I am studio owner who recently attended 6 recitals in my area and for each recital I took one of my students so that they could see as well as myself what the studio and the students in my area were like. I wanted to try to refresh my senses, get ideas for music, maybe see some unusual choregraphy. Teachers need a lift from time to time to help invigorate their choregraphy. Several of my students walked out of the recitals asking "why do these girls continue to take here when they look so bad and are not progressing? I have taken half of the time they have and I can do way more then they can." I explain it comes down to letting the child come out of the box and see there is more to dance then the studio they taking from. I continually encourage my students to take from other teachers if they get the opportunity. I think it makes a well rounded dancer as well as addes style to their own ability. The six teachers I had in my dance career have made me who I am and no one out there has my kind of dancing. I would rather watch a dancer progress and become an amazing dancer then hold them back because I have to pay my rent. It is my job as a teacher to push my students to their best ability, I don't think I can do that totally without encouraging them to try other styles/people. Dancers are to be adaptable to styles and if you don't let them move around, they will never become adaptable, just stagnet.

I was amazed at the garbage in my area. It does allow me to see that what I do as a teacher is working and that I am not pushing my kids too hard because they look good because I push them to bring out their best. I am just amazed at how many teachers get too wrapped into making their studio a successful business and forget about the importance of why we are teaching dance in first place, to watch children grow and excel and if its possible become amazing dancers with great potential. We all of those dancers that just float and will never be great dancers, but then every studio normally has at least 1-2 dancers that are just amazing, great potential.

How many of you step out of your box and encourage your students to do the same?

I'm always pushing my students to do summer workshops elsewhere, I'm always saying 'go take an open class', 'get out of this small town for awhile!'. I tell them to go to the ballet, to modern dance performances, and, yes, to other schools shows. I try to educate them as to where they reside in the world of dance. I think they get it, I think that they understand that while they are not in the same class as the students in a professional ballet program--and thats ok because they don't want to be professional dancers, but that they're technique and performance level is far above those in the nearby studios.


Last year I went to alot of recitals, but I just started to get so bored and angry with the state of dance in this country. I only went to one recital this year, the main thing that I got out of it was the realization that I'm doing things the right way and that I wanted no part of a different school.

We actually just had a mom who's daughters also take at another studio (fine with us) try and recruit all our boys. My nephew began dance this year and brought a bunch of friends, so this mom invited all of them to the other recital so they would go there. All of them came back to me and said "if I ever say I want to go to this other studio, remind me about that show." I had to laugh at that.

Anyway, I do encourage my students to take elsewhere. I totally agree with my past dance teachers making me who I am today and nobody teaches like me because I had so many teachers. I have more students than ever taking pre-professional camps this summer or going to workshops a couple of hours away. I think that is great!

Are you serious? You go to other people's recitals? Is that just the teachers or the studio owners as well? I've never heard of doing such a thing. How do you even know when their recitals are, if you haven't a child attending that studio?? I would just die if another studio owner came to my recital (not that I have enough students to have one, yet) just because I'm afraid that they'll see the kids mess up and think it's my fault, even if in class they get everything right. Oh wait....that's my concern for everyone in the audience! lol.

Yeah, I'm paranoid. However, two weeks ago, the one minute seventeen second long dance that I have been working on for almost ten months with my bad after school kids (the reason I was glad I started practicing early)? The kids performed it just for me and didn't even get the start right. And then they just stood there. Needless to say they didn't do a performance. Thank god for my dedicated well behaved students!

But this is news to me. I never heard of going to anyone's recital but your own.

I also go to recitals - this season I went to one or two per weekend for 6 weeks!

Its good to see how you stand up against "competition". Our tap is the strongest in the area; our jazz is okay. It certainly gets me revved up for the following year. This year, our major competition proved to really stink in recital, so I was relieved. Maybe people will wise-up, who knows....

How do I know when the shows are? Well, in our case, many families come to us for tap and elsewhere for ballet or jazz. So they invite me.

