Dance costume costs

[lilys.mom]

MY DD 4 is in her second year of ballet. Her costume was $80 with tights. We pay $40 a month to take the class. Then we have a recital fee and have to buy tickets to the recital. Not to mention if we want to buy the dvd and flowers to give to her. I feel like her costume last year was of good quality. Havent seen this year's in person yet. They measure the kids to make sure they get the best fit.


This is last years

 

[princessmom29]

My DD7 is still in child sizes, and her custoumes run about $50 each. The older gils run closer to $70. Our studion DOES NOT take a cut of costume money, but I know of many that do. Our director works hard to select quality costumes that are affordable, and believe me that is not easy. Many customes run $150 or more for a single costume. Our director will just find a more affordable option, but some don't care and will just pass the cost on to parents.They even divide the shipping up by how many costumes are ordered and charge only what is needed to cover it. We pay a deposit of $30 per costume in November, and will get balance sheets this week. The rest is due by the end of Jan. Costumes start getting here in early March. DD has 5 this year, so we paid $150 deposit, and I expect close to $200 in balance, tax, and shipping tonight!

ETA: I pay $96 a month for 4 hours of classes. DD takes a one hour hip hop, one hour tumbling, and two hour ballet/tap/jazz combo.

 

[princessmom29]

My DD's costume was $40. We just received them tonight and they seem to be of an ok quality. She will wear it for the dress rehersal, recital and a festival that they will dance in (and perhaps a corresponding parade with the festival). Her teacher came out tonight and told us that when they received the costumes they had a headpiece with it and she was very unhappy with the quality and look of the headpiece so she is having a local "bow lady" make them a headpiece with a bow and that the studio will absorb the cost. I believe the recital costs $10/pp. The cost of her lessons are $20 every session with a session being 4 weeks. If you pay for the full year, you get a one session discount so that's what we did. There was also talk that we would need a tap outfit and it sounded like white tights and a black or pink leotard. But there's been nothing official with that yet.

I'm patiently waiting for Payless to have BOGO 1/2 off so that I can go get her some new ballet and tap shoes. Her feet have been growing like crazy and we're pushing our limits in our current shoes. Then I'll be taking her current shoes to OUAC to re-coup some money

Not trying to be pushy or critical, just more of an FYI, but having danced for 14 years myself, and haivng a DD in her 4th year, I HATE the payless shoes. It is not a huge deal when they are small, but as they get older the stiffer leather is really bad for thier arch development, and can cause difficulties turning. They will really need a split sole ballet shoe with a supple leather that molds to the foot by the time they are learning to turn. Have you looked at websites like discountdance.com? I get DD's capezio shoes for less than what the payless shoes are and the quality is SOOOO much better!

 

[princessmom29]

I posted something similiar to this last year about dance. I went into it thinking it was inexpensive (class was $47 a month and gymnastics was almost $100). It's NOT inexpensive at all. Our recital tix were $26 each but our recital is at a very nice venue. Now the class is up to $52 a month this year, not sure how much tix will be this year.

There are thousands of costumes on ebay....the ones you get from the catalogs (Art Stone, etc.) and they are like $20-$40 max...so the markup is pretty big on these things.

I help place the orders for our studio, and I KNOW this is NOT the case. The "new" ones going for that on ebay are the defectives that get sold off as seconds. Sometimes you cannot find the imperfections, sometimes they are glaring. It is kinda like bigt lots, you are taking achance. Art Stone is actually one of the more expensive lines. $60 for toddler stuff. WE use Kelle, A Wish Come True, Wiesmann, ect and they run anywhere from $45- $70 fo rthe tings we buy. This is the price the studio pays for the costumes. No mark up.

 

[jcemom]

DD8 needed six costumes this year -- ballet, tap, jazz, acro, solo and finale. They cost $35 (t-shirt & booty shorts for finale), $65 (dress I bought secondhand, bloomers I needed to have made, leotard for solo), and $70-75 (jazz, ballet and tap were all in this range, with all accessories except earrings included). There's a particular style of earrings that they use for most classes, and we bought those last year so we already had them (I think they were $15). That didn't include tights, but I only needed to buy two pairs this year.

