Staff
DAU Offers the Best Staff in Northern California!
With over 40 instructors, we are well staffed to nurture the proper growth and development of our students. Our teachers come to DAU from all over the country– Pennsylvania, Utah, Michigan, Chicago, New York and Alaska (to name a few) – to give our students the best dance education in the area. A few are even internationally trained in the UK, Russia, and China. Our large staff offers our student-body lots of amazing options under one roof and as a result, they receive a well-rounded education and learn life skills that can be applied outside of the dance studio. Behind the scenes, our management and directors are the best in the business – day in and day out they ensure that dancers are getting the most out of their classes, families stay informed and that our business runs smoothly.
The Strongest Dance Staff in California
As a team, DAU offers the strongest dance staff in California. Jane Carter has 3 daughters Jessie, Jamie, and Jodie. The litmus test for Ms. Jane (and the hiring committee) has always been “Do I want my own daughter learning dance from this teacher?” Things get real clear, real quick with that question. We literally receive hundreds of applications each year; we only select the very best. We “team interview” which means Ms. Jane, The Director in that Genre, a Management Team Member and one other instructor collectively interview all candidates – as a team. We find this produces a result that is unanimous and thorough.
Larger Staff Means More Options
DAU has over 50 employees on staff. We have always believed that is it important to introduce a student to as many teachers as possible. If a dancer is learning from only 1, 2 or 5 instructors, their experience will be limited and development diminished. At its very core, dance is an athletic art form. As such, each dancer/instructor will have a slightly different interpretation of expression – an opinion of sorts. It’s important that a young dancer learn in an environment that is structured but open to ideas of individual expression and creativity. This can only happen within a dance studio that offers many options of learning – 20 to 50 instructors. One size doesn’t fit all.
We are all human and have our own preferences, interests, likes & dislikes. A large staff offers our student-body lots of amazing options under one roof! How stable is the staff? It’s an intangible. Does everyone know what is expected of them? Do they work as a team? This can only happen with time. Periodic turnover is a normal part of life, but it’s important to have an experienced staff that has been on the team for many years. Some of our instructors have been with DAU for 27 years (from the beginning). As a team, our staff has been with DAU for over 300 years collectively. This creates great fluidity, a predictable product and an experience that is high quality.
Full-Time Management and Office Team
Dance Academy USA is the only dance school in California that offers a seasoned full-time Management Team. This is a veteran group! On average our Management Team has been working professionals for 21 years. It would be a rare occurrence if you were not able to get someone on the phone at DAU. You can always pop-by the office as well. Normally we have 3-10 people working in the office depending on the day and what is going on at the time. In addition to our full-time Management Team, we have our Super Star Interns Team!
Experienced Staff
Most of our Management Team have children of their own. We know! We know what we want when we are the customer. We strive to provide the very best collective experience for our dancers, our families and our employees. We strive to do what we say we are going to do, when we say we are going to do it, in the way we said we were going to do it. We are firm but fair. For us, it is about the team (parents, students, employees) – and sometimes we have to make tough decisions but ones that are best for the team. There is no I in TEAM – and kids need to learn that lesson at a young age.
With today’s technology, there is no excuse for under-communicating to customers. Our technology, email updates, social media, communications, videos, website updates, etc. are second to none. But we truly pride ourselves on the personal touch, face to face or over the phone.
We are fortunate that we are one of a hand full of dance studios on the West Coast that have the scale to afford a fulltime Management Team. We believe this is a win for everyone involved with DAU.
Everyone needs to play an important role for DAU to work well. Parents need to 1) Support their own children & other DAU students/parents in a positive way and 2) Pay the bills. Students need to listen to their teachers, work hard and have fun doing so. Instructors need to be constantly honing their skills and have a passion for teaching kids. And the Management Team needs to ensure things are relatively smooth for all. Again, it’s not enough to simply say “we have good customer service.” There has to be staff in place to ensure this happens on a daily basis. On average, each Management Team member has been with DAU for 12 years.