I'm just a teacher, and no one knows who I am, so I'm fine. I try to leave right at the end and not mill around with others.

I am definately all for expanding a child's exposure and encouraging them to learn from other teachers. I'm not sure that I would want to encourage everyone to take from nearby schools or studios though. It would have to be the right kind of student that would do it in a professional manner. Remember - we are teachers, but we are also doing this for a living. I think that taking them to workshops, local company performances and encouraging them to do the same on their own is great. In Utopia where everything is love and sharing - it might be fine to encourage them all to dance with everyone, but here on planet Earth, we have to make money to eat and live. I strive to give them the diversity within my own studio in order to stay afloat - not send them and their money elsewhere.

BTW - it kind of sounds like you're putting down the other studio's recitals you saw. I don't think that unless you are in the classroom during the year, you can really judge what you see at a Recital. They may be very beginner or uncoordinated and what you saw was their very best. I have several that way and I couldn't be prouder of them!

I see nothing wrong with someone wanting a successful business. They've worked hard and deserve to gain some fruits from their labor. Plus, if the "good" schools no longer worry about the success of the business, they will go out of business. What does this leave? The "bad" schools and hence defeats the whole purpose.

It's a balance, in my opinion. Do I feel that teachers should encourage their students to take from other teachers? Absolutely. But I don't know that encouraging them to go to the neighborhood schools is the way to go... especially if the caliber of dance education is not up to par with what my school is offering. (And as mentioned, there are better options with summer intensives, workshops, ect.) Plus, it is a business decision... why would you want to encourage your customers to go elsewhere? With that said, I also believe that students have the right to attend multiple schools, as long as they are fulfilling all of their obligations with each one. I also think that there are certain situations where I may encourage a student to go elsewhere. If I am offering a very recreational program and I have a student who has dancing as a career in mind, then my program may not offer what he/she is looking for. Or if a student wants to compete and my school doesn't have this. Certainly these may not be the best business decisions, but hopefully it comes back to me in the sense that word gets around that I am a caring and thoughtful teacher in this sense. That I am the start for many successful students... both in my program and others. But I would be weary of encouraging ALL students to take elsewhere... it just doesn't make good business sense.

Although I don't have a problem with attending other shows and have done so, I don't know that I would bring students. For the most part, recitals are a parade of young students just learning about this art form with a few gems sprinkled in. Where I may get ideas or see where my students are comparatively, I don't know what my students would get out of the experience. I think our money/time would be better spent attending professional performances. Rather than seeing "what not to do", one can show them what they can aspire to be. And although in a perfect world, attending other school's show should be a supportive action; it just never turns out that way. Comparisons are made and hostility is created. And this is where alot of the underhanded things starts... from these hostile attitudes. And in a lot of cases, one school is not better than another, it's just different. They are offering different products/services. (But I must admit, that there is crap, too!)

I also want to agree that a show is not necessarily representative of what a school is really teaching. Some work months perfecting their dances and spending tons of money on costuming, scenery, lighting, ect. The outcome is a fantastic show that we may walk away really impressed with! And while the dance education may be satisfactory, it may not as good as the other school who's show looked less impressive, because the dances were not the focus (technique and general dancing skills were) and less money was spent on the show itself. You just can't always tell. Plus, a good teacher can have students who aren't motivated and hence the outcome may not be representative of her work. So, you have to take the show with a grain of salt.

In our community, we all actually leave tickets for the other studios directors and actually give them a call to invite them. We don't always make it to eachothers, but that is how we get invited.....I think that's kinda cool.

Before I was an SO I went to several other dance recitals during the season. It was impossible this year and I am sad. It is a great way to se what is out there.

If you are afraid to have other SO's come to your recital, then I think you might not be happy with the way you are running your business.

There are too many factors here.

I can only go to 1 or 2 because I taught for the ones around here and they all know me. I would feel like I was intruding on their territory if I showed up.

I judge others recitals on this:

Overall smoothness of the show
Personal attention to detail
A warmth within the speeches made
Uniqueness of music and choreography
The ability of dancers to dance alone.