So, including tights, about $340 for six classes. The deposit is $50 per costume, due in October, with the balance due in January.

There was a special dance clinic with some guy named Michael Taylor, who everyone seemed excited to learn from (I'd never heard of him). That was $40 per class and DD only took one.

To put photos in the book costs $160 per page. There isn't any discount for multiple pages, but you can do half pages or quarter pages. While we aren't required to purchase individual pages, we do have a group fee of $20 per class to cover the class photos (finale not included). So, for us this year it was $80 in group fees, plus her individual pages. Of course, we also get the option to buy photos and photo packages at exorbitant prices. I think I spent $160 on pictures.

Recital tickets are $10 each, and everyone needs a ticket except students. Hers is spread out over two days, but there are different numbers each day, with no repeats except for the opening number and the finale.

Each student gets a book for free (those ones we pay a fortune to put their pictures in, lol), and I think they cost $8 or $10 for extra copies if anyone else wants one (we've never bought an extra one so I'm not sure about the price).

This year her studio attended three competitions, but the first two were for solos and duos only, and they were optional. DD went to the second one, with a registration fee of $95. The third one included classes as well, so she had her solo plus two of her classes that time, and registration was $160 total (but we had to spend two nights due to distance from home and the times she was scheduled to perform, so I also had to pay for hotel and meals).

Costumes $340
Clinic $40
Photos $160
Book Fees $400
Recital Tix $80
Competition Fees $255

Not including tuition, shoes, leotards and tights used throughout the year, teacher gifts, travel expenses for competition, and makeup...EEK!

Tuition $1200
Shoes, Leos, etc. $100
Teacher Gifts $75
Travel Expenses $450
Summer Classes $200
Makeup and stuff like that $25
Recital DVD $60

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but I'm coming up with approximately $3385 for one year of dance.

I won't be showing this to DH.

 

[princessmom29]

Dance is expensive, isn't it? Our studio doesn't do competitions (around here the studios that do well are like the 7 year old "single ladies" of youtube fame) so we don't have those expenses, but here is my running total:
Recital
Costumes- $300
Recital tights- $35
Program ad (otional)- $150
Pictures(optional)- $150
Flowers- $40
Makeup-$25

Year round:
Tuition- $900
Summer dance-$150
Shoes-$200
Leos ect- $100
So close to $2000 for a year of dance for my 7 year old. I think it is well worth it however. She LOVES to dance, has great friends at the studio, and it is a really positive, structured environment for her. She is not only learning dance, but what discipline, foucs, and commitment are all about.

 

[ceecee]

We spend around $50-75 per costume and they are good quality.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

As far as I know none of the dance studios we have used are taking a "cut" of costume sales.

It does stink--but I have just given up. Except for where we were at a studio specifically for dance team, recitals have always been optional for us. So I figure, I am well aware of the expense going in and make our recital decision accordingly.

We are in a new studio. I paid a costume deposit and a costume balance. I truthfully have no idea what my total was. I should have kept the receipts, but didn't. I *think* it was in the vicinity of $300-$400. It was something like a $70 deposit per child and in the $200s on the remaining balance. Plus the recital fee, which was around $90.

Our most expensive dance costume was a custom made one for our dance team. And it was horrendously constructed. We were all quite livid. EVERYONE's costume required much repair from show to show. The problem was the fabric that was used. It was not a fabric designed to hold the stitching required in a dance costume. Looked pretty--but a huge pain. I think the biggest cost factor was the rhinestones on it. Oy!

My one daughter wants to eliminate dance in favor of gymnastics. I will probably keep her in ballet as it helps with gymnastics. But she may not do recital. The other daughter is still into dance. We will see how it goes.

 

[Kat&Dom]

My son was in Tap last year and his costume was $50 which was the same price for the girls. His tap shoes cost $40, his 8 week half hour class was $85, recital tickets were $15 each and he had 2 nights of recital. Pictures were $40 and DVD from dance recital was $30. Total cost for his 8 week Tap was $305 but he loved it and I loved watching him. Him being in dance = priceless.

