I recently joined a studio in my area and have been taking 4-5 private lessons per week while also attending at least 5 group classes. I have already fallen in love with dancing and wish to pursue it with great passion and commitment.

I love my instructor, he is the only instructor that I have taken lessons from thus far. He is my age, we are both in college and at first this bothered me simply because when one thinks of a 'teacher' it is usually the image of someone older than you by at least several years. I have overcome this, as the weeks have passed...yet now I have a new issue:

Several of my fellow dancers at the studio have encouraged me to switch to one of the other instructors in the studio that has had much more experience and is much more qualified to teach. They told me that my instructor was ok for beginners, but if I really wanted to push myself for excellence I needed someone who would challenge me.

Besides this, my current instructor also has a girlfriend at the studio who was his student for SIX MONTHS and then became an INSTRUCTOR at the studio (many have expressed negative feelings about this)...and she (the girlfriend/instructor) seems to become very jealous when he is dancing with other students. She always finds a way to be near him, ask him questions, or touch him in some way during lessons and all other times when they are both on the floor. I feel that this is innappropriate and I do not appreciate it.

However, I am torn...because I like him as an instructor...and for now I feel that he teaches me very well and that I've learned a great deal from him.

Any thoughts on all of this...from some who have perhaps been in situations such as this?

Sounds like your instructor - or at least his girlfriend - are still learning that a maturity in people skills is as much a job requirement as a knowledge of dancing.

Is there some rule that says you can only have one teacher? Reason I ask, is that if you are taking nearly daily lessons, and want to be a dance student instead of merely someone who pays a teacher to dance with you, then you really should be taking some lessons from the most experienced instructor in the studio. If you are going to put in that much time, there are things you need to hear with the kind of accuracy that can only come from a more experienced instructor. But that doesn't mean you can't keep taking a lot of routine lessons with this guy, as long as it's going well.

I would talk to the manager about what is best for you. Most studios are pretty good about insuring you are given a teacher, who is effective for the level you are at. Particularily with the amount of lessons you are taking, they should want to make sure they do what is best for you.

Thanks to both of you for your input. I addressed this with the manager, he was very attentive and helpful. I have decided that I will continue my lessons with the same instructor and have 1-2 lessons per week with the other instructor working on routines and styling. I think this will be very good, as I said before I feel that my instructor is very capable.

After six months perhaps I might consider switching solely to the older instructor.

Thanks again!