(1) the importance of the instructor's knowledge, certification and ability to instruct
(2) that smaller classes are better than larger classes
(3) that a 2400 or 1500 square foot studio can accommodate more dancers than a 500 or 700 square foot studio
(4) than dancers learn better in a class with students of their own age and ability level
(5) the need for: structure in a class, a clean studio, large viewing windows, ample parking, ease of road access to the studio, professionalism at the front desk, etc.

But parents forget to compare dance floors. To save money most dance studios have dance floors constructed by laying 2x4s on concrete, screwing plywood into them, and dancing, or maybe putting "Marley" over the plywood. That floor may be fine if a dancer jumps and lands in the center of the plywood, but they are going to be in for a hard jar (and eventual injury) if they land on the screwed area over the 2 x 4 repeatedly. Some schools (usually at public parks) even dance on linoleum, plywood or wood planks just placed on concrete. An unsprung floor will eventually lead to injury.

At Etudes de Ballet & Co. our two largest studios have "sprung" maple dance floors that were extremely expensive to build. Under the maple is plywood, and under the plywood we have a "basket weave" of three levels of wood boards so that the maple planks on the floor are 4 or 5 inches over the concrete, and there is no spot on the entire floor that is solid to the concrete providing give to protect from injury.

So when you compare dance studios, don't forget the dance floor.

By Sybil Burt
Director, Etudes de Ballet & Co.

Etudes de Ballet & Co. was been voted the 2004, 2005, 2007 SW Florida Choice Champion for "Best Dance Studio" in the Naples Daily News Readership Poll.