Dancing is a wonderful activity. It teaches grace, elegance, poise, confidence, all in all one of the most perfect forms of personal growth.

In the attempt to achieve all the physical and emotional benefits that ballroom dancing offers, teachers employ the following techniques to help the student achieve their goals:.

We grab hips to manipulate Latin motion, Shoulders to emphasize balance and control, Heads to indicate proper alignment in dance position. We continue to get physical by introducing and developing body contact, teaching action and reaction so we can dance as one unit on the floor. The list of teaching techniques we use is endless in helping our students achieve their goals. And any good teacher adapts these techniques to suit the individuals that are being taught. We use different analogies and change our language to make the student understand what we want them to do.

And let’s not forget, the psychological aspect of teaching. We are constructive, encouraging, and help our students stretch beyond their limitations to make them the best dancers they can be.

Well, that’s great, and how it should be…….but we forget that sometimes our best intentions as teachers can be misunderstood by our students…..and then do we have a problem!

I’m sure there are many teachers in our industry of both sexes who have at some time in their career encountered a student who reads more into the teaching techniques of the teacher than is intended. They take your words and read innuendo into them. They take your physical manipulations as a subtle opportunity. Before you know it there are invitations to socialize outside the studio, and personal problems brought to your lessons of an intimate nature. You get the message that you have an infatuated student on your hands…..You back off, the student gets mad, and Wham…..you’re slapped with a Sexual Harassment suit.

Okay, this is a rare instance……we know it does not happen often……but it CAN happen, and HAS happened in the past. So how do you protect yourself from winding up in this situation:

1. Never teach one on one in a studio ALONE! Always make sure there is a third party in attendance that can see and even hear your lesson. Teachers who teach off the normal studio working hours are prime targets for a “My word against yours” situation. The best thing to do is try and teach during regular hours when lots of people are around.

2. Ask permission to get close. Remember that a person’s personal space is 3 feet around. You are invading that space when dancing. We become used to this when teaching on a daily basis. It’s so natural for us we don’t give it much thought. Not so for the new student! Ask permission to get closer!

3. Explain what you are going to do and why. If you feel the need to touch a student’s hips, shoulders, head, any body parts necessary to get your point across, explain what you want them to do, then ask if it is okay to touch them in order to place them in the right position

4. Act right away if you sense a problem! Sometimes we think it’s our imagination when we sense a student is attracted to us. Follow your instincts!! Go to your studio manager and request a turn over right away. If you’re independent, recommend another instructor or go to the studio owner for help. If you sense there’s a problem, act immediately. Ignoring the situation hoping it will solve itself will only increase your risk of problems down the road to yourself, and your studio owner.

We are very fortunate that this is not a prominent problem in our industry. However we cannot ignore that fact that the potential does exist, and we need to take every necessary precaution to make sure our teaching skills don’t make us unwitting victims.

By John DePalma
Independent Studio Consultant
John DePlama Email Address

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