On Self-Promotion: 8/21/24

A newer dance professional asked me about promoting their lessons at events when they’re not on staff.

When I asked why they were uncomfortable advertising that they were available to teach, they told me a peer had told them that self-promotion on social media was “desperate” and “cringeworthy”.

A local teacher had told me the same thing when I was a dance professional in my early twenties— that leveraging my social media to advertise my teaching was “weird” and “pathetic”. I didn’t have the awareness at the time to ask:

Does the person discouraging me from promoting my work have an incentive to see me fail?

Do they see themselves as in collaboration or competition with me?

Are they concerned that I will present incorrect information to my prospective students, or are they concerned that students might like my teaching better?

I wish I had someone back then to advise me against the opinions of people who benefited from me not promoting my own work and worth.

I might have felt more empowered to tell that local teacher to fuck off.