Basic studio dance is not cutthroat. Competition and professional dance is another level. That’s where dance moms get their (deserved and adored) reputation.

Anonymous wrote:I’m a ballet mom and haven’t had any bad mom experiences, mostly because the school pretty much cuts off access - I can’t view my teen when she is in class, we aren’t allowed backstage for professional performances, moms have pretty much zero influence on casting etc. The girls themselves become competitive with each other during audition season, and there is a lot of stress about performance and teacher feedback, but the moms are pretty much a non factor at least for me. IMO it’s more cold/standoffish than anything. Ballet and the competition/group dance world are two different realms of course.

Don’t kid yourself though, there is as much money sunk into the dance world as the travel sports world (I have kids in both).

Agree with all of this. We are also a ballet family and don't do competition dance, though if DD continues with it we might investigate the Grand Prix system -- not sure if the potential for scholarships would be worth the expense, but it could be a good experience if she wants to pursue dance at a higher level. We're not there yet, though she takes it very seriously at the moment.

But yes to the description of cold/standoffish, and largely because the activity just doesn't encourage much interaction among families. When we were at a small neighborhood studio there was a bit more family interaction -- I'd volunteer for the annual recital and there would be "family studio days" where families could come and observe class and we'd meet some of the other parents. But once you are at a pre-professional studio, there is less of that and people just kind of stick to their own bubbles. I think also there is less of a relationship between neighborhoods/schools and ballet. We don't know any other families from our school or neighborhood who do ballet where we do or at the same level at another studio. So it just doesn't lend itself to as much interaction among families. We only ever see them during pick-up or at performances.

I’m a ballet mom and haven’t had any bad mom experiences, mostly because the school pretty much cuts off access - I can’t view my teen when she is in class, we aren’t allowed backstage for professional performances, moms have pretty much zero influence on casting etc. The girls themselves become competitive with each other during audition season, and there is a lot of stress about performance and teacher feedback, but the moms are pretty much a non factor at least for me. IMO it’s more cold/standoffish than anything. Ballet and the competition/group dance world are two different realms of course.

Don’t kid yourself though, there is as much money sunk into the dance world as the travel sports world (I have kids in both).

I always thought dance and theater attracted the catty and gossipy types. Intense and competitive? No more so than any other art or sport. Travel sports has the most intense and competitive parents because they sink soooooo much money into it.

I've heard dance moms are the most intense of all the competitive parents. Is this true?