One of the great puzzles within the Western concert dance world is why so many artists who create revolutionary works onstage conduct their classes and rehearsals as demagogues. Such teachers are engaged in teaching practices that replicate and reproduce in the dance studio the very power relationships they are often critiquing as unjust and inhumane in their artwork onstage. The artist-educators examined in this essay, a significant number of whom favored humanistic themes and dances with a social conscience, created some of the most exquisite choreographic works of the twentieth century. In the quest for brilliance, which the artists discussed in this essay have attained, something has gone amiss in the daily treatment of the very dancers who contribute to making the artistic product brilliant. This study reveals information about the heritage of teaching methods that is passed down in the dance field, about the philosophies behind this pedagogical heritage, and about the possibilities for incorporating elements of twentieth-century progressive educational thought into dance studio classes and rehearsals. To expose and investigate the roots of this disturbing pedagogical heritage and the ideologies that underpin it, a definition and exposition of authoritarian or destructive dance teaching behaviors are first offered. Next, an overview of how the dance community has responded is presented. Finally, theories that can begin to explain the roots of this pedagogical legacy are offered. This unmasking of dance teaching philosophies and practices can hopefully pave the way for healthier, more humane learning environments for dance students and professional dancers. (Contains 99 notes.)