Owners and Instructors
Owners and Instructors » Gerald Cosby
Gerald Cosby
For Gerald Cosby, the ultimate test of a dance instructor is the ability to produce results for his or her students. According to Gerald, “One of the things I am most proud of is my students’ performance in medals testing. In medals exams, the student is graded according to their ability to execute at a particular level, as judged by an independent examiner with an expert understanding in ballroom dance. Every student I have taken through medals exams has emerged with the highest score possible. Sure it’s important that I be able to perform at a high skill level myself, and I constantly take coaching from top coaches, but all my abilities and titles won’t help the student when he or she is dancing in a competition or at a social dance.”
Like many of the people involved in ballroom dance, Gerald had an early fascination with dance. However, like many who are considering taking up dance, he found that cultural, business, and other factors combined to make it something to do “one of these days.” One night, shortly after his fortieth birthday, sitting at a party watching others dance, unable to participate, he made his mind up to begin. “I made an appointment for my first dance lesson the next day. My life has never been the same!”
Shortly after beginning lessons, he discovered competition. Within a year after his first lesson, he was on the competition floor, dancing Pro-Am competitions. His competitive dancing got a huge boost when Stephen and Elizabeth (Knoll) Cullip moved to Seattle, where he resided, and Gerald began dancing Pro-Am with Elizabeth. Twice they placed second in the U.S. National Pro-Am championships. Later, dancing with Jeanette Ball, he also placed second in both the Standard Ballroom and Latin American divisions. “I just couldn’t seem to break through to first,” said Gerald. “But, considering the age and caliber of the competition, I was very happy to finish as well as I did. The people who beat me were typically fifteen, or more, years younger than me. And, one of them went on to become a U.S. National Professional champion.” Gerald also competed with an amateur partner, again doing well despite competing against much younger competitors.
After years of competing as an amateur, Gerald fulfilled a long-held dream of becoming a certified instructor in January of 2002. Realizing that all his years of training had given him a level of knowledge of dance that could be shared with others, combined with his natural love of teaching, he began the process of certification. According to Gerald, “It was important to me that I go through the certification process. Over the years, I had watched amateurs, with little teaching knowledge, and not much more dance knowledge - with little to recommend them, other than perhaps a few competition wins - declare themselves professionals, and begin soliciting students. I had vowed that when the time came for me to take on the responsibility of teaching dance, I would seek professional certification before reaching out to bring students on board. So I studied, and took the exam. This was by far the most difficult examination I have ever faced (and I have a Master’s degree, and professional certifications in other areas)! I was extremely gratified that I not only passed, I was able to achieve an excellent score on the exam, from an examiner with a reputation for being a very tough grader!”
In August of 2003, Gerald added the Associate certificate in American Ballroom (Smooth) to go along with the Associate International Standard certification achieved earlier, in this case, receiving a “Highly Commended” rating, the highest rating possible.
Currently, Gerald is available for private lessons. Says Gerald, “ I really enjoy conveying the magic of dance to students, both experienced dancers and beginners. And, I’m thrilled to be associated with Dave, Elizabeth, and the fabulous Ballroom Parkrose.”
To arrange lessons, or for more info, you can contact Mr. Cosby directly by going to the 'Contact Center' page, and scrolling down to the e-mail links that you'll find there.