elfgivas Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 someone asked what didn't work for the kids when the dance studio here collapsed. it was all in the frame the parents chose to put around the picture, which changed what parts of the picture the kids focused on. same picture, different frames, different results. the kids who struggled (and some who still do) were the ones who had been around adults focused on retribution. some parents were just so angry (justifiably, mind you) that they focused on the owner rather than on the kids and the dance. they spent a lot to time and money on lawyers, private detectives, etc, etc. , and a lot of time vilifying the owner. if the legal options had happened quietly in the background, it would have been better for everyone. the kids who did best were those whose parents were more aware of how deep the relationship was between students and owner. it often is more like a family than a business. the kids who managed best were offered some variation of: "we don't know why. we think it may have something to do with addiction/alcoholism/bad drugs/bad choices. teachers x, y and z are trying to find out what they can do to help. its very sad when a person we care about loses their way. there are great organizations out there who can help, but the person needs to want to be helped. and sometimes it gets pretty horrible before a person gets to that point. even worse than this, and this feels pretty bad, doesn't it?" (for me, i turned it into a lesson on how taking "bad drugs"... the girls were little....we talked about how it didn't just damage the person themselves but everyone around them, and how they must never, ever do that. one unexpected consequence of what happened is that i don't know one of those kids from that studio who became an addict.... at least, not yet, and they now range in age from 15-28.) and then we talked about how of course we would do whatever we could once we knew what would help, but until then we would focus on the things we could do, and that was making sure that the "show went on". fwiw, ann 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idnib Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 Every year around here, unfortunately, some charity for toys for kids ends up being robbed around the holidays. The media covers it, and everyone pitches in and the charity ends up with even more toys. Google "Christmas toys stolen" for hundred of examples. Sad but true. If your main concern is about the show, I would get the word out on blogs, yelp, the media (if you have no contacts, tweet to them), Facebook, etc. and get people to pitch in. You can possibly get a donated space, costumes, etc this way. If the owner isn't coming to the building, it sounds like you could put a sign up asking parents to contact you. Those parents may be able to get in touch with other parents. Maybe they know each other outside the studio, or maybe they carpool, or whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justasque Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 OP, any update on the situation? I've been thinking of you as I sew alterations to costumes, make tiaras, and help get the logistics info to parents for our studio's Recital. I hope a teacher or the Company/Competition parents have got something started by now and you at least have some basic info as to the status of things. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Bumping for update in OP. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Long, long story very short--a dance studio owner has taken several hundred thousand dollars that was paid for costumes and no costumes have arrived yet (recital is in 3 weeks). Would you press charges? How would you go about doing that? Update--Three moms, who danced at the studio as children and now have children that dance there, went to the owner and basically told her that everyone knew the money was gone and that she was going to be taken to small claims court by every parent and forced to close her business or sell the business to them and they would take care of the costume money. So, it is now owned by these three women (one of them is an attorney) and they are paying big bucks to get the costumes to us in less than a week. It will be messy but it looks like it will happen. I hope this turns out to be a good business decision for these ladies! Wow. You mean they bought the dance studio? Or the owner signed it over to them? ETA: That's awesome that it looks like things are going to work out! Yeah! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Long, long story very short--a dance studio owner has taken several hundred thousand dollars that was paid for costumes and no costumes have arrived yet (recital is in 3 weeks). Would you press charges? How would you go about doing that? Update--Three moms, who danced at the studio as children and now have children that dance there, went to the owner and basically told her that everyone knew the money was gone and that she was going to be taken to small claims court by every parent and forced to close her business or sell the business to them and they would take care of the costume money. So, it is now owned by these three women (one of them is an attorney) and they are paying big bucks to get the costumes to us in less than a week. It will be messy but it looks like it will happen. I hope this turns out to be a good business decision for these ladies! Hope every parent supports these three and that the studio flourishes under new ownership!!! Were their instructors needing to be paid, or was the studio owner sole instructor? Can new instructors be found asap if needed? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SproutMamaK Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Wow, that's a heck of an investment for those three women! I hope they can turn it around... and I hope that so many parents haven't already decided to go elsewhere next year, that could end horribly for them after trying to do something decent. :/ Best of luck to them, I hope it turns out well. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justasque Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Update--Three moms, who danced at the studio as children and now have children that dance there, went to the owner and basically told her that everyone knew the money was gone and that she was going to be taken to small claims court by every parent and forced to close her business or sell the business to them and they would take care of the costume money. So, it is now owned by these three women (one of them is an attorney) and they are paying big bucks to get the costumes to us in less than a week. It will be messy but it looks like it will happen. I hope this turns out to be a good business decision for these ladies! Wow! That's a lot for them to take on. But dance moms can do anything they set their minds to! I hope that enough families will stick with them next year so the studio has a chance to make it through the storm! "Break a leg" to your dancers - I hope recital goes smoothly for them. We just had ours (five shows in three days - kind of like running a marathon!) and it was a really terrific show. I'm glad to her your show will go on too! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Glad someone(s!) decided to confront her. Anyone else thinking it would have been interesting to be a fly on that wall? I understand the goal was primarily justice for the families, but i do hope that she was also given some leads on getting her life cleaned up (assuming she's into something like substance abuse or gambling, where the $ actually went). Happy for the girls and wish the new owners a prosperous venture. Thanks for the update. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Wow. You mean they bought the dance studio? Or the owner signed it over to them? ETA: That's awesome that it looks like things are going to work out! Yeah! Sounds like the owner was given an ultimatum to sell the business to these three dance moms (hopefully less the money she took from the students for costumes) or face many many small claims from the students. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idnib Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Wow, there's stepping in and then there's stepping in. What a fantastic update. Best of luck for both the recital and also the future of the studio. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Marmalade Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Wow, Moxie, that is an amazing update! Best of luck to you all with the recital! Will your family stay with this studio now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Wow, Moxie, that is an amazing update! Best of luck to you all with the recital! Will your family stay with this studio now? Not sure. There is a new ballet place we tried and my daughter liked it. We'll see. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Long, long story very short--a dance studio owner has taken several hundred thousand dollars that was paid for costumes and no costumes have arrived yet (recital is in 3 weeks). Would you press charges? How would you go about doing that? Update--Three moms, who danced at the studio as children and now have children that dance there, went to the owner and basically told her that everyone knew the money was gone and that she was going to be taken to small claims court by every parent and forced to close her business or sell the business to them and they would take care of the costume money. So, it is now owned by these three women (one of them is an attorney) and they are paying big bucks to get the costumes to us in less than a week. It will be messy but it looks like it will happen. I hope this turns out to be a good business decision for these ladies! That's a lot money to come up with on short notice. I hope it works out for everyone. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Not sure. There is a new ballet place we tried and my daughter liked it. We'll see. Good luck no matter what you decide! Very ambitious of those 3 to take it on! I hope they rename this old studio and repackage it a bitbecause it may have gotten a bad reputation in your community this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Good luck no matter what you decide! Very ambitious of those 3 to take it on! I hope they rename this old studio and repackage it a bitbecause it may have gotten a bad reputation in your community this year.If this is the first/only year of bad business they might be better keeping the name and saying: "Under New Ownership" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.