"You can teach anything — except loving children": who gets onto the IDC team

Every IDC teacher is interviewed by Yuniia Furman, the studio's senior teacher. Here is what she looks for — and who she will never hire, accolades or not.

The criterion that comes before all others

"Above all, a teacher must love children."

Yuniia backs this up with an argument that sounds harsh for a conversation about dance — and is memorable for exactly that reason. She is struck by the thought that people with the highest education have done terrible things: "Highly educated people built the chambers where everyone was burned. But they were not human beings."

The conclusion for the profession: "We work with children, we work with souls, we are raising them. So a teacher first of all teaches children to be human — and after that comes dance, training, education and so on. Humanity first."

And from this comes the phrase that is, in essence, the filter at the door: "You can teach anything — except loving children. If a person loves children, they will genuinely want to learn, to develop, to strive to do everything for them as well as it can be done."

The other criteria

• A wish to work and to learn. "When the wish isn't there, there's nothing we can do to help."
• How the person communicates — with children and with parents alike. Rudeness is a stop signal.
• Openness to dialogue and to criticism. The studio's founder adds: "There are those who are open to learning, and there are those who think they already know everything. We have our principles, our approach to the work — and if someone doesn't align with that, it will be difficult."
• Education and expertise. "In dance this is self-evident: it matters that a person knows their subject."
• Alignment with the studio's values — health, humanity, family values. Yuniia frames it as a triangle: "we always have the same scheme, the same synergy: child — teacher — parents."

Her own summary in a single sentence: "We need a person who loves children, wants to learn, wants to grow, can communicate — with children and with adults — isn't afraid to do it, and who shares our values."

Why work here rather than at a Kyiv studio or for yourself

Yuniia names three things — and not one of them is about money.

The team. "We have a great team. That says a lot. And the way each of us treats the others is worth a great deal in itself."

Management that invests in its teachers. "We have great management that supports us in everything. Management is prepared to go a very long way so that a teacher can keep learning."

A shared wish to grow. "Our team's wish to keep developing matters enormously. And our values, of course. All the more so if a teacher responds to those values."

What she says to someone who is hesitating

Here the answer is two sentences: "Don't hesitate. Come and try. Until you try, you won't know how good it is here."

And honestly, about the workload

So that this page does not read too smoothly: working at IDC is not only about teaching classes. Yuniia says openly that the volume of work is large and that the team needs extra help. She comments on her own plans for the new season like this: "Insane. I'm going to regret this later — because of the amount of work."

So this text really does work as a filter in both directions. If you saw yourself in the list above, come. If not, better to know now.

Our open positions are on the "Vacancies" page.