Coaching the BYU Youth Ballroom Formation Team: A Season of Growth and Excellence

Link to Hello Dolly Medley Link to ABBA Medley

During the 2022–2023 season, I along with my wife had the privilege of coaching a ballroom formation team for the BYU Youth Ballroom program. Our year centered on two routines that the dancers performed in multiple competitions. First, was a standard formation routine entitled Hello Dolly and second, a Latin formation routine set to music by ABBA. Both pieces, each just over three minutes long, demanded precision, teamwork, and artistry from the 17 dancers on the team who brought them to life. In addition to these competitive works, I was given the opportunity to choreograph a collaborative routine that combined two teams for the program’s winter showcase in December. Practices were held twice a week, with momentum and focus building as we prepared for nationals in March.

What stands out most to me from this season is not simply the choreography or the competitions, but the growth I witnessed in my students. I first decided I wanted to become a ballroom instructor when I was nine years old, but what I could not have imagined at that age was the deeper fulfillment that comes from coaching. Beyond steps and technique, the most rewarding part of this coaching is guiding students as they cultivate not only dance skills but also social skills, critical thinking, and a sense of self-confidence that extends beyond the studio.

As art educator Katherine M. Douglas reminds us, “If we wish for our students to do the work of artists, we must offer them the opportunity to behave as artists, think as artists, and perform as artists.” This perspective captures what I find most rewarding in coaching, helping dancers recognize their own capacity for excellence and artistry. The moments that matter most are not just when the team executes a routine cleanly on a stage or competition floor, but when an individual dancer discovers new capacity within themselves. Whether that student’s discovery be technical ability, resilience, or artistry. Coaching offers the privilege of witnessing these transformations and, in some small way, contributing to the life skills and confidence that will serve students far beyond their years in ballroom dance.

Douglas, K. M., & Jaquith, D. B. (2018). Engaging learners through artmaking: Choice-based art education in the classroom (2nd ed.). Teachers College Press.