Company life: Teaching salaries

[2dds]

I know sometimes dancers supplement their salaries while dancing with some income from teaching. I also know some dancers also earn money by teaching ballet after their performing careers end. What I have no clue about is what amounts of money we are talking about here. I imagine teachers are also paid based on their experience, qualifications, and what a particular market will bear, but I don't have any idea of what hard figures would be. Does salary for some open classes sometimes (or always) depend on the number of students who attend class?

 

If this is too intrusive, I apologize. I mean no disrespect, and I know it can be rude to ask about salary, especially because we (fortunately since they bring so much expertise) have many teachers on BT4D. I am just wondering as it's so hard to make a living wage, and retirement can come so quickly in the notoriously short professional dance career, I am curious about just how much teaching may help to balance the books.

[CDR]

I don't earn a great amount through teaching although I run my own school! I do know of a dance place that pays £25/hour for ballet teachers to go in and teach free classes, no syllabus work permitted. However, I think they might just go for one or two 1 hour classes in an evening so with travel time and set up time that wouldn't be great.

 

I personally charge £30-£35 for an hour if I'm going out to teach a class on a freelance basis but again this would mean only going for a one hour session. I only really do it in school holidays when my school closes.

 

It depends very much on the area you live too. If you're in a big city the rates would be higher as living costs are higher. I teach in quite a deprived area, not a big city or anything. Qualifications would (I should think) be taken into consideration too - I'm an RAD Registered Teacher and IDTA Associate.

 

I pay my regular teachers £9-£12 per hour depending on qualifications and experience, they are actually employed by me though (which means I pay tax if applicable, National Insurance contributions, holiday pay, sick pay etc), freelance teachers would normally charge more but then you don't have the extras to pay. My pianist charges £20 per hour and I hire him for blocks of up to 8 hours at a time so he does alright.

 

Hope this helps a bit, sorry I don't know the £-$ exchange rate (perhaps around £1=$2?).

[vrsfanatic]

Teaching salaries differ according to teaching experience, educational level or pedagological background, professional affliations, area of the country (what country), contractual agreement, benefits, etc, as in any job market. I do not think you will find a uniform answer here. If a dancer chooses to pursue a career in teaching just make sure the dancer has a passion for it. It is a financially limiting career choice, but it can be a limitless life choice.

[balletbooster]

According to today's currency converter:

 

1.00 Euro = 1.26909 United States Dollars

[Dance_Scholar_London]

I *think* CDR was talking about Great British Pounds and not Euros

 

1 GBP = 0,54 USD (roughly)

[CDR]

Yes, sorry £ sterling. We don't have Euros here for some reason!

[diane]

It is hard to make enough money to live on by teaching, unless you are able to be employed full-time.

That is not always possible, and you of course will need health-insurance and all the rest anyway, so whatever you earn you will need to think about taking that off, as well.

 

My salary as a dancer was loads better than now as a teacher.

Luckily, I am married, and my husband is fully employed (though at the theatre, so not the most secure sort of job ;) ), and we can just make ends meet.

(with two kids nearing end of highschool, more costs are on the way...)

 

So - I agree with vrs on this. You must have a passion for it. It's a bit too hard and too poorly paid to just do because there is nothing else.

 

-d-

[Mel Johnson]

I *think* CDR was talking about Great British Pounds and not Euros

 

1 GBP = 0,54 USD (roughly)

 

Actually, that went the wrong way.

 

1 GBP = ~1.88 US$

 

That's one reason the British don't want to use the Euro.

 

I had this happen to me once on a return from Canada, when a bank read the conversion the wrong way and gave me 30 cents on every Canadian $ - in my favor. (The Canadian Dollar is in much better shape these days. They come in at about $0.90US.)

[vrsfanatic]

Thank you diane for mentioning the fact that ballet dancers, in the larger companies make more than ballet teachers. I did not want to bring that up, but it can be true. I am hearing however that some teachers who are paid extra money for privates and coaching are doing quite well. There are ways for some to supplement their salary level.

[Victoria Leigh]

In this country I think that there are a lot of competition schools, with hundreds of students, and my guess would be that those teachers do rather well.

