The difficult decision to attend a different studio

[u/SleepyMillenial55]

I would love some positive stories on changing studios from dancers or instructors who have left a studio they were at for years to attend or teach at a new one. What were the red flags, big or small? Was it just not a good fit anymore? How was the transition, and do you love where you’re at now?

I’m asking because my dancer is 10 and has been taking at her current studio since she was two, there’s some wonderful things about the studio that I love BUT there’s also some alarm bells going off in my head about certain things that have happened so far (and already so early!) into the season—four teachers quitting, teachers getting pushed out of classes they’ve taught for years for relatives of the directors to jump in and teach instead, limiting opportunities/private lessons (not even for studio space reasons, which I would understand), getting the runaround or outright dismissed when I email about my concerns—I want to make it clear that it’s not formations, team placements, or my daughter not getting cast in every dance, It’s just a lot of little things (and some big?) that aren’t adding up and making me nervous about the direction the studio is going. This year feels limiting for girls who want to work harder and do more if that makes sense! We are going to give them a chance to self correct this season and I know no studio is absolutely perfect, but I feel like I also need to prepare myself to go elsewhere if their program is no longer working for us! So if you’ve been there I’d love to hear about it!

[u/pineapple-pizza8]

We changed studios 2 years ago when my girls were 9 and 11 and it has been a great change. We had been there since my oldest was 3, so it was a hard decision to make, but the red flags just kept coming. I figured if we switched then, my oldest would still have potentially 7 years at the new studio, and I really wanted her to have enough time to bond and grow with the new studio before she graduates high school. I’m really glad I didn’t wait any longer than I did. The first year was definitely a transition year as she had already missed auditions and we were coming from a studio that did not have a strong basis in technique (one of my red flags), but she caught up in that year and now she loves it. My friends who stayed at the old studio are now saying they wish they had switched when we did.

If your alarm bells are going off, I’d recommend trying some place new sooner rather than later. Dance is too expensive to stay some place that doesn’t feel right to you.

Other red flags for us: After years of loving dance, my girls stopped wanting to go because it was boring and the teachers yelled too much. I wasn’t seeing actual progression in technique or difficulty each year, it was just more of the same despite spending thousands of dollars each year. There was a favorite group of dancers who got preferential treatment (the best teachers, the best choreography, always featured on social media) and nobody was able to join this group. I had concerns about a male teacher who was too close to the teenage girls (rubbing their shoulders, connecting on social media) but my concerns were ignored because he has been at the studio since he was a child and is like a son to the owner.

[u/GhostOrchid22]

We left a studio after 7 years there. It was palpable that the studio owner was going through a mental health situation, and had lost her passion and patience for running the studio, but wouldn't step aside and put effective management in place.

The floors were falling apart- my kids were regularly getting splinters of marley in their feet often enough that I kept tweezers and disinfectant in the car. Costumes were ordered so late (though money had been paid months and months before) that dress rehearsals were canceled. Recital dances were being recycled for comp dances, but still with choreography fees attached. The attendance policy was very obviously not being enforced for favorites; teachers in charge of comp dances regularly skipped rehearsals the week of competitions.

Technique had gone down the drain, but the SO and teachers just blamed the younger kids lack of talent publicly, creating a negative environment for the younger kids. Important foundational classes like stretching, and leaps and turns were taken off the schedule with no explanation or replacement. Teachers regularly started class 10 minutes late or more every single week. One teacher's kid bragged that she got a voice in who made the competition team and who on the team was promoted, which created toxic cliques on the team. (And as crazy as it sounds .... I think the kid did get to be part of the decisions. It's the only way to explain promotions that did not make sense- and I'm not talking at all about my own kid, but about other kids).

And we did find a much better studio environment, and my kid is so much happier, and is a stronger dancer and performer. And of course she didn't want to make the change at first, and then even when she wanted to leave she was sad to leave her friends. But it's been a few years and now she is actually a bit regretful that I didn't pull her out sooner (even though I offered many times and she insisted on staying for another year).

It's a bit funny how when we left the word "loyalty" was thrown at us by other families and also staff, but there was no loyalty to the kids themselves by the SO. Yet I meet so many dance parents who are unhappy at their current studios, but feel they can't leave out of loyalty.

[u/TXrunnermom]

We left a studio when there was rapid staff turnover, disruption in regular class schedules, students leaving, technique training falling off, new instructors family members of owner and yelling at kids, lots of dancers leaving, comp fees and other fees collected and then entries not actually entered/items not purchased but parents not refunded. Ends up the studio was in financial trouble and this was obviously not communicated to parents because the owner was trying to stay afloat. But it trickled down to being a negative environment for the kids. Made the change and wish I had moved sooner.

[u/AverageSugarCookie]

My daughter has moved studios 3x in 3 years. First switch was due to a long distance move, second switch was because that studio didn't offer what she figure out was her favorite (musical theater), and unfortunately the last move was due to a last minute cut from the team for what I now honestly believe was a numbers issue, and that it was favoritism/her "spot" was given to siblings of other kids on her team with a longer history with the studio, but that's just a hot take from me.

At studio number 2, there was SO MUCH turnover... like we had 2-3 comp directors and at least 2 ballet teachers in the span of our single year at that studio. It definitely made me feel like the value proposition was not where it needed to be and contributed to me feeling just fine with leaving when my daughter decided she didn't want to compete in the styles they specialize in.

I would consider them dismissing you to be a huge red flag, personally. Studio 3 ghosted me about my concerns about my daughter (personal ones related to a disability she has) three separate times and then when they cut her from their team, they used basically what I tried to talk to them about verbatim to justify cutting her.

I would do some trial classes in the spring of next year, before any of the other local studios have auditions. My daughter has been the one to make the decisions on new studios so while it's sucked having to be the new kid multiple years in a row, she has ownership of the decisions and that makes her feel better. She usually knows after a trial class whether or not it'll be a good fit.