Buy This Book - "Dance Teacher"

“This book gives great insight into the ballroom dance world – a must read for anyone who loves dance!”
Lauren Nicole Wilmore - Dance St.Louis, Education Assistant

“The Dance Teacher takes the reader inside the world of ballroom dance to a somewhat darker place.”
“A quick read and timely subject matter in today’s ever growing obsession with the art of dance.” - Joan Doelger

This is a story about greed, corruption, and manipulation and it’s about a guy named Jerry.
“Students are full of hope. Ballroom dancing, or the promise of it, is the form that it takes.”

 It’s about the dreams… “It seemed amazing, while considering the virtues of these two women and myself, that we found ourselves to be at the bottom of the ladder here at, ‘Dance, Dance, Dance’, a ballroom dance studio.”

 And dream stealers
“The real problem, as I see it, is you’re listening to your computer and not to me and I’m the guy that pays you!”
He could seem as though he was upset, curt and uncommunicative like today, then change into warm and pleasant, or using that mood to sling-shot himself to dark and brooding, or even upset and angry.

Sales meetings
“Eleanor, let’s start with you.” Bill got the meeting started.
“He’s single, no girlfriend...”
Eleanor paused for a moment and everybody smiled while Serge let out a ‘wooooooohoooooo’ sound giving a vote of confidence to Eleanor’s female charms.
“Remember this too; this business...is not about dance” Bill intoned.
“If I didn’t sell programs to the obnoxious and boring, the studio would be empty.”

How it works…
“As ‘front of the house people’, we were to charm new students with our good looks and personality, and when they learned enough beginning steps and showed some financial promise as long term students, they would be passed to the back-of-the-house people who would get them to sign a ‘program’ for anywhere from $5,000.00 to $15,000.00 and sometimes more.”

 More selling..
“Tell me about him.”
“Their company buys into other businesses… and he’s part owner.”
“How long have they been in
business?” “Three years.”
“Where does he live and what kind of car does he drive?”
“He lives in those condos behind the ford dealership. I don’t know about the car.”
“Does he own or rent the condo?”

Sacrifice…  

I had invested so much, worked so hard, and progressed beyond my wildest dreams. But most of all, I had compromised more than I had ever imagined I could have. Knowing this last, I wasn’t sure why I didn’t want to go.
“You still got that job at night, Jerry? What is it, making donuts?”
“The thing is, I need someone interested in my dancing and interested in getting me to be a better dancer for me to learn these advanced steps.”

 Advancement…
“You’re not the salesman Jennifer is; you’re not the dancer Mike is; and you’re not Russian like Serge but you have potential, and you’re loyal.”

And more selling…..
“Jerry we sell all the time; in fact, I’m selling right now. I’m selling you on what I’m telling you. We all sell even if we don’t know it. Every time a retail clerk says, ‘thank you, come again’, or when they say, ‘cash or charge’, or whenever someone says, ‘please’, they are selling you, right?”

 “Selling, is how America became the great commerce it is today. The wealthiest people in this country are salesmen. In some way, whatever they do, they are selling.”
He was asking Jennifer to rehearse the words that would trap her student so Bill could trap her now. From victim to villain would be her short journey

 Relationships…
With Jennifer I could really feel the giving and taking in lead/follow, the exchange of male to female, in an honest and real sense. This was not acting; it was not the suggestion of intimacy; it was what I actually felt for my partner

 She held her forearms in front of her and wedged herself in the corner allowing me to trap her there. I put my hands on her shoulders and ran them down the backs of her arms to her elbows. “Listen; there must be something I can do to make you forget all that bad behavior.”

“Oh, I can think of a couple of things.”

“You been bitten by the love bug, Jerry?”

 There were warnings…
“You know what I mean, Jerry; the selling. Selling yourself to your students; selling yourself to Bill; selling a little piece of yourself every time you have to compromise your principles in order to get ahead.

 Innocence…
When she came through the door I noticed, as I had before, how pretty she was. She was wearing a tight black, long-sleeved sweater, her normal amount of make-up, lipstick that matched her auburn hair, and, of course her warm and energetic smile. She was totally innocent and unaware of all the politics that went on at the studio

And preying on the innocent…
“Oh yea, and another thing, that student of yours that’s taking the coaching lesson with Isa Bondividich?” “Yea, Ann Brill.”
“Find out about her...everything you can.
Betrayal…
“The reason I’m telling you this is I want you to know you can trust me.”
“Of course I trust you, Jerry.” She said this too easily.
“What do you think, Jerry, could I really be in a competition?”

 Determination…
Jerry, what are we going to do with Ann Brill?”
“You never say no to $5,000.00. Are you nuts!?

 This is where things got complicated
“Jerry, is there something going on between you and this Ann Brill?”

Will Jerry succumb to the unethical demands of his employer? Or will he sacrifice the trust his student, Ann Brill, has placed with him? Along with her hard, earned money?

“This book gives great insight into the ballroom dance world – a must read for anyone who loves dance!”
-Lauren Nicole Wilmore - Dance St.Louis, Education Assistant

 “The Dance Teacher takes the reader inside the world of ballroom dance to a somewhat darker place.”

“a quick read and timely subject matter in today’s ever growing obsession with the art of dance.”  - Joan Doelger

Buy This Book - "Dance Teacher"