I decided to become an Arthur Murray dance instructor for so many reasons.  In the beginning, it was mostly because I really loved to dance and wanted to share that love with others.  I didn’t really understand at the start what it was going to mean to me to be a teacher.  I remember my father explaining to me as a child that the most rewarding experience he ever had in life was watching the success of someone he had mentored.  I thought I understood what he meant.

I have a student, Cody Smith, who has been taking dance lessons with Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Manchester for about 2 years.  He is 15 years old (almost 16 he keeps reminding me) and is a sophomore at Pinkerton Academy in Derry, NH.  He came to us in October and explained that as a school project he was supposed to shadow someone at work for a whole day.  He wanted permission to shadow me and find out what it means to be a dance instructor!  We agreed and set the date for Friday, November 19^th.

I was excited and nervous that someone would respect and admire what I do enough to want to learn it from me.  I watched him taking notes as I taught and I asked him after one of our lessons what he was writing down.  I was expecting to hear that he was writing down how to dance certain steps.  Instead he amazed me by relating back to me how I had explained certain techniques or fixed certain problems with a student’s dancing.  He was really trying to learn how to teach not just how to dance.

I have taught many people how to dance and a few people how to teach.  This was my first experience with truly feeling that I was someone’s mentor.  I know that someday Cody is going to be an amazing dance instructor if that is what he chooses to do.  More importantly, I know now what my father was talking about.  I now have another reason to add to my long list of why I teach for Arthur Murray Dance Studio.

Margery