There is nothing I DESPISE more (yes I just shouted) than a class of kids dancing and looking stage left or right at an instructor or assistant when in fact they can do it alone if the teacher only had the cahones to try. That and boring music and choreography are my peeves.

When I compare other shows to mine that is how I base it, because for those of you who know me, I teach technical rec dance. My kids don't advance quickly at all because I only have them once a week. So my dances by NO means look professional, but they are together, smiling, having fun, and connecting with the audience.

If you were to look at my numbers in competitive form, I'd not win, but creativity...I have some of the best.


I have seen some of the most boring dances or better yet a Jazz dance that is labeled Hip hop, etc.

So I tend to not judge on the students ability, but all of the other stuff to form my opinion on other recitals.

I wish I could go to more. I miss being an audience member!!

I have no problems with going to see other studio's recitals, but I think the problem is with what you ^^ just described. You JUDGE. What's the point??? It's really none of your business how another studio's recital is and how it measures up to your standards. If you want to go see one - go and take it for what it is - a show for that studio's family and friends(and I have NO problem with anyone coming to mine), but why create hatred and especially take students along for the criticism?? They're just children on that stage trying to dance for their loved ones!

My take: If you were not in the classroom, you have no right to judge how good or bad a dance studio is based on their recital. I know some of my kids aren't the most advanced in the area, but I also know what they looked like when they came to me and how much they've progressed in the last year. I also know how many years they've been dancing and how many hours they take a week.

I find nothing wrong with going to other recitals, but I wouldn't bring my students. I don't think they'd get what I would get out of it. I ALWAYS find something positive to say about other studios recitals. I never go to critique.

I am enjoying everyone's take on this subject. I agree with most of the comments and I see I am not the only one out there and does what I do as well. I do want to clarify something, I take my students with me because either they have requested to go because they have friends that go there and they want to cheer them on or they have been given the opportunity to come because they used to dance at that particular studio before. I don't take any student to mock others or to cause hardship. My students go to cheer other students on, afterwards my student will approach their friends or even the studio director and tell them thank you for asking them to come as well as "great job." I think its a great opportunity to teach sportsmanship and professionalism. I STRESS to my girls how important it is to be professional, I explain that you may feel like you are on the top but there is always someone out there that is better than you or worse then you.

Wow missfitz2, that is really cool. I wish we had that same collaboration here. Well, we kind of do when we invite other studio to perform in our free to the community fall show, but no one openly invites someone else to their recitals, we just go.

One lady acutally just walked on past the ticket takers at Nutcracker this year with no ticket! I'm sorry, but we pay 25$ for crappy seats at your performance where your 13 year old daughter is the star and blocks my view of the children I came to see!

Ok, sorry to get off topic.

PS I dont care how many times you smile and say that you're just there to suppoert the other studio, I'm not going to believe anyone that says they're not there mentally comparing their studio to the one on stage. It's impossible not to do.
That being said,
I would never voice my opinions(esp negative- positive ok), and despite the shortcomings of some peoples studios, there's always something positive about them: i.e. the kids love Miss Suzie, they have so much fun, it's such a caring environment.

First off...the community where I live, we all invite each other to our shows as well, and whether we can make it or not, that is fine but we are invited and once in a while, if I have time, I attend. I would rather spend my time on workshops for teachers/owners to leanr more about the new styles and stuff to make my studio stronger! Who cares about the other studios around you, you need to focus on you and yours! I can't belive that you would come on here and rag about another studios recital and rant about how good you are? Thats pathetic in my opinion. We as teachers work really hard and every studio is different. Some focus on hard core traning and have the best dancers in town and others have a more recreational environment and the kids stay at that studio obviously because they LOVE where they take dance, or they LOVE their teacher or their friends. What kind of an example are you setting for your dancers? Well, obviously not good sportmanship! My dancers were awarded BEST SPORTSMANSHIP this year, because the judges saw them saying good job to everyone going off stage, because they said thank you everytime they won a trophy and because nomatter who won what, they said good job...now thats something to be proud of, thats something worth bragging about. Your unbelievable???

