Entry #2: Diving Into Freelance

The temperature is getting warmer, allergies are at an all time high, and aerosol is in the air. Ah, it smells like competition season. I think there’s something in the water with summer around the corner because I’ve had so many people ask me what my plans are for the next few months, along with wanting advice on getting into guest teaching as the dance season winds down. I absolutely love traveling to different studios to teach, and it’s definitely something that I feel progresses for me each year. I was grabbing coffee with a dance friend recently who’s looking into branching out into freelance work, and she was asking me for advice on how to get started. I for one was honored that she felt she could come to me with that, but it also got me thinking about how I could have benefited from a blueprint when I was getting started.  It’s of course a learning process, and one that I’m still figuring out as I go, but if I can help someone with what I already know then I want to share! I don’t claim to have all the answers! Or most of the answers! Here’s just a few things I’ve learned in the past few years that might be helpful to someone who needs it. 

I started working weekly at my home studio in high school and fell in love! I had been assisting younger classes prior to this, and the opportunity to start teaching presented itself and I hesitantly took it. I truly owe so much to my home studio and studio owner Shawn Horne! A #queen! She instilled so much confidence in me and made me feel like I could do anything! She’s the reason I started teaching, and she gave me so much creative freedom to find myself and my style along the way. I feel so blessed to have come from the studio that I did. Everyone there was so supportive of me, and that meant the world to my insecure high school self. Once I started teaching classes, choreography opportunities arose and I got to choreograph on some of my teammates which was so special. After I graduated high school, I wanted to still find ways to channel my creativity choreographically, so aside from dancing in college, I made sure to stay connected with my Charlotte dance community. I definitely think it helped that I had so many friends at different studios and was friendly with different studio owners and dancers in my community. Guest teaching really started to pick up for me in 2020, and when Covid started, I found myself teaching so many zoom classes (LOL let’s pray we never go back to that). I’m reaching here, but if there was a positive to the world shutting down for me, it was that many studio owners were looking for something to spice up their zoom classes. There were more opportunities for me to get connected with new dancers. 

My non-dance friends are always like, “What do you mean when you say you guest teach or do freelance?” and I think that’s a totally valid question. To me working as a freelance dance teacher and choreographer means that studios are hiring me short term and bringing me into their studios to provide a different learning experience than those students typically get weekly. I teach a lot of workshop classes and do choreography for studios looking for guest instructors to work with their students. Again, to get a different learning experience than they receive from the set faculty at their studios. It’s definitely different from working day-to-day at a studio where you know your set schedule for the week, have built close relationships with your students, and consistently get paid LOL. I do miss teaching weekly at studios, but for now I’m focused on enjoying my college experience and student teaching. I’ve found that guest teaching is the perfect middle ground for me, where I still have lots of free time in my schedule while still getting to teach and dance pretty frequently.  

When starting out, I think there’s often this lull where you’re unsure of whether or not to reach out to people or wait and have them reach out to you. My question to you is, how are they supposed to know you exist? HAHA that sounds so harsh, but I’m serious! I’m at a spot now where I’m fortunate that studios are reaching out to me, but I’m also not going to shy away from reaching out to someone because you never know what might come from that. As much as I hate to say this because I do think that social media has negatively impacted several aspects of the dance industry, it’s certainly helped studio owners and teachers find me. So if you don’t already share content or videos from your classes, and guest teaching is something you’re working towards, you may want to consider this. While it can be easier if someone contacts you first, I don’t think there’s any shame in following up with someone if you’ve connected with them at a competition or dance event. Maybe that’s just my personality and the fact that I love talking with people, but a simple “Hey, I loved meeting and connecting with you… I’d love to work with your dancers sometime,” never hurt. Do what feels right to you, but know that when you’re getting started, it’s probably not going to fall into your lap. That certainly wasn’t my experience. My second question to you is this: Are you actually a  master teacher? The vocabulary you use is so important!!! I’ve learned this since first starting out 5 years ago… I ain’t no master… and people see right through that! I believe I have good knowledge, experience, and insight to share. My class is an experience centered around growth. It’s a workshop based on the dancers’ needs… I’m not going to claim to know more than their studio teachers because I don’t believe I do. I simply offer something different, which is why they’ve hired me to work with their dancers. Asking yourself why you want to do this in the first place is also something I’d challenge you with. I see a trend in great dancers pushing themselves to be teachers because it’s what they feel like they need to do. If you have a passion for teaching and educating, then go for it, but teaching is a whole separate skill set. You can be great at both, but your heart should be in the right place. Just some food for thought :) Along with that, you should always include or offer to include your resume. Make one if you don’t have one already. There’s no rush or timeline for when this all should happen or what you need to accomplish by a certain age – DON’T LET THE INDUSTRY MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE THERE IS! – If you don’t feel like you have an adequate resume or enough experience to share with others, take time to build on that.  

You already know my opinion on those who just do it for the money… When setting rates, be honest with yourself about your experience and expertise. What do you think you’re worth? What credentials do you have? What are they paying for? What are you making per hour at your weekly studio job? Since you’re offering a specialty class, and the studio has agreed to bring you in based on what they believe their students can specifically learn from you, you should be charging more per hour than you make at your studio job. Whatever that rate is is up to you and what you feel comfortable with charging. While I’m not going to blast my rates online, if you’re a teacher and curious about what I charge, I’d be happy to share that with you. I tend to charge by the hour and number of dancers taking the class. When traveling to a studio outside of a 60 minute radius of me, I do charge a travel fee. Gas is expensive y’all! I also have separate choreography rates for when I’m hired to set pieces. I’m generally willing to negotiate and decrease my rates based on the studio’s budget in some circumstances because dance accessibility is really important to me! You don’t have to do this by any means. I’m still in college, so I’ve experienced studios not wanting to hire me or pay me my rate because they don’t believe I have enough qualifications or experience. It is what it is, and while I can understand where they’re coming from, I know I’m good at what I do, so I just appreciate those who seek me out more. Take videos of your classes and choreography – especially if you don’t already have a choreography reel. Like having a resume, it’s so helpful for people to see your style, class energy, and teaching strategies when deciding whether or not they want to hire you. And many will ask for videos! It’s always a good idea to have something prepared to share with them, and it’s a great way to document students’ growth! I don’t have a legit “contract” that I make studios sign, as I haven’t found a need for it, but I do keep records of everything I make (money wise) from each job. I highly recommend documenting every thing you make, as far as taxes are concerned. If you make over $600 at a studio doing freelance work, they should issue you a 1099 form to cover your employment taxes. Anything made under that is most likely counted as wages in their annual taxes, so you don’t need a contract unless you feel that it’s necessary. 

Y’all, I truly feel like most days I’m flying by the seat of my pants and it’s my dance friends that rein me back in and give me the best advice when needed! If you’ve been toying with the idea of getting into freelance, I hope that this second entry was just a little bit helpful to you! We’re all in this together, and when done right, we have the opportunity to spread so much light and love to this next generation of dancers. As always, feel free to get in touch with me if you have more questions  :) 

With love, 

Li <3