Dance Studio Roadmap: How to Choose the Right Studio for Your Dancer
Your tiny dancer has just decided that they want to broaden their horizons from twirling in your living room to taking their first dance class. You have no dance background and have no idea where to start. Or maybe you do, but the dance world sure has changed a lot since you were a kid. What should you be looking for? How do you know if a studio is right for you?
You may think that any dance studio will do. While there is no harm in starting off at the local recreation center and reassessing your options if your dancer decides to get more serious about their training, the school you choose can have a major impact on the long-term outcome of their dance education. While it’s never too late to start dancing or receive good training, it is harder to unlearn bad technique than it is to learn good technique.
The dance studio soon becomes like a second family, and your dancer may eventually be putting in long hours. Whether dancing recreationally, competitively, or pre-professionally, it is important to make sure that they are in an environment that cultivates a healthy mindset, promotes total dancer wellness, and develops a quality toolkit that will serve them as they go forth in life.
The Dance Toolkit
Dance provides a variety of skills that serve both in and out of the dance classroom. In the classroom, the technique they develop will empower them to achieve great feats while also preventing injuries. A dancer who is trained properly will develop strength and alignment that enables them to dance and do other physical activities with a greatly reduced risk of injury. The toolkit includes other aspects such as poise, stage presence, performance quality, artistry, endurance, and athleticism. Beyond that there are many skills acquired that apply widely outside of the dance world, such as time management, teamwork, leadership, confidence, responsibility, diligence, self-awareness, creativity, problem-solving, a healthy mindset, and the list goes on.
So how do you know whether a studio is equipped to support your dancer to develop the best toolkit? What questions should you be asking? Let’s take a closer look at the roadmap and watch out for some of the red flags and green flags that may guide your decision.
Dance Studio Categories 🧭
To guide your search you may want to start by identifying which type of studio you are looking for. Studios come in a few varieties: competition, recreational, performance-based, curriculum-based, pre-professional track, and any mixture of those.
Competition Studio
Competition studios typically participate in 4-6 competitions per year. Some may additionally opt for a national competition in the summer and a fall convention. Competitions may require traveling 1-2 hours, or further for nationals. Competition students may be asked to sign a contract committing to certain rehearsal hours and performance dates.
Recreational Studio
A recreational studio offers a large number and variety of classes and may have 1-2 student showcases per year. Students typically do not participate in competitions and are less likely to be asked to make big schedule commitments.
Curriculum/Performance-Based Studio
A curriculum/performance-based studio will guide students through a progressive curriculum that hones their dance technique while also providing multiple performance opportunities. These are more likely to have a standardized quality of training and ask students to commit to a certain number of classes per week depending on their level.
Pre-Professional track
Some studios may offer a pre-professional track for students who want to pursue a career in dance. They will likely receive additional technical training, teaching, competition and performance opportunities and be encouraged and guided through auditions for summer workshops, intensives, college programs and dance companies. A pre-professional dancer is likely to be in the studio 4-6 days per week.
Let’s talk about competitions
There is much value to be gained from attending quality competitions - performance experience, master classes, feedback from judges, scholarship opportunities, and exposure. A pre-professional dancer’s ‘foot in the door’ may be one competition away.
With that said, not all competitions are created equal. The industry around competitions can start to feel like a money grab when the competition administrator cuts corners on quality - quality of judges, quality of flooring, and running for long and late hours that are not appropriate for adults, let alone school-age children. Studio owners and coaches who bring students to competitions will need to be selective about which competitions to attend so that students get the most out of the experience and are protected from unsafe dancing conditions.
Dance Studio Qualities to look for 🧭
Qualified Educators
Check the Faculty section on their website or ask if the studio has any standards regarding teaching credentials or experience. Good credentials may range from a college or graduate degree in dance or dance education to a professional dance background coupled with certifications in certain dance curricula or enrichment programs.
It’s great for a studio to provide mentorship to students by providing them with teaching opportunities. In fact, that’s a big green flag. However, ensure that this is balanced with teaching staff with great credentials and experience. Dance teachers often start very young with a lot of student teaching experience that they gained early on, so just because a teacher looks young doesn’t mean they are not qualified. However, their resumé and their classroom management should speak for themselves. Don’t judge the book by its cover, but do judge by their credentials and how they conduct themselves in the classroom.
Quality over Quantity
You want a dance studio that is going to give you and your dancer a return on investment. This means quality training, appropriate class lengths, and appropriate class sizes that enable the teacher to provide individual attention and meaningful feedback. Ask about student-to-teacher ratios and check the schedule to see what the class lengths are for advanced dancers. This will clue you into whether the studio emphasizes quality training.
✅ Appropriate class lengths
Class lengths should vary depending on age and level from as little as 30-45 min for younger students, ramping up from 1 hour for beginning technique classes to 90 minutes for advanced classes. While students may start out with ballet once a week when they are young, they should have access to at least 2-3 ballet classes/week as they approach intermediate to advanced levels. A similar standard can be applied to other styles.