Of course I judge!!

Judging is not badmouthing, slandering, ridiculing or the like.

Judging is something as humans we do daily. We judge our kids friends so they are with a good crowd, the leotard the girl next to us is wearing to see if it'd be flatttering on us or not, movie stars and music as to whether we will support their antics and beliefs or not.

Judging is a very important and vital part of life.

If I did not judge my former bosses or dances I've seen I would not have any originality or firm beliefs in the way I do things.

By judging other recitals it makes a Studio Owner pick and choose what he/she wants for their business to make it a success.

Bad choices by other only help us to make better ones ourselves.

Heck, if I didn't judge the player in highschool, I could have syphillis righht now-haha! Even though he was very nice and super hot!

I don't think the matter lies in judging... I can go to someone's show and judge that it is AWESOME! I think the problem is when you enter ready to find fault. When you can't admit that that piece was cute. Or despite some obvious technical errors, that that class has a lot of showmanship. Or that school is JUST recreational/competitive/professional, so no good can come from it. Ect. If you go into anything only looking for the faults, than that's what you'll find.

I think it's fine to "judge" things mentally (good, bad, or something in between). We can learn from others' mistakes and successes. However, I've always found it best to listen to my mom... if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all! There's no need to tell my students what's wrong with other schools or say anything negative to anyone (even if it's true). It will only come back to bite you.

I had another studio steal choreography and I heard of another studio who attended my last performance and I don't like it, not because I am afraid of what they think of me but because we work so hard and have the best reputation and then it seems like everyone around us is taking our ideas. Please do not go to your local studio's recitals if you are not invited, get your ideas from competitions and conventions and go take classes in your local city with professional companies to see what's out there.

I see nothing wrong with going to other studios' recitals, and before I moved, I did it all the time. Now I will go once in a while if I have the time. I always went in open-minded, and always had positive things to say about them (even if I had negative things in my mind--they didn't come out). I always tried to sneak out and not mingle after the performances, like another poster said, and I always tried to be as inconspicuous as possible, even if I know someone in the performance. I will tell them later how well they did. If I know the SO or a teacher, I may pop by to give my congratulations, then head for the door, as I think its important to show support for others in the field.

Why must everything be seen as competitive or playing dirty? I am sorry, Dance327, that you have had such negative experiences, but not all teachers/SOs who attend others' recitals are out to steal from them.

I get what you're saying about being well rounded, I'll give you that. But at the same time, I find it sort of hard to believe that you say, to your students who ask why they are much better than students at other studios, "I explain it comes down to letting the child come out of the box and see there is more to dance then the studio they taking from." And then you sit here and actually call the other studios garbage and that they are only in it for the money. In all honesty, I don't think it only comes down to "letting the child come out of the box", it has to do with natural ability, how hard they work at things, etc.

I am just amazed at how many teachers get too wrapped into making their studio a successful business

If you aren't "wrapped up" in making your studio a successful business then, other than paying rent, why would you even charge any of your students for classes, or at least charge the minimum amount to cover your rent/utilities. I honestly have to say, in my own opinion, that anyone who opens a studio and claims they are absolutely not in it for the money isn't being honest with themselves. If I opened a studio, of course it would be to see my dancers happy and enjoying themselves and becoming the best they can be, but I'd be silly to say I wasn't in it for the potential money as a business owner. Just my 2 cents.

I actually do find it a little strange that you bring students to their friends recitals. Why aren't they going with their parents, or their friends' parents?

