woah! (And remember, I had two who dared say it.) And kids will always soften what they say when they offer constructive feedback to teachers so I'm pretty sure those were pleas for me to push them harder. Now that summer session has started and I'm looking at enrollment numbers, the message is loud and clear! The classes I pushed the hardest are now the largest. They are also the ones with the most new students who came because their friend loves the class.

The lesson: Your students (and mine) don't need to like you. They need and love the payoff of their hard work.

The Bigger Picture

These tips I wish I'd know as a new ballet teacher all point toward the same fundamental truth: teaching ballet well requires balancing immediate student comfort with long-term student growth. Sometimes what feels good in the moment—avoiding difficult conversations about alignment, letting standards slide, being the "fun" teacher—actually serves students poorly in the long run.

The best teaching requires courage: courage to change your approach when you learn better methods, courage to prioritize health over "quick fixes", courage to maintain standards when it would be easier to compromise, and courage to demand excellence when it would be more popular to lower expectations.

Your students deserve teachers who are brave enough to serve their long-term development rather than their immediate comfort. They deserve teachers who continue learning, growing, and improving—just like we ask them to do.

Twenty-seven years later, I'm still learning. The difference is that now I'm not afraid to admit it.

This systematic approach to teaching development transforms good intentions into effective instruction. My comprehensive curricula provide the complete frameworks that help teachers avoid common pitfalls while building the courage to maintain high standards and healthy practices - creating the systematic excellence that serves students' long-term growth.

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