Now, this fall, he decided that he wanted to be in hockey. 6 months of hockey $25 (ice time for his age is sponsored or it would have been $250) - second hand hockey equipment $60, new equipment to supplement the second hand $30 so total of $115 for 6 months of 1 hour hockey practices and games. This next year, it will probably be closer to $400 with registration fees, new skates and a few new pieces to supplement what he already has.

I think that any activity that you put your child in pays off in so many ways - higher self esteem, learning team work, responsibility, commitment, etc. It is worth every penny to keep your child in an activity that they love and enjoy so that they don't end up getting into trouble!

 

[sk!mom]

Dance is expensive, isn't it?

Yes, it is and it can get more and more expensive if your child falls in love with it. My DD14 started out at a studio like most have mentioned. Weekly classes and one big recital in the Spring with costume and recital fees. At 7, she auditioned for and performed in The Nutcracker and fell in love with classical ballet. We switched to the local city ballet for classes.

The upside is very professional training and no costume fees. This year's season was a Fall Jazz production, The Nutcracker, and The Spring Contemporary show is coming up. DD was in all and we paid no costume or production fees. We just provide tights and shoes for productions. We do pay for tickets to every show and volunteer many hours as the studio is non-profit. We don't have to volunteer, we choose to. DD has the opportunity to dance with guest professionals from all over the country.

We pay $170 per month for 5 days a week of classes. Rehearsals are in the evenings and Saturdays- never during classes.

Pointe shoes run $98 every 4-6 weeks. DD tries to make them last with the liberal use of jet glue. Leotards, tights, flat shoes all must be purchased, as well.

Tickets are around $200 for each production.

DD's 5 week Summer Intensive is out of state so will cost $5,000-$5500 with travel, extras, spending money. Local 2 week Intensive with guest instructors will run another $300.

Honestly, if anyone had told me back when we were spending a couple of hundred for recital that this was where it would lead I wouldn't have believed them. I never danced so this is a new world to me.

 

[sskem96]

Our studio sells the costumes at cost. The most expensive one this year is $63 and it includes red sparkly Converse tennis shoes (for the cheer class), so I guess that's not too bad. Our total was $153 for 3 costumes. We pay $125/mo for tuition. DD11 takes tap and gymnastics, and DD14 takes 2 gymnastics classes and cheer. There is no recital fee, but we do have to buy tickets to cover rental of the auditorium. They don't sell a DVD of the recital, so they allow each person to video on their own for free. Buying pictures is optional, but they do request that all the kids participate so everyone is in the group pictures. I thought we were spending a fortune on dance, but after reading this thread I guess we have it pretty good!

 

[jsmla]

It's been five years but DD's competition costumes ran between $250-$500 each if I did the stoning. Those were custom and she usually had three-group jazz, group lyrical and solo. We did some sharing and resales on solo costumes but group was new each year. If they did a large group lyrical those came from the catalogs. She normally had four or five cheaper ones for the recital.


That was for her competition studio. Ballet was easier-she just needed leotards and tights although pointe shoes got $$$$. Their big production was the Nutcracker and the ballet company provided those costumes. Ballet tuition was kind of steep though. By the time she was 15 DD began teaching/assisting at the competition studio so didn't have to pay for classes-whew!

It was worth it, I guess. Dance gave our daughter a lot of confidence that stood her well during those awkward years.

 

[maddiesmom0116]

What a budget buster!!! Last night, my dd brought home the balance that we owe for my girls' dance costumes. When you add in the cost of the costume deposit I paid in the fall, the cost of costumes this year exceeds $500!! This is for 7 costumes and one pair of tights which averages around $72 a costumes. These costumes are not high quality at all! They are basically made to wear a few times (in my girls' case 4 times - 1 for pictures, 1 for dress rehearsal, and 2 for recital) and then they are no good and sometimes they are messed up before they are finished with them with seams coming out and fraying.

Do studios usually take a cut of the costume costs? I can't imagine these costumes costing so much, it really leads me to believe the studio is taking a portion of the costs as well.

Anyhow, I was just curious how this compares to what those of you who have children who dance pay for costumes.