Jeannie1 asks:

I actually do find it a little strange that you bring students to their friends recitals. Why aren't they going with their parents, or their friends' parents?[/q]

The students and myself are attending these recitals because we have been invited in some way. It maybe because we know the director, know the girls involved, or even have some of our own studio members in the recital of a different studio. Most parents figure, if I am going, they ask if the child can come along with me or we all go together (carpool). Most parents prefer not to attend. The girls and myself like to support the other studios, especially if some of our own students are there.(And yes as a different post mentioned: we also have received three sportsmanships awards because the girls have always appreciated every dancer and their style/abilty of dancing.) It is very amazing to me to see the difference in performance levels of your own students in different studio recitals. For example: You may have one student that takes tap and jazz from you. When she performs she smiles, looks like she is having a blast with lots of energy and it looks like a well rehearsed routine. The same student at another studio where she takes jazz and tap: Never smiles, looks down, doesn't know the routine, and just doesn't look as confident. It amazes me at the day and night difference in the dancer. Performances change from routine to routine but students normally are easy to read from routine to routine. But its not that simply. Very Interesting!!

Again, the comments are great!! I appreciate everyone's point of view, it brings a lot of new light into this subject. Its great to be able to bounce this around.

For example: You may have one student that takes tap and jazz from you. When she performs she smiles, looks like she is having a blast with lots of energy and it looks like a well rehearsed routine. The same student at another studio where she takes jazz and tap: Never smiles, looks down, doesn't know the routine, and just doesn't look as confident. It amazes me at the day and night difference in the dancer.

But at the same time, it may have absolutely nothing to do with the other studio. It has everything to do with ability. I have students who in all honesty are just not going to become as great of dancers as some of the others in their same exact class, based on the fact that dancing just doesn't come as naturally to them as it may come to the others. It's the same way with sports - you can have a kid on the team that is the best baseball, soccer, softball or football player and on the exact same team have a kid who is completely horrible at the sport but is having a fabulous time. It has nothing to do with the coach or the team he/she is on, it has to do with just either having the ability to do well or not.

However, I will say this: I have to completely commend you on taking criticism so insanely well! I have to admit I'm beyond impressed by your ability to do that. Most of the people who post on this site would have read my comment and bit my head clear off and fought every single word I said. I gotta tell ya, that's a pretty awesome trait to have.

I agree with Jeannie1 about the business side of studio owning. As SO's we need to think about making $$ or else these students will not have our studios to dance in. That comment rubbed me the wrong way, but I didn't want to comment until someone else had, I don't care to stir up and conflicts on here.

My students are very important to me and I really do care about there dance education, however I too have a family and everyone else is making money at their job, why not me? I do not feel guilty at all for wanting to be a profitable business.

You make an excellent point DaDancingPsych. My hometown dance studio focused almost completely on our recital. From the time we stepped into the studio at the beginning of the season (I'm talking very first class) we were learning choreography for the show. Our classes consisted of a short warm-up and then choreography. This is a studio that spent LOTS of money on elaborate costumes, props, and decorations. Obviously, recitals went well. Students had the dances down (we were drilled on performance/stage presence) and the show was entertaining. Every year people raved about what a great show it was and what a great dance studio we had in town. So many people were surprised when my sister and I started taking classes in a neighborhood studio as well beginning in our middle school years. What people didn't understand was that we weren't getting what we wanted from the studio: technique training. We continued to take from both studios throughout the rest of our high school careers. During our senior year at the original studio, it was decided during the last half of the season that more dances were going to be put into the show. For about three months our classes were 20 minutes long, consisting of nothing but running our dances and adding on, just so we could have more time to learn yet another piece for the show! It was ridiculous! I'm not completely putting down my hometown dance studio. I do feel like I learned a lot from my instructor, like performance qualities. However, I did not get good quality technique training until I started taking classes elsewhere. People assumed that because the show was good, the actual dance education was good too, which was not completely the case. The not-so-great technique was masked by flashy decor and costumes, but other dance professionals who came to the show could see right through it. Taking classes at an additional studio was the best decision for me.

^ That happens so many places^.
The sad thing is that not all that many students are looking to spend much time in technique class, getting better. I have a technique class and am disgusted with all the compeition kids that skip it in favor of coming to the class where they will be running their dance the whole time.
That a studio can at least offer it to students who wish they were getting more well-rounded training is important. I would be so pleased if more of my students thought like you.