Dear Diane, One of the students in my group class has a very embarrassing problem and I’m not sure what to do about it. Several of the female students in my Beginning Social Dance have told me that one of their classmates, “James”, has an offensive body odor that makes dancing with him very unpleasant. … Continue reading
Aspiring dance instructors have never had a range of choices when it comes to acquiring formal dance teacher training. Now that Diane Jarmolow’s certification program has moved into North Carolina, they are finding an open door right in the Triangle. “This is the only program in the nation that teaches dancers how to teach,” said … Continue reading
Dear Diane, I’ve always said I could teach anyone to dance. Now, I’m not so sure. I have a student who cannot hear the beat. More specifically, he can’t dance and hear the beat correctly at the same time. What’s worse, he seems to have even less rhythm now than when he started taking private … Continue reading
Dear Diane, I’m afraid my best student is becoming an alcoholic and I don’t know what to do. In the past few months, “Dan” has started coming to lessons disheveled and unfocused. He seems uncharacteristically clumsy and I often smell alcohol on his breath. Sometimes he slurs his words and twice he failed to show … Continue reading
Dear Diane, I recently had a very disturbing encounter with an instructor at my studio, and I’m not sure where to go from here. The problem involved a student Medal Test. My student was scheduled to take his Silver Smooth test during regular business hours. The studio did not have a Medal Test day scheduled … Continue reading
Dear Diane, I have been a dance teacher for the past four years. I started dancing in my thirties after my divorce and fell in love with the ballroom world. I didn’t have any formal dance background but I enrolled in a teacher training program and was eventually hired as a staff instructor in a … Continue reading
Dear Diane, My student is a gifted and attractive young woman who is very serious about her dancing. She takes three private lessons from me each week and we compete Pro-Am at the Open Bronze level. Recently, however, a problem has come up that is threatening to derail our work together. I’m afraid that she … Continue reading
Dear Diane, I have three gentleman students who all share the same problem. No matter how many times I correct them, they constantly look down while they are dancing. These gentlemen have been studying for a long time, but this one problem will not go away. It’s becoming tiresome to repeat “Look up! Look up! … Continue reading
By Dolly Tavasieff Original article in Open Exchanges The dancers enrolled in the Ballroom Dance Teachers College teacher training program all share the same dream: to become an instructor and make ballroom dancing their life. Many of these future teachers are fresh out of high school or college and have been dancing all their lives. … Continue reading
