I have taken all styles of dance for many years but would love to start ballroom dancing (including all styles). My question is how do you find a reputable dance instructor? I also want to eventually get into dancing profdessionally (in competitions). How would I find a studio/instructor that can train me for this? How do I get involved in professional ballroom competitions ?

Thank you for any & all advice !

Noelani :)

You could start looking for a studio by clicking into the Dance Directory on the left side of this web page. A bunch of studios are listed there.

You could also tell us what city you live in, and people reading this thread could make recommendations.

Other than that, you should look in the phone book and visit every possible studio. Since you've taken dance lessons before, you already have a sense of what makes a good teacher. Shop around, try out group classes at different studios, see which place has the right kind of teaching environment based on what you know to be good business and teaching practices. Talk to students, find out who they think the best teachers are, and try a couple of teachers before you settle on one for private instruction.

Is there a reason why you want to be in professional competitions as opposed to amateur ones? (I ask because I keep meeting people who have no idea that amateur ballroom competitions exist.) To get started as an amateur, you need to find a partner and a coach. The only way to do this is to get into the mix and start taking dance lessons and meeting people and looking for a partner. There are partner search web sties, including this one (click down under Classified Ads, to the left of this page).

The path to being a pro is longer, and the mimimum skill for entry level is very high -- there are no beginner levels in pro competition. As an amateur, you can dance in beginner competitions as soon as you want, but to be a pro will take getting yourself trained to the level of a pro (could take years), plus finding an appropriate pro partner (which as difficult if not more than finding an amateur partner) before you can even get started. I'm not saying it can't be done, but rather that it can be a long road so if you're doing this as a hobby, start out as an amateur.

Thank you for the advice! I live in Plam Harbor, Florida so trying to find a studio in the area or close by. I am very open to starting in amateur competitions & hopefully from there make my way to professional but if not no big deal. I LOVE dancing. Thanks again for the advice.

You are lucky that you are in Florida because there are a lot of studios there. Some of them might try to steer you into Pro/Am competition. This is a nice way to get started, but in the long run it is extremely expensive and isn't the same as having your own partner who is your peer. In Pro/Am you pay for your teacher to compete with you, sharing him with other students. The entry fees and fees to your teacher can get very very large. You'll learn faster at first, but if you want to eventually become a pro you will be better served by learning about partnership through having to work with a peer. Dance partnerships are a weird combination of business and personal issues, and require a huge degree of cooperation and communication. When you're in a student/teacher relationship, which is also an employee/employer relationship, it's different and won't necessarily prepare you for the transition into the pro world. Plus, if you find an amateur partner, you two can turn pro together.

Try not to get sucked into a studio that will take you knowing nothing and teach you how to be a teacher. You can do this, of course, but make sure you research everything about it first -- how you will be trained, what it will cost, what you will owe the studio if you leave to teach elsewhere, what you will be paid if you stay and teach, even if they will guarantee a you a job afterwards. New teachers with no reputation don't make much money at all -- but people who have significant amateur or pro results under their belt command higher hourly rates.

I don't know how old you are, but most of the people who are pros today started dancing in their childhood -- or at least by the time they were in their mid-20's. It can take years of full-time work to get yourself up to the level of the competing pros. It's a huge committment, both in time and money. Also, professional competitors don't make much money from competitions -- usually barely enough to cover the cost of competing. The real money comes from teaching.

Keep asking questions! And good luck and enjoy yourself!