If you’re here, it’s likely you have a passion for dance, and you want to learn how to share that with students online. In this article, we’ll be talking about how to teach dance online. I’ll be showing you examples of dance studios who are currently teaching dance online, and give you step-by-step tips you can use to teach dance online.
The COVID 19 Lockdown Shifted Perspective Internationally
Traditionally, dance was a live and in-person thing, but when the COVID-19 lockdown happened, it put live classes to a hault.
With the recent lockdown, many dance enthusiasts are looking for alternative ways to stay in shape, and hone their craft, but the options are quite limited. Most dance studios were forced to shut down, but very few have online learning options.
The Advantages of Teaching Dance Classes Online
If you teach dance offline, or even if you’re just getting started as a dance teacher, teaching online can be a great way to:
- Diversify the services you offer
- Make a convenient option for your students to learn
- Expand your market
- Automate some functions like billing, appointment scheduling, etc.
- and an additional stream of income
The Disadvantages of Teaching Dance Classes Online
The disadvantages to teaching dance online is:
- You may not be able to correct fundamentals on-the-spot (for example: is the toe pointed enough, is the posture right, etc.)
- It may not be as easy to make sure choreography is being performed well
- It requires a different setup than traditional dance classes
- There may be a learning curve
- and, it may not be as personal and intimate as a live in-person class
Which Software is used for Online Teaching?
Even with the disadvantages, there are a few software options that can help you get as close as possible to a live experience–this can be helpful for those times when meeting live just isn’t possible. Good software to use for live classes includes:
- Podia
- Zoom
- Google Meet
- WordPress
Are People Looking to Learn Dance Online?
If you haven’t offered dance classes online before, you might be concerned about whether it’s something people actually look for. The graph below shows you the trends according to Google–this can help you see what people have been searching for in the largest search engine in the world.
As you can see below, people consistently look for topics related to dance, but there was a huge spike in interest around March of 2020 correlating with the COVID-19 lockdown. The graph shows a great opportunity for dance instructors who offer classes online.
Examples of Online Dance Classes
In case you haven’t seen dance classes online before, you might want to take a look at a few successful ones to see what they’re doing, and how you can offer dance classes online that are valuable to students.
- CLI Studios teaches dance online for $100/mo
- Danceplug teaches dance online starting at $29/mo
- Dancio starting at $3.99 for rental classes
- Learntodance.com offers recorded classes from $37-$147
- Operationtap.com offers classes from $19.99/mo
- Steezy.co offers classes from $19.99/mo
How do I Set up an Online Dance Class?
To summarize things really briefly, you’ll be able to host the best online dance classes when you have:
- A domain name
- A learning management system (usually comes with a payment processor)
- And, video equipment
We’ll go into details in the step-by-step tutorial below…
How to Teach Dance Online – Step-by-Step
Teaching dance online can be a bit of a transition from what you’re used to, but it can be a great choice to help you diversify your instruction options and to make additional revenue from a broader audience. Here are the steps I’d recommend for you to get started…
1. Choose a Niche, Genre, or Audience
You’ll notice that most dance schools specialize in a single type of dance unless they have instructors that cross genres. It’s important to choose a niche that you can serve and have competitive advantages. Your niche could be:
- Tap dance classes
- Basic dance classes for beginners
- Ballet dance classes
- Preschool dance classes
- and the list can go on
Even if you feel skilled enough to teach all types of dance, it’s important to start by building an audience that trusts your advice on one and expand from there.
2. Build a Website
Ideally, once you’ve chosen a niche, you’d create your website–this will serve as your digital dance studio. You can create articles that educate, inform, and demonstrate your expertise. The content on your website will attract people and you can connect your online course platform to your website, so students can enroll, purchase, and take courses online.
3. Choose a Payment Processor and Streaming Software
Most learning management software has payment processing built in–this means when you set up your online courses or membership, you should be able to simply connect a Paypal or Stripe account, and the money from sales will be deposited into your accounts. Some learning management software will have a processing fee that’s subtracted from your course sales.
I recommend Podia for teaching dance online because you have many options. It’s integrated with Zoom and Youtube, so you can offer live and recorded options. You’ll be able to do email marketing, live stream classes, recorded classes, sell digital products, and even offer subscriptions. They also offer a free trial and live classes to demonstrate how you can use Podia to suit your needs.
4. Get your Video Equipment Set up
One of the most complex parts of teaching dance online is probably setting up the video equipment, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to do it very quickly and easily. You can use professional camera gear or you can start with basic video equipment (like your smartphone and a stand).
Related:
If you’re new to creating online courses or creating video, then these two resources can be very valuable to help you get started.
- Set up Live and Recorded Training Courses with Podia
- Video Production Bootcamp (6000+ students, 5-star rated e-course available at Udemy)
- Podia Review: Pros, Cons, and Alternatives
5. Create Blog Posts that Inform People about what you’re offering
Education marketing helps to build trust, inform, make your audience feel empowered, and ultimately, it can lead to sales. You can use your website to attract customers to your online dance courses by creating articles, videos, and continuing to acquire customers using methods that have worked for you before.
6. Create Posts that inform people on Social Media
You can share social proof, the content you’ve created on your website, video clips, live class demos, and other things on social media to attract more potential customers. Sharing content on social media is like passing out flyers. Since social media is so widely used, it’s a great way to get the attention of people who might be interested in your products and services.
7. Make sure you’re getting enough traffic
When you’re posting content online that’s engaging, then you’ll see more and more people visit your website. They’ll want to learn more about what you’re offering. If you had students offline, then you can inform them of the new class options. The more people that know about your courses, the more people that are likely to buy–this is if you’ve nailed it with a good user experience and a good offer.
8. Build an Email List
Building an email list can make it easy for you to keep a large group of people informed at once–this way you can send out an email that lets interested prospects know about upcoming products, news in your industry, and other valuable insight. Unlike social media, emails aren’t sent to a portion of your audience, therefore, you can have a wider reach when you send an email than when you post other places.
9. Set dates for your class and tell your audience
You’ll need to decide whether you want to offer your online classes as a live learning option, whether you want to offer recorded/self-paced courses, or if you want to offer a combination: live and recorded classes. From there, you’d inform your audience of the dates they can expect to attend your online dance classes.
10. Make Money
When you’ve set up an online marketplace to sell your dance classes, you inform an interested audience that you’ll be offering dance classes online, and you get the tech all set up, that’s when you can start making money from offering your dance classes online!
Conclusion
Offering dance classes online can be a great way to diversify what you offer, make a convenient online learning option for dance enthusiasts (even those who are too shy to attend in-person), and to make money. Hopefully, this step-by-step guide has given you actionable takeaways that can help you get started offering dance classes online. If you have any questions about this feel free to leave them in the comments section below. To get coaching and ongoing support as you build your dance classes online, join me here for free Internet marketing training and 7 days of free coaching via messaging.
Are you Ready to Start Teaching Dance Online?
Step One: Build an Audience
If you're starting without an audience that's waiting for your online dance classes, then this is the first place to start. Learn how to build an audience online and get sales with a free website, coaching, and training.
Step Two: Set up Your Courses Online
If you have an audience and you want to offer them an online course platform where you can stream live or offer recorded training, Podia is my #1 recommendation. See why.
Step Three: Build your Camera Confidence
If you're not confident on camera or you're not sure what equipment you should use for video production, check out the courses on Udemy. There are plenty that can help to build your confidence and get you streaming high-quality video.
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