✅ Appropriate class sizes
A student-to-teacher ratio of 10-12:1 is a good sign that the studio is prioritizing quality over quantity.
🚩 Hours of dancing without enough technique
Students may be spending hours in the studio rehearsing, but are they receiving adequate technical instruction? Unfortunately, at many studios technique classes are too short and too infrequent, a sign that a studio is taking shortcuts on quality training to pack as many classes and students in as possible.
Culture of Kindness & Inclusivity
There are plenty of studios out there with welcoming vibes, and you will probably know it within 30 seconds of walking into the studio. Inclusiveness should permeate the culture and policies from their dress code to their employment practices to the classroom expectations set by the teachers.
🚩 Exclusive culture
We’ve seen it on reality television and some of us have lived it. The bullies, the competitive parents, the exclusive atmosphere or policies that make you feel like you don’t belong. It doesn’t have to be that way, so steer clear!
Emphasis on Healthy Mindset & Dancer Wellness
Ask whether the studio has policies or workshops in place to support injury prevention. Kids can get carried away with doing tricks and pushing themselves too hard, dancing injured, or striving for unrealistic ideals of perfection. Find out whether the studio cultivates this mindset or combats it. It’s important for young dancers to have role models that inspire a healthy relationship with their dancing and themselves. Listening to your body and resting when it’s appropriate is a novel concept in the dance world, but essential to the longer dance careers that today’s dancers are afforded through advancements in dance medicine. It’s a great sign if a studio has teachers who are certified in programs that promote dancer wellness and a relationship with a Dance Physical Therapist.
🚩 Overstretching
Stretching must be done with knowledge of the principles of dynamic and static stretching and always be balanced with strengthening. Overstretching can cause irreversible damage. Students being asked to sit for long periods in hyperextended poses such as oversplits or back bends is a big red flag for unsafe training.
🚩 It’s not just about strength
Dancers may do crunches and planks all day without gaining the proper alignment to help them correctly use their muscles to prevent injuries. I’ve seen very strong dancers face the music when they transfer to a ballet school offering strong technical training and are held back from pointe work so they can develop those muscles correctly to avoid injury. Cross-training programs should be informed by dance medicine to support healthy alignment and build muscle memory.
Pointe Readiness
Safe and healthy pointe work is attainable with the right training. Ask whether they have standardized criteria for placing students on pointe. Dancers who are on pointe should have at least 4 years of technical training behind them, and be taking a minimum of 2-3 90-minute technique classes and at least 1-2 30-60 minute pointe classes per week. In addition, there should be clear strength and alignment criteria for dancers to meet before being cleared to dance on pointe. Some studios may offer pre-pointe classes to help prepare students to achieve these criteria.
🚩 Dancing on pointe without meeting criteria
It is too common for dancers to be on pointe without meeting these thresholds or without sufficient technical instruction. This can easily lead to injuries and is a big red flag for dancer safety.
Well Rounded Education
Dance is an athletic performance art. Dance students should have opportunities to take the stage and apply what they have learned in performance. They should also be provided with well-rounded training. Even if a student is in a ballet curriculum program, the best programs will ensure that their training is supplemented with other styles and cross-training programs. A good studio should encourage dancers to audition for summer programs and intensives as part of their well-rounded dance education.
🚩 Studio policies that are possessive and self-serving
Studio policies may in some ways serve to protect the interests of the studio as a business, however, they should not hinder the success of the student. If a studio makes you sign a contract that doesn’t allow you to train elsewhere, this is a red flag, especially if they do not provide adequate technique in-house.
The key question to ask yourself is, is the studio a tool for my dancer’s success or is my dancer a tool for the studio’s success?
Ok, so I’m at the wrong school. What should I do?
It’s not easy to leave your dance family. You can start by pushing back against the issue that concerns you. If they are not providing adequate technique, if there’s an exclusive culture or a mindset problem, whatever the case may be, bring it to the attention of the studio director. Perhaps they need a chance to address your concern. If they don’t jump on that chance, don’t wait - strike out for greener pastures immediately! Your dancer deserves to thrive.
In summary: be selective, sample the goods, and don’t settle until you know you’ve found a quality dance studio that is going to nurture your child to dance with joy and give them a toolkit that will serve them as they dance forward through life.
Let’s dance! 🎉
Meet the Author
Emily Zimmermann is the owner of Dream Ballet School in Westford, Massachusetts.
She has been a dancer, choreographer and dance educator for over 20 years. Emily is certified in Pointe Safe, Progressing Ballet Technique and American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum.
Emily believes passionately that ballet is for everyone and strives to promote total dancer wellness. Please visit www.dreamballetschool.com to learn more.
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