Career Opportunities

If you are already a life time pro dancer and would like to become a studio teach at The Dance Place, please contact the studio for more information.

Students can take Dance Achievement tests in which their current level of dance is evaluated and they are given feedback on what they are doing well and some guidance on items that need to improve. These tests can be on any group of 3, 4 or 5 dances, and do not have to be all the same style. For instance, the student could do a 2-step, a Salsa and a Paso Doble in a 3-dance test, or a Rumba, West Coast Swing, Quickstep and Waltz in a 4-dance test or a Samba, Paso Doble, Merengue, Salsa and Foxtrot in a 5-dance test.

Students can also do a Pre-Bronze test, which is equivalent to Intermediate Bronze, a Full Bronze, Full Silver, Full Gold or a Gold Star test. In this type of test, all the dances must be of the same style, such as all International Latin, all American Smooth, etc. The number of dances required for each level varies. Students can also do 1-dance tests, or have an exhibition or competition routine evaluated. The USISTD Medal Test system is very rewarding to everyone who participates in it, and it is amazing how much more focused both the teacher and the student become when working toward the goal of taking a test.

The next level for the professional teacher involves the Student Teacher examination. In this examination, the person taking the exam is required to present a partnered-to-music demonstration of the dances plus some solo demonstrations to music and then give oral answers accompanied by physical demonstrations of the syllabus figures in the Student Teacher level under review. This level of examination provides no teaching certification, but does prepare the teacher for the full Degree Certification Examinations.

As stated, the format involves the partnered-to-music demo in each dance followed by a demonstration of some figures to music without a partner. After those sections are completed, the Examiner will ask for a description of various technical aspects of the dances. As applicable to the dance style under review, this will cover items like Rise and Fall, Latin Hip Action, Forward or Backward Walks, Dance Position, Holds, Foot Positions, Amount of Turn, Alignment, Samba Bounce or even a simple description of a syllabus figure.

Professionals can take the Professional Medals Tests, which involve no oral descriptions of the figures and consists solely of a partnered-to-music demonstration of all dances in a particular level and style of dance, such as Silver American Smooth, Bronze International Latin, etc. These tests provide no teaching certification, but they are a great way of learning what you need to improve upon in your dancing.

The format is as described under STUDENT TEACHER EXAMS, but the level would be ASSOCIATE (Bronze), LICENTIATE (Silver) or FELLOWSHIP (Gold). At each level, more in-depth knowledge is expected and some of the questions will cover more advanced aspects of figures learned in the preceding level(s). A higher standard of dance is expected at each successive level. Presentations should be very clear and concise and should display all aspects of the step, regardless of the question asked about that particular step. For example, if giving the Foot Positions of a Waltz Left Box/Reverse Turn, the Examiner would also expect to see the correct Amount of Turn, the proper Footwork, the correct Rise and Fall, Sway, CBM or any other aspect of the figure. At each successive level, how well one performs each of these aspects becomes more and more important to the end result: Your Scores.