Music teacher to dance teacher
A music teacher already meets 58% of what the dance teacher role asks for. The move turns on 10 required skills not yet in the profile.
55.8/ 100
1 How much of what a dance teacher is expected to do is already part of a music teacher’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the dance teacher role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A dance teacher role treats 21 of its required skills as things a music teacher already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- adapt teaching to student's capabilities
- apply teaching strategies
- assess students
- assist students in their learning
- balance participants' personal needs with group needs
- bring out performers’ artistic potential
What stands in the way is 10 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 33 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A dance teacher role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a music teacher background worth leading with.
- already held balance participants' personal needs with group needs management skills
- already held bring out performers’ artistic potential management skills
- already held create a work environment where performers can develop their potential management skills
- already held subject of music coaching education
- already held coordinate artistic production management skills
- already held maintain safe working conditions in performing arts information skills
All 33 carried skills, including the 21 the dance teacher role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 33 missing skills fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn demonstrate technical expertise of your dance style required
- still to learn express yourself physically required
- still to learn help performers internalise choreographic material required
- still to learn teach dance required
- still to learn understand the emotional dimension of a performance required
- still to learn direct movement experiences required
- optional, not held adopt a person-centred approach to community arts optional
- optional, not held contribute to the choreographer's process of reflection optional
- optional, not held create choreographic material optional
- optional, not held develop codified movements optional
- optional, not held develop proposed choreographic language optional
- optional, not held develop the physical language optional
- optional, not held devise choreography optional
- optional, not held maintain dance training optional
- optional, not held manage artistic career optional
- optional, not held prepare performance training session optional
- optional, not held present exhibition optional
- optional, not held read dance scores optional
- optional, not held understand the architecture of a live performance optional
- still to learn be a role model in community arts required
- still to learn inspire dance participants to improve required
- still to learn inspire enthusiasm for dance required
- still to learn stimulate performers' imagination required
- optional, not held analyse your fight discipline expertise optional
- optional, not held develop methods for choreographic integration optional
- optional, not held match needs of target community with your skills optional
- optional, not held evolution in delivery practices in practiced dance tradition optional
- optional, not held history of dance style optional
- optional, not held link between dance and music style optional
- optional, not held contextualise artistic work optional
- optional, not held keep up to date on professional dance practice optional
- optional, not held record lessons learnt from your sessions optional
- optional, not held develop a rehabilitation programme optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a dance teacher role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 be a role model in community arts practise this
- 02 demonstrate technical expertise of your dance style practise this
- 03 express yourself physically practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 33 skills that carry over
- already held adapt teaching to student's capabilities skill
- already held apply teaching strategies skill
- already held assess students skill
- already held assist students in their learning skill
- already held balance participants' personal needs with group needs skill
- already held bring out performers’ artistic potential skill
- already held consult students on learning content skill
- already held create a work environment where performers can develop their potential skill
- already held demonstrate when teaching skill
- already held develop a coaching style skill
- already held encourage students to acknowledge their achievements skill
- already held give constructive feedback skill
- already held guarantee students' safety skill
- already held instructional strategies knowledge
- already held maintain safe working conditions in performing arts skill
- already held manage student relationships skill
- already held perform classroom management skill
- already held prepare lesson content skill
- already held provide lesson materials skill
- already held subject of music coaching knowledge
- already held teamwork principles knowledge
- already held assessment processes knowledge
- already held assist students with equipment skill
- already held coordinate artistic production skill
- already held define artistic approach skill
- already held develop artistic educational activities skill
- already held develop artistic project budgets skill
- already held develop learning curriculum skill
- already held facilitate teamwork between students skill
- already held keep personal administration skill
- already held learning difficulties knowledge
- already held manage resources for educational purposes skill
- already held movement techniques knowledge
23 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held adopt a person-centred approach to community arts optional
- optional, not held analyse your fight discipline expertise optional
- optional, not held contextualise artistic work optional
- optional, not held contribute to the choreographer's process of reflection optional
- optional, not held create choreographic material optional
- optional, not held develop codified movements optional
- optional, not held develop methods for choreographic integration optional
- optional, not held develop proposed choreographic language optional
- optional, not held develop the physical language optional
- optional, not held devise choreography optional
- optional, not held evolution in delivery practices in practiced dance tradition optional
- optional, not held history of dance style optional
- optional, not held keep up to date on professional dance practice optional
- optional, not held link between dance and music style optional
- optional, not held maintain dance training optional
- optional, not held manage artistic career optional
- optional, not held match needs of target community with your skills optional
- optional, not held prepare performance training session optional
- optional, not held present exhibition optional
- optional, not held read dance scores optional
- optional, not held record lessons learnt from your sessions optional
- optional, not held understand the architecture of a live performance optional
- optional, not held develop a rehabilitation programme optional
22 held skills the dance teacher role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role breathing techniques knowledge
- not needed by the target role coordinate music components of the work skill
- not needed by the target role curriculum objectives knowledge
- not needed by the target role demonstrate a technical foundation in musical instruments skill
- not needed by the target role develop drama production process skill
- not needed by the target role develop professional network skill
- not needed by the target role history of musical instruments knowledge
- not needed by the target role improvise music skill
- not needed by the target role maintain musical instruments skill
- not needed by the target role music literature knowledge
- not needed by the target role musical genres knowledge
- not needed by the target role musical instruments knowledge
- not needed by the target role musical notation knowledge
- not needed by the target role musical theory knowledge
- not needed by the target role orchestrate music skill
- not needed by the target role organise musical events skill
- not needed by the target role perform exercises for artistic performance skill
- not needed by the target role play musical instruments skill
- not needed by the target role supervise music groups skill
- not needed by the target role teach music principles skill
- not needed by the target role transpose music skill
- not needed by the target role vocal techniques knowledge
3 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- optional, not held evolution in delivery practices in practiced dance tradition optional
- optional, not held history of dance style optional
- optional, not held link between dance and music style optional
Common questions about this move
Can a music teacher become a dance teacher?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A music teacher already covers 58% of what a dance teacher is expected to do: 33 skills carry over, 21 of which the dance teacher role treats as required.
What skills does a music teacher need to become a dance teacher?
10 required skills are missing, plus 23 optional ones. They fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is be a role model in community arts.
How hard is the move from music teacher to dance teacher?
Its learning distance is 55.8 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.