Dance Advice | Dance FAQ’s | Dance Education – Private Lessons or Public Classes?
Dance Education Private Lessons or Public Classes?
Without a doubt, one of the questions which I get asked most is “Should I take public classes or private lessons?” and I always answer it the same way, “Don’t waste your money on expensive private lessons!” However, there is a caveat – unless you are very rich and have money to burn or, most importantly, you have something specific or specialised that you want to learn for an event or something in particular. The reason for this is because if you are a beginner or near the beginning of your career you really just need to get going and build an experience based on the basics. This is exactly what you will get in an open dance class. Another thing which you gain is the experience of dancing in a group with no pressure. Even though you might think that there is pressure on you in an open public dance class, the truth is, that people focus on themselves and if you stand to the side and focus on the teacher and what you are learning calmly and without drawing attention to yourself, you will probably be ignored and left to focus on your lesson. People really are too busy looking in the mirror and worrying about themselves to worry about you, so you have nothing to worry about! So in a way, you lose that pressure of the focus being on you, you can almost be absorbed in the class and over time you will gain expertise and experience. Your skills and dance reasoning skills may actually increase at a faster rate than private lessons because the instructions won’t necessarily be catered uniquely to you alone, which means that you will have to be quick in picking things up. That skill comes very quickly in group classes and I mean within three to five lessons you will find that your retaining skills are exponentially higher than when you first started as a beginner. If somebody has a specific thing they want to learn or train for then that is fine for private lessons and choreography. However, I like to suggest a mix of open and private classes because then you gain both skills from both experiences. Obviously, in a private lesson, I can cater it exactly to your needs and hyper-focus on correction or whatever you may need. However, often what is needed is not even physiological, it is psychological – and that confidence can sometimes be earned in an open forum rather than privately. There are other times when schedule or even times when VIPs cannot entertain the idea of attending a public open class. This is often the case with royalty, however, I have found that even the most famous actors and actresses can attend a dance class and blend in unnoticed. In summary, if you want to learn a general style I would suggest open public classes. If you have something specialised or specific to train for, then I would suggest private sessions. Ideally, you should be able to learn in almost any situation or environment including via DVD or online because it’s just a case of following instructions and listening.