dance moms, it's that time again...

[Rock'n Robin]

We had our open house at the studio last night. Luckily 3 pair of shoes still fit (each girl is in 3 classes) so I only had to buy 3 pair, tap for each girl and jazz for DD#2. The shoes were $87.50! And tuition for Sept. was $98, so my check was for $185.50!!! Now it's only tuition until November when costume $$ is due--last year DD#1 did 3 dances and DD#2 did 2 dances for a total of $250--but I can take $50 off from my registration fee last spring. Whew!
I tend to forget about this expense in summer, but figure in another $90 for preschool and no wonder I've had a small cushion in my checkbook!!
Robin M.

 

[glo]

Yikes!!!

Our classes all start after Labor day...so I still have a little longer before the expenses again...

 

[aahmom1]

I'm going to sign my DD up today. She's taking ballet and tap, she wanted to take jazz too but she made the gymnastics pre-team yesterday and with that and the 2 dance classes she'll be a busy little bee.

 

[Nancy]

Hi to all the other dancemoms!!! My 2 older girls dance competitively and take a total of 81/2 hours per week. Luckily they are in the same class so it's not too much drive time. Youngest DD dances 6 hours per week, usually the same nights her sisters dance. Not all the classes have costumes because some are just technique classes. But it is 5 costumes a piece! tuition per month isn't bad because we are maxed out and pay one rate no matter how many classes they take. My 12 year old also is an assisstant in some classes so that also takes money off tuition. Our classes won't start until the end of September so I have a few more weeks to start saving some money for all the shoes and dance wear. The 2 older girls just had 3 hours of try-outs to stay on the team they were dancing for last year...hopefully they will continue to be on it.

 

[sandramaac]

I have two dd's, one 13 and one 9. Both take 8 classes per week each and then they are also in the dance company. We are also maxed ou ton the the number of classes and last year paid a flat rate of $200 per month. Now between the two of them they were in 18 dances for the recital--my costume bill was (gulp--ready for this) $985!!!

I wish these schoold would start a wardrobe and re-use the costumes. It is such a waste. But many (ok most including ours) studios up the price of the costumes by 10, 15 even 20 dollars. So costumes are a huge profit for them.

 

[phins_jazy]

Ok, y'all are starting to scare me. DD is 3 and we just enrolled her in her very first gymnastics class. $48 for 15 weeks, one class a week. She starts next Tuesday. $985 ...... is this what I have to look forward to if she wants dance classes too???!?!?!?

 

[Ricola]

Congratulations to all you dance moms and your little dancers! Starting a new year is an exciting time, although an expensive one. Good luck to those going through tryouts.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

PHins Jazy, it gets more expensive the more dances you do. Since each of my girls take jazz, lyrical and tap, they each need 3 pair of shoes. Some girls do much more--take all the classes, possibly add ballet and/or hip/hop, or take semi-private or private classes. I think the max I saw one girl in last year was 9 numbers, but her mom is one of the teachers so she probably got a break!
My DD#1 is begging to do hip-hop but DH says enough is enough (she also does soccer, piano and karate and gets As and a few Bs), plus the class is 8:15-9:00 and we would not get home until 9:20 on a school night--and most weeks I'd have DD#2 and DS with me as DH works late a lot. She may be the only girl in her dance company that does not take any extra classes--most take at least ballet, hip-hop or gymnastics on the side. The teachers have never said it will keep her out of company when she is older so I don't care--hopefully she'll pick up enough in jazz to get her by.
The little girls in our studio start with combination classes--tap and ballet with a little gymnastics. They buy tap shoes, but you can get ballet shoes at Payless and it's OK--and they do ballet OR tap at the recital so they only need one costume. The little ones are the absolute cutest!
Robin M.

 

[Nancy]

I'm lucky, my studio doesn't raise the price on the costumes...they are still very expensive though. They can range anywhere from 45.00 and up. The higher level of dance you do the more expensive the costume because they get very fancy. I'm a costume Mom, I do a lot of the sewing to fix them up a bit...adding tons of seqiuns and trim and rhinestones. My June my bedroom looks like a sea of multi-colored sparkles! This year we'll have 23 hours of dance per week for all 3 kids. Max cost per month is 190.00...I should pay about 150.00 because of my DD's assisting classes. (we get 12.00 off for each class she helps with) They have to take tap, ballet, jazz, acro and this year they have to take hip-hop. They also have technique classes and stretch classes. Luckily they do no other activities so I won't run into conflicts.