Leaving Your Dance Studio Part 1
Updated: Aug 1, 2020
Should you Switch Dance Studios?!
How do you know if the studio you are at no longer offers you want or need? It’s a big choice. If you’ve danced at the same studio your whole life, built friendships, respect and love your teachers, and understand that they played a huge role in getting you were you are…it can be almost debilitating to decide to take your training somewhere else.
This topic is going to be covered in different parts, as there are a lot of steps to go through when making this decision. This blog doesn’t cover EVERY scenario, or all things to consider, however, if you don’t know where to start, and feel yourself being drawn to change, or maybe your child in unhappy, or you think you’ve received everything you could from your current studio…this might be a great place to start.
Dancers, here are some questions to consider before you make your decision:
(Parents, if your child isn’t old enough to go through these questions on their own, pull out the ones that you can help them with)
Map out your goals in the dance world – These are big picture goals!
- Do you want to be a Rockette?
- Do you want to be a commercial industry dancer?
- Do you want to specialize in a specific style like Horton?
- Do you want to dance a for a ballet company? A contemporary company?
- Do you want to dance in the NFL?
- (there are a ton more options here!)
Next, decide what training and skills you still need to develop in order to pursue these goals
Then Ask these questions:
- Does the studio you are at offer you the opportunity to develop these?
- Have you shared your goals and what you want to work on with your teachers?
- Have you asked your teachers to provide you with additional resources (outside their studio) that can help you achieve these goals? I.E. Summer intensives, camp, workshops, mentorship programs, books, videos, at home trainings (again- outside of their studio!)
Maybe consider staying with your studio and continuing to ask your educators and leaders the questions above so that you can keep growing and challenging yourself if they have offered you solutions and options to help you reach your goals!
Sometimes, studios are not able to help us with these goals – Some studios have very small staff numbers, or even underqualified teachers; parents and dancers it is your job to decide if the people you are learning from have the means to offer you what you need. If they do not, it’s NOT PERSONAL. Some people and places are just in our life for a window of time to help us get to the next chapter. Studios can be stepping stones! Take what you can get from them, and give back to them in every way you can then take the leap to your next adventure!
Ready to make the switch? – Read here for some basic “Do’s” & “Don’ts” of leaving a studio.