I have come across two social media discussions recently on age discrimination in the dance education industry. In the first, the author was discussing the age discrimination he had been experiencing due to his youth. He had recently graduated from college and found that studios were reluctant to hire a young teacher without substantial performing credits; he felt that his strong choreography reel and BFA in dance made him an excellent candidate. In the second discussion, the author was asking contributors to share their experiences with age discrimination as an older teacher looking for employment.

My response in both of these discussions was pretty much the same.

So, to be honest, I’m not 100% sure if I’ve ever been discriminated against because of my age. There are many, many, many jobs in the last several years for which I applied that I did not get; and others that I did. I will probably never know for sure what the reasons were. In New York City it is very rare for a dance teacher to teach in only one school; most of us have to cobble together a schedule from classes at numerous schools and programs and it is CONSTANTLY changing, so I’m always on the lookout for opportunities and I am constantly sending out resumes and applying for positions. I am past 60 and most certainly do not demonstrate everything full-out any more, yet I am teaching a full load of classes every week. I also have a substantial resume with some large and famous schools on it, international teaching credits, and yet there are jobs that I don’t get; and classes at schools where I am already working that I don’t get assigned to teach (that I believe I should be teaching).

So here is how I see it: Not every teacher is a good fit for every job, and schools are entitled to hire the teachers that they want. Every school has its priorities. I taught for many years at a school that prized teachers with Broadway credits and so (having never danced on Broadway myself) I REALLY got the short end of the stick when scheduling was done. I know this was the reason for a fact (I was told so by an administrator). If they want teachers with Broadway credits, then I’m not the teacher for them (to be honest, they were desperate when they hired me and I ultimately did not renew my contract).

There are schools that want young teachers who are on the cutting edge and who can do everything themselves; demonstrating full out and dancing with the students. There are schools that want teachers with substantial choreography resumes/reels. There are schools that want teachers who had brilliant performing careers. I’m not saying that any these credentials make better teachers (that is a discussion for another article); but this is what some schools want. And, as was obvious by some of the responses in the threads, there are schools that want the knowledge and experience of an older teacher. The trick is to find the job that is the “right fit”.

So, if an older teacher (or younger teacher) is not “the right fit” for the wants of a particular school, does that make it discrimination?

I recently came across a very interesting study. Professional makeup artists created realistic disfigurements on perspective job applicants. The applicants were asked to go to the interview and were questioned immediately afterward as to how they were treated and whether they were offered the position. Just before heading into the interviews the applicants were stopped and told they needed their makeup “touched up”. But what the makeup artist actually did was remove the disfigurement. Every single participant in the study reported back that they were treated badly and that veiled negative comments were made about their appearance. Interesting how we can hear what we expect to hear, and even more interesting, that perhaps our own feelings about ourselves can create a behavior and demeanor that might negatively affect how we are perceived at an interview. Could some of this “discrimination” be a result of how our subconscious feelings about ourselves and the hiring process affect our behavior and demeanor?

I always suggest to teachers who are struggling to find work, to offer to teach a sample class. This is the best way for the studio to experience what the teacher brings to the table (and it will help the teacher realize if the fit is right as well).

It was recently suggested to me by a colleague that I reach out to a relatively new preprofessional program here in NYC. I went first to the school’s website. ALL of the teachers on that website danced on Broadway or in major companies including New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theater. ALL. And I thought: “this is not a good fit”. But sending a resume and cover letter is so easy now (I remember the days of actually having to use a typewriter) that I sent a resume and offered, in my cover letter, to teach a sample Jazz class. I had a response in less than a day. I taught the class and program’s artistic director hired me on the spot. Yet, there is a school at which I regularly teach ballet that will not assign me to teach Jazz classes despite my work with the master Luigi and my international credentials teaching Jazz. All of the Jazz teachers at the school are young and dance “full out”. Is it discrimination?