Attendance
This is a professional level course, and we cover a lot of material at a fairly rapid pace.  Missing class is not advised, as you can easily fall behind.  If you do have to miss a class, you can generally arrange to work with one of the other students to help you catch up.

Class Times & Exam Schedule
Please contact the studio for class times.  Exams are scheduled to be held during regular class times.  If you miss an exam, you may schedule a make-up exam with a Master Instructor (for an additional private lesson fee).

Practice
Each class meets a total of four (4) hours each week per section.  Most students spend quite a bit of time every week studying the material and practicing what they have learned.  Though the amount of outside time varies greatly from student to student, please expect to commit one hour of study time for every hour you spend in class.  Becoming a dance teacher takes dedication and practice!

Materials
The DVIDA Manuals and MBDTA Binder are required textbooks for the course.  The accompanying DVIDA videos are recommended, but optional.  The DVIDA Bronze Manuals and videos are available from Dance Vision, and may be ordered online at www.dancevision.com, or by calling 1-800-851-2813.  The MBDTA Binder is provided in class and costs a one-time fee of $80.00.  It includes all class handouts that are distributed over the entire program.  We typically place a bulk order when students are registered in order to save on shipping.

Tuition
Tuition is currently $380 per month.  This qualifies trainees for 16 hours of instruction per month.  A non-refundable registration fee of $150 is required to hold your spot.  This fee will be deducted from your book fee and tuition payment.  Tuition is due the first class of each new month.  Students who make a late tuition payment will be assessed a $25 late fee.  Tuition can be paid in class with cash, check, or credit card (via PayPal).  A cash discount is available for those paying with cash or check.

Shoes
All students will be expected to have proper dance shoes by the second class meeting.  This is not an arbitrary aesthetic or fashion consideration.  To teach dance, you need the right tool for the job, and proper dance shoes are literally the foundation for your dancing!

There are different styles of dance shoes for different styles of dancing, but most MBDTA students wear a basic practice shoe with a practical and durable suede sole that is made to be comfortable and wearable for long periods.  Some students wear flashier shoes or high heeled dance shoes, but this is a matter of personal comfort.

The West Side Dance Center is a distributor of VeryFine dance shoes and has try-on pairs available at their studio for sizing purposes.  To see what VeryFine has to offer, visit their website at www.veryfineshoes.com.  If you would like to purchase shoes, please call 419.399.2978 or talk to you Master Instructor.

Presentations
Because this is a teaching class, there is a strong emphasis on presentation.  You will be expected to present material to the class on a regular basis.  You may be asked to demonstrate a figure or to present a brief history of a specific dance.  Don't worry!  We hand out assignments in advance, so you will have plenty of time to prepare.

Dancing Both Roles
In order to teach a specific dance or figure, you need to be able to articulate and demonstrate both the leader's and follower's part.  We spend equal time in class working on both parts, and every student is expected to dance with every other student as both leader and follower, regardless of gender.  This is standard practice for professional dance instruction.