All "dance parents" or parents of competitive dance students want their children to do well in competition. Just as with competitive sports, parents may try to live vicariously through their children's efforts in dance competitions, and may overreact. There are a few ways for dance studio owners and teachers to work with their dance parents, and not against them.
Studio Owners Should Set Competition Guidelines
In order to prevent uncomfortable or inappropriate situations with parents at competitions, the studio owners should set some guidelines for what they expect from both students and parents. Not only should the rules be set, but they must be followed.
The competition guidelines should be distributed to parents at an annual pre-competition season meeting. This way, the studio owner physically hands a copy of the rules to each parent, so that there will be no question as to who has or has not received them. At this meeting, the studio owner should go through each rule individually, and offer to answer any questions.
