We have giggities in this house — that’s our word for extreme hyperness and/or happiness about something. Atticus auditioned for and made the new studio he’s had his eye on for a long time! So I thought now would be a good time to compare and contrast some elements of our old studio experience with this new one.
🎟️ The audition process
Both studios run the same basic week — come in, learn a pile of choreography, then dance like your life depends on it. The difference is what happens after. Our old studio auditioned kids as numbers and released placements as numbers, so every family had to call around to figure out which number went with which dancer, which created a whole lot of unnecessary confusion and drama
They also held auditions before everyone else in the area and gave you a few days to commit or quit, so you never got the college approach of trying out a few places and then choosing
👦 Being the only male in the building
For most of five years Atticus was the only boy his age there. I’ve told you before about dressing room debacles and the parents who couldn’t seem to remember that there are boys at our studio. At this new studio there are other males…what a concept!
💸 What it actually costs
We were dropping close to a grand a month at the old place, and we’d still get the weekend SOS to come paint sets, bolt things together, and run stage crew. We always said yes, because saying no felt like a crime
I kept quietly wondering why a studio pulling in that kind of money couldn’t hire a few pros and hand the parents back a weekend. I also compare the place to Pluribus at one point, so brace yourself
😮💨 Drama, nerves, and shoulder height
I’m not claiming the new studio is drama-free, because I’m fairly sure the dictionary definition of dance is just the word drama. But Atticus used to go quiet and tense on every car ride to the old studio, then decompress on the ride home like he’d been holding his breath
Now he waves goodbye to everyone on the way out and gets in the car smiling. He describes the new place as somewhere they want you to work hard and take it seriously, but it’s okay to stumble
If you’re shopping for a studio for the first time, or you’re quietly wondering whether you’ve outgrown the one you’re in, I hope this gives you a few things to chew on. If you’ve been somewhere a long time it is absolutely a rip-the-Band-Aid-off situation to leave, but there are other great environments out there if you go looking.
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