I am 16 and after 5 years of helping and shadowing other teachers i am now offically a student teacher and I teach rec and comp classes. I know there are certification courses to be a "certified dance teacher" but the ones im finding are for 18 year olds and older... does anyone know any either courses or online things that i could take as a 16 year old in MA CT NY or anywhere around there? I really want some kind of certification because it will be another year and a half before i go to college for dance.

If you have any info on certification courses for younger teacher PLEASE let me know... I really appreciate it:)

The reason for the age limit is insurance! No insurance company will insure you to work as a teacher if you're under 18, you're not considered an adult in the eyes of the law until you reach the age of majority and all teachers need insurance of some kind.

hmmm... not 100% about this but I believe there was a younger girl at ABT's teacher certification last year. Check their website...

abt.org

under 'programs for dance educators'

If no age is given email the program coordinator (Jenna Bitterman) - she is very helpful and will gladly answer questions. Her email is listed on the registration form I think.

good luck to you!

You may experience difficulties in getting qualified for all the reasons above, but you could look into getting a First Aid Certificate. This doesn't qualify you for anything per se, but is a useful skill in our industry and something you can list on your CV.

Thank you all for the replies! I will deffinately look into the things you all mentioned!

glitterfairy wrote:

...you could look into getting a First Aid Certificate. This doesn't qualify you for anything per se, but is a useful skill in our industry and something you can list on your CV.

Ooooh!!! Great idea - I don't know about where you are but in our state you can be CPR, Infant CPR, and first aid certifies - those are wonderful assets for a dance teacher! Also, you can look into classes with your state or county that are things like 'recognizing neglect' or 'identifying child illness' - these are offered here by the people that run child services so you can look for those too. Not dance, but great knowledge for any teacher.