by Risa Gary Kaplowitz

I have just been reviewing my latest masterpiece. It’s not what you think. It’s the schedule for my dance studio’s upcoming summer intensive. The process of completing this seemingly never-ending logistical nightmare is akin to choreographing a do-se-do of guest instructors, permanent staff and three student levels. Just one other job is harder–finding the right teachers to fill the slots.

The criteria of hiring guests and regular staff are very different from each other. For the prominent roster of guests, I am mostly interested in what they have to offer our students for the relatively limited amount of time (anywhere from 2-6 days) that they are with us. The students and I are so fortunate to have a solid core of exceptional guest teachers year after year. This summer, ballet legends Susan Jaffe, Cynthia Gregory, and Kyra Nichols, and former principal and current Pennsylvania Ballet Artistic Director, Roy Kaiser will share priceless wisdom with us as they have done for several years.

But hiring teachers who will teach for multiple weeks or multiple years takes more time to get right. I am lucky that my proximity to Manhattan makes finding a plethora of former professional dancers relatively easy. However, finding someone with important characteristics of a great teacher can be much more difficult. These are the ABC’s that I look for when auditioning a permanent dance instructor: [Read more…]