Teach Like a Pro: The Ultimate Guide for Ballroom Dance Instructors, by Diane Jarmolow with Brandee Selck, is a practical guide for dancers who want to become effective teachers and experienced instructors looking to refine their methods.
Knowing how to dance is one skill. Knowing how to explain a movement, recognize a student’s difficulties, and help them progress is another. This book explores that distinction through real teaching situations, structured methods, practical exercises, and professional guidance.
Drawing on Jarmolow’s extensive experience in ballroom dance education, Teach Like a Pro brings together teaching methodology, technical knowledge, musical understanding, partner connection, and the everyday responsibilities of running successful dance lessons.
A Clear Method for Teaching Dance Figures
One of the book’s most useful features is its five-step approach to teaching a new figure. Instructors learn how to introduce a movement, explain the Leader’s and Follower’s parts, bring partners together, develop technique and styling, and incorporate the figure into an amalgamation.
Rather than simply demonstrating steps and expecting students to imitate them, this method provides a logical progression that can be adapted to different abilities and learning situations.
The book also examines reviewing figures, creating routines, selecting appropriate material, and giving corrections that students can understand and apply.
Practical Solutions for Everyday Teaching
Teach Like a Pro goes beyond technical descriptions to address what actually happens in the dance studio.
How do you keep a group class organized when students learn at different speeds? When should partners rotate? How can a teacher maintain attention without making students feel uncomfortable? What makes feedback constructive rather than discouraging?
Jarmolow approaches these questions through teaching examples, classroom strategies, exercises, and checklists. Her discussions of group instruction, professional conduct, dance etiquette, and student communication are particularly useful for teachers developing their confidence in front of a class.
From Dance Technique to Better Movement
A substantial part of the book is devoted to understanding and teaching the foundations of ballroom movement.
It explores technical terminology such as foot positions, alignment, footwork, rise and fall, sway, and Contra Body Movement (CBM), alongside dance frames and partner positions used in Standard, Smooth, Latin, and Rhythm.
Dedicated sections cover musical timing, phrasing, posture, warm-up exercises, balance, lead and follow, compression, leverage, Latin hip action, arm styling, and underarm turns.
The emphasis is not simply on knowing these principles, but on making them understandable through demonstrations, explanations, and exercises suited to students.
Teaching Different Students and Building a Career
Not every dance student has the same goal. Beginners may want to feel comfortable on the social dance floor, wedding couples may have limited preparation time, and competitive students may require more structured technical development.
The book considers these different situations, including teaching beginners, wedding couples, competition preparation, showcases, and medal tests.
It also addresses professional certification and the business side of dance instruction, including a six-stage approach to selling lessons.
These subjects make Teach Like a Pro relevant not only to teaching technique but also to the broader responsibilities of working in a ballroom dance studio.
About Diane Jarmolow
Diane Jarmolow is the founder of Ballroom Dance Teachers College, established in 1992, and has spent decades developing ballroom dance teachers and educational resources.
Teach Like a Pro is used within the college’s teacher-training curriculum, reflecting its practical focus on professional instruction.
Who Is This Book For?
This book is particularly useful for aspiring ballroom dance instructors, experienced teachers seeking fresh teaching approaches, professional certification candidates, studio owners training their staff, and serious dancers interested in understanding how dance technique is taught.
Unlike a traditional syllabus manual devoted primarily to figures and technical requirements, Teach Like a Pro explores how to turn dance knowledge into effective instruction.
With its combination of teaching methods, exercises, technical explanations, and professional advice, it is a reference that instructors can return to as their teaching experience grows.
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