I was wondering the same thing two months ago, that is, until my dance instructor told me how much it would cost.

I go to Fred Astaire studios, which I really like. The problem is, their competitions are at like 5 star hotels with all these luxuries and stuff. So you have the travel/food/hotel fee. Then you have the fee for every entry (I believe that was about $60/entry) and one would do an average of 20 entries per competition. In total it ends up costing about $3000, not including the price of gowns.

Yep, I'm not going to one of those until the day I win the lottery!!

Are they "in house" competitions?

OB

From what I've heard from friends who have competed in the Arthur Murray system, $3000 is on the low side for an AM comp.

I take lessons at an independent studio and by choosing my comps carefully and with my pro's help in keeping costs down, I can do a comp for as little as $1500, including everything except the dress.

If you find an amateur partner, competing as an amateur couple is much less expensive.

Ellen. Is that $3000 for one competition. We ,at one of the very best venues'. Could enter as many events as you are eligable to compete it for the same price as an ordinary spectator. We have a big one at Easter at one of our Casinos and we will pay abou $40 . from 9 am to midnight. In a not so flash venue we would expect to pay about $25. Children and pensioners $12 whether you compete or not.Take about $2.50 off to bring it to USA money. We have very few Pro/ Am events but do have what is called Individuals at all ages. In these the person being judges wears the number which in many cases is the female. If both are being judged, both wear a number which would be a different number for each. As with all the events there is pre- entry but no money changes hands except at the door on the day. That is for everybody from the highest to the lowest. At the Casino it would be better to buy the ticket before the day. Have a good cry.

The lowest cost was $1800 + about $650 for six dance entries. It included fees for your instructors "lost hours" and dinner. It did not include hotel stay. This was at a local hotel.

Heck, I've been complaining that my attorney's fees are outrages but after I've seen the prices for these competitions.....

My instructor has been studying dance for longer than it took me to get my PhD (not to mention law school), so I don't begrudge him his prices at all.

The way to cut down on competition costs is compete near your home base and have the pro dance with many other dancers to help share your expenses.

Studio packages and going to a competition solo with your instructor
is for the folks with money to burn. Independent honest teachers are your best bet with a stable of other dancers sharing your costs. If you compete in Miami or the Ohio Star Ball it's going to be expensive. Even amateur dancing at a high level can be very expensive since you will need more high quality expensive lessons to compete--unless you are just doing it for fun. The entry fees are cheap for amateurs, but travel and costumes can get expensive quickly. It is best to just set an annual budget for your dancing, do the best you can and don't even think about taking out a 2nd mortgage on you house or using credit cards for dance lesson money.

There is a wealth of information in the forum section about this topic.

Well i dance in dance competitions all the time although i am only 11 and so my parents pay for the costs. But we yearly go to the Blackpool Juniour dance festival at which we stay for two nights. Last year i was dancing in the tower from around 8am - 11.30pm and so we bought a day pass which allowed us not only to go into the ballroom but into the tower atteactions aswell. We stayed in a hotel near the tower so we would not have to hire a car and there are regular trams going to the pleasure beach. I normally costs aroung £100 pounds which is not including dresses and shoes. At my Dance school we hold fund raising dance competitions to raise money for dresses so we do not pay and we normally pay half the money for shoes and the shoes are £30. So dance competitions really arn't that expensive but it depends on where you are going.

They cost of a youth competitior and an adult is completely different, the two are just are not comparable.

We compete both independent competitions and chain comps,(for us FADS) as AM/AM.

To a large extent the cost of a competition is within your control. Even at a chain studio, the instructor can only dictate the amount of entries that you will do if you allow it. For example next month we will compete FADS with 12 entries(one being a five dance open champ)We always tell our instructor what we will do, not visa versa. For us the attraction is the comp, not the extras. We do not buy any of the meals, shows, ect... Just entry/entrance fees and a one night hotel... Thus, you can control the cost. You should/must ask the studio to give you a break down of the costs so you can make an educated decision. DO NOT go into this blind or yes it will easily cost you $3,000.

On the other hand, if you have never been to a comp before I would absolutely suggest you purchase the shows just to experience what it is like to go to a pro show..., expereince the entire atmosphere. You can also do just a few entires to see if it is for you. The experience will be the same, just less entries.

In the end we all make our own decisions as to how we want to spend our dance dollars. For us, we compete often without a lot of entries, the idea for us is quality over quanity. A good deal of our $$'s are spent on priviate lessons to prepare for comps and less on the frills of a comp.

"They cost of a youth competitior and an adult is completely different, the two are just are not comparable."

You are mistaken.

The costs of youth and adult competition are not the same, but they are similar and closely related.

What is not ever remotely comparable is the cost of amateur competition vs. pro-am competition, regardless of the dancer's age.