Ours average $70 to $80 and the tights are a seperate cost, so it seems reasonable to me! My daughter is in 3 dances classes and they only buy costumes 1x a year for the main recital. Luckily, Christmas they use company owned costumes.

 

[princessmom29]

It's been five years but DD's competition costumes ran between $250-$500 each if I did the stoning. Those were custom and she usually had three-group jazz, group lyrical and solo. We did some sharing and resales on solo costumes but group was new each year. If they did a large group lyrical those came from the catalogs. She normally had four or five cheaper ones for the recital.


That was for her competition studio. Ballet was easier-she just needed leotards and tights although pointe shoes got $$$$. Their big production was the Nutcracker and the ballet company provided those costumes. Ballet tuition was kind of steep though. By the time she was 15 DD began teaching/assisting at the competition studio so didn't have to pay for classes-whew!

It was worth it, I guess. Dance gave our daughter a lot of confidence that stood her well during those awkward years.

That is insane, even for competition costumes if there was no stoning involved. Even if they were custom made they should never have cost $500. Mabe $200 for a good custom made with a lot of detail work! There is not a lot of fabric involved in a dance costume, and the labor should never have sent the price up that much. Someone was price gouging because they could.

 

[mnrose]

I saw this dance mom t-shirt that I *almost* bought. It said "I used to think dance was expensive, now I just don't think."

So true!

 

[princessmom29]

I saw this dance mom t-shirt that I *almost* bought. It said "I used to think dance was expensive, now I just don't think."

So true!

Love it!

 

[fakereadhed]

I would look for another dance school. Oldest DD used to take ballet at a very reputable school. They put on 2-3 ballet performances per year for the community. The costumes were reused and redesigned by the parents as needed. The only costs were a new pair of tights and new shoes for the performances. They did have parents attend classes were they showcased their dancing, without costumes, and you could see their progress, not the costumes. We only paid slightly more for classes, but overall less without costmes. I think those recitals are a racket and it takes away from learning technique. Guess it depends on whether your focus is on the dancing, but I cringe when I hear all the costs associated with recitals.

 

[DisneyAndRedSox]

Well, costumes were paid for back in the fall... now it is PICTURE TIME!

After 2 years of lousy pictures, I along with a lot of my friends are having the pictures taken at Target. The cheapest package at the dance stuido is $21 for 1 5x7 and 4 wallets (one costume.) Plus it is a mad house on picture day- not enough parking, over an hour between costume #1 scheduled time and costume #2 time- basically an entire Saturday wasted and I don't even get to choose the picture they end up printing.

 

[jsmla]

That is insane, even for competition costumes if there was no stoning involved. Even if they were custom made they should never have cost $500. Mabe $200 for a good custom made with a lot of detail work! There is not a lot of fabric involved in a dance costume, and the labor should never have sent the price up that much. Someone was price gouging because they could.

Yes-way too much! It was a solo/adult costume so I can't blame anyone but myself! Tu tus ran around $300 without any overlay then. I can't imagine what they cost now!

 

[princessmom29]

I would look for another dance school. Oldest DD used to take ballet at a very reputable school. They put on 2-3 ballet performances per year for the community. The costumes were reused and redesigned by the parents as needed. The only costs were a new pair of tights and new shoes for the performances. They did have parents attend classes were they showcased their dancing, without costumes, and you could see their progress, not the costumes. We only paid slightly more for classes, but overall less without costmes. I think those recitals are a racket and it takes away from learning technique. Guess it depends on whether your focus is on the dancing, but I cringe when I hear all the costs associated with recitals.

It really depends on how the studio approaches the recital. For us, it is an extension of the technique learned in class. The routines learned challenge thier skill level and are not expected to be perfect. They will push the limits of what they can do and not worry about something not being perfect yet. There is also something to be said for performance experience, especially if the child wants to continue with dance. The only way to be comfortable on stage is to have some experience actually being there. I think you can have a recital and give the children a chance to really showcase thier skills and still focus on dancing and technique. I think the kids who work so hard for so many months deserve to have the chance to realy shine on stage with the lights, costumes, makeup, ect. They love it and you can see how proud they are of what they have accomplished.