 

In a privately owned school, with the main emphasis on professional level classical ballet, it is very difficult to make a living. Possible, and there are some, but very hard to make it go. With the number of hours available to fill the studio(s) with school age students, and the number of those hours needed to give each level what they need, you are not catering to the masses. Schools that have one or two classes a week for each level and subject can have far more students than those who try to do it on an Academy or pre-pro level. It's almost impossible to do it if you are not in or very near a major city.

 

Teachers in residence schools and company connected schools can make a living, as can those who teach in college dance programs. They will never be rich, but they can work enough to live decently. Salaries vary widely, according to area. For instance, a teacher in a company school in Boston, DC, SF, etc., working full time, can make a salary that would sound huge to someone working in Tennessee or OK or Iowa. However, the cost of living is vastly different in those areas, so, the salaries are probably pretty equal in the long run. Teachers from these schools are also able to make extra money teaching as guests in other places during the summer or at times when there own school is closed for a holiday.

 

It's interesting that in NY, the largest city of all, I think that teachers have a very hard time making it, even though there are some of the top professional teachers there. Most of the schools hire them on a per class basis, and not on a full time salary. And of course living in NYC is astronomically expensive. They are not employed on a year round basis, therefore, no benefits and no pay when there are no classes. That is why the college and residence schools, and some of the company schools are better, because their faculty is hired on a full time basis.

[Dance_Scholar_London]

I *think* CDR was talking about Great British Pounds and not Euros

 

1 GBP = 0,54 USD (roughly)

 

Actually, that went the wrong way.

 

1 GBP = ~1.88 US$

 

That's one reason the British don't want to use the Euro.

 

I had this happen to me once on a return from Canada, when a bank read the conversion the wrong way and gave me 30 cents on every Canadian $ - in my favor. (The Canadian Dollar is in much better shape these days. They come in at about $0.90US.)

 

So sorry, yes, it is meant to be the other way round.

[2dds]

Thank you very much for the information (and especially the currency conversions--very helpful).

 

I am getting a more realistic idea here, although the news is not exactly heartening. Like dancing itself, at these salaries, the passion needs to be in place. I have a better understanding now.

 

I am still wondering about the information on class (usually open class) sign in sheets. I guess this would be for classes that are not for fulltime salaried faculty, to make sure a teacher is bringing in enouhg students???

[Victoria Leigh]

Yes, the studios need a record of how many students in class, even in open classes, just like there is a roll book for regular school classes.

[thedancingj]

2dds, I have seen two ways that payment can work for open class teachers...

 

At one school where I've taken open classes, there is a log book kept so that the admins can keep track of how open class attendance is going, but the teachers are paid a flat hourly wage. However, the number of students who they draw to their classes can certainly influence how often they are invited to teach! This is in the open class division associated with a pre-pro school and professional company.

 

At another studio, open class students make their payments directly to the teacher and then the teacher pays for rental of the space. In this case, the teacher's profits depend directly on how many students come to class. This is at an independent dance studio geared towards adults and professionals and not affiliated with an official company or school. I think that this scenario is may be less common, but I'm not sure.

[2dds]

Thanks again.

 

I was curious because in regular school classes I understand absences might have particular consequences for students as well as needing a "for the record" count. In open classes I know front desk types often double check the head count since the students are not all known to the teacher or studio, and absence is a non-issue, but "for the record" would still hold. I think I have also noted the second type of payment, teacher pays for studio rental, when teachers of tiny classes have mentioned they could not continue to offer the class unless numbers rose. I also think I may have seen the first type of arrangement when certain open classes suddenly are taught by a more popular teacher, or when certain teachers suddenly (or gradually! ) come to teach more often.

 

What prompted my curiosity in the first place was that subtle feeling that makes you suspect someone is 'working on comission' that sometimes permeates open classes. I do not mean this in a judgmental way, rather sometimes teachers seem especially concered about how many students sign in.

 

I wish it was easier on the teachers (just like the dancers). It seems the best way to go would be a salaried faculty member at a thriving pre-pro with a few weekly coaching or private sessions thrown in. Either way it seems you would have to pay close attention to the bottom line. It would be difficult to be the primary bread winner in this scenarion. I'm gradually getting a handle on the range and realities of a ballet teacher's salary thanks to your posts.