Dance Principals United: Dance Studio Growth & Marketing Podcast · Amanda Barr & Rebecca Liu-Brennan: Dance Studio Coaches & Growth Experts

The Truth About Dance Comp Teams: What's Working (and What's Not) In Your Studio

·34 min

Amanda Barr and Rebecca Lou Brennan, experienced studio owners and hosts of Dance Principals United, tackle the complex realities of structuring competitive dance teams. They explore the shifting landscape of dance competitions, where increasing technical demands and training hours create a challenging environment for studio owners. The hosts share their contrasting historical approaches: Rebecca used invitation-only teams with high minimum class requirements, while Amanda allowed any interested student to join competitive troupes. Amanda describes her studio's massive enrollment, with 82 children in the "six and under" competitive category alone. She explains her recent pivot from an open model to creating separate "Tribe" and "Company" teams to address a widening skill gap among students. Rebecca discusses her past use of a "Performance Team" as a developmental stepping stone, which required attending different competitions to avoid direct comparison with her elite teams. A key challenge both identify is the near-impossibility of finding "easier" competitions, as the overall competitive standard has risen dramatically. One surprising insight is Amanda's admission that her studio ego made it difficult to showcase her "B-level" teams at competitions. She reveals that 140 students enrolled in solos this year, highlighting an intense focus on individual training. The hosts note that parental expectations, not student enjoyment, often drive dissatisfaction when children are placed in developmental teams. Amanda shares a nuanced strategy for handling a disappointed parent, involving a private meeting and a tailored plan with extra coaching, rather than a simple rejection. They emphasize that a child's early potential can be misleading, sharing stories of dancers who started in the back row but later achieved significant success. Amanda's studio leverages "FOMO" through a class app where teachers daily post content, naturally encouraging students to take more classes without strict mandates. The conversation underscores that technical ballet training remains critical for professional auditions, even for commercial musicals like *The Lion King*. The tone is conversational, candid, and reflective, blending personal anecdotes with practical business advice. This episode is ideal for dance studio owners grappling with team structuring, auditions, and managing parent expectations in a hyper-competitive environment. Listeners seeking a definitive, one-size-fits-all solution might find the hosts' adaptable and evolving approaches less satisfying.

As heard by us

A candid look at how comp team rules shift when the studio outgrows the old system.

This episode looks at how dance studios adjust competition teams when the mix of dancers changes. Amanda and Rebecca talk through age bands, technical differences, and the point where a setup that once worked starts to need a reset, all through the lens of their own studio…

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Why you'd press play

When your comp-team rules stop matching the size of your studio.

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