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Original poster

Baby Ballet

71 replies

Paddy82 · 20/03/2019 17:02

My daughter goes to Baby Ballet classes and really enjoys it. We were recently asked if we wanted to enrol her in the end of term show for around £20 so we did.
After we paid, we were told we had to buy a ticket each to see her in the show (£12.50 each).
I want to ask the question: Is it legal to charge the parents of a 3 year old to see their child perform? I don't think they can legally send us away without her and at the same time we've paid her her to be there.

OP posts:
ChicCroissant · 20/03/2019 18:34

I don't represent a dance school and I'm not missing the point - you are, though. You can withdraw her if you wish. You can complain about the cost if you wish. I would strongly advise that you don't try and claim a freebie, that it's illegal or manipulative because you won't come off well!

Vegisgrowingwell · 20/03/2019 18:35

How funny, this is what happens at every dance school I know!!

LIZS · 20/03/2019 18:38

Dadsnet would understand Grin

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Families
themoomoo · 20/03/2019 18:56

op I sympathise. it's a rip off. personally I'd tell them to stuff it and pull her out.
my niece goes to one where they seem to need a new pricey costume every few weeks which can of course only be bought from one dressmaker. Guess who that is? the dance owner's mum! rip off merchants!!

MitziK · 20/03/2019 20:11

There's not just hall hire (which can be quite pricey once you get above a couple of hours), there's often having to pay for an accompanist or hiring a halfway decent PA to do the music, plus costumes or sets if they do that sort of thing, together with potentially paying for PPL/PRS licensing, additional insurance, for drinks or nibbles if they're laid on - and possibly paying for additional DBS checked staff to deal with increased numbers of children around if there are the other classes taking part or doing their own performances afterwards.

And they are, at the end of the day, a private dance school and it's not an essential. So they can charge whatever they want and don't have to apologise for it or warn you in advance. I understand it is quite annoying when you've already paid out on a lot of other things, but it is perfectly normal.

PurpleCrazyHorse · 20/03/2019 20:26

Annoying yes, illegal no.

I would be cross (with myself mostly) for not checking if there was a cost for tickets. Yes, £12 each is expensive. However dance as a hobby is expensive, especially if you're going to enrol a toddler in baby ballet then moan that you're paying to watch toddlers 'dance'. Buy her a tutu and some ballet shoes and let her prance around the lounge for free if you want.

lottiegarbanzo · 20/03/2019 20:31

It does seem a bit pricey for a church hall, rather than a theatre but not that unusual. Also, I would think you're going to see an (overlong) show, including every class the school runs. Not only three minutes of baby ballet.

Have they asked you to buy the DVD yet? They will.

Merinocool · 20/03/2019 20:58

I think they should have made ticket prices clear when they told you about the show price. I’m paying around £95 including tickets for my 3 year olds ballet show this year. They told us all the costs up front though.

Thesnobbymiddleclassone · 20/03/2019 21:06

My siserts and I did dance, my mum did and now DD is. It's the same as any other extra curricular activity and costs money. My DD does ballet and I pay for:

Her classes
Ballet shoes
Tap shoes
Uniform
Competition entry fees
Comp costumes
Private lessons
Show fees
Show ticket
Exam fees
Exam lessons.

You can alps add on the time and petrol money I guess for sorting my chaperone licence to help look after the children at shows and comps.

You'll get the extra costs with any children's activity whether it's football, gymnastics, brownies or whatever. That's how the cover their costs and keep running.

SparkyBlue · 20/03/2019 21:40

OP absolutely none of us are missing the point. Ballet is expensive I have a concert coming up this May plus I had exam fees to pay and normal tuition fees and new ballet shoes were needed recently and I can assure you I have no illusions about my 6 year old DD. She certainly isn't going to be another Darcy Bussell but she loves it and skips in happily so I enjoy the enjoyment she gets from it.

treehousethunderstorm · 20/03/2019 21:54

My DD is doing the summer baby ballet show.

I received an email saying what the cost was, what that covered (venue hire, costume hire, photographer, dvd) it also said that this sum did not include tickets to view the performance which would be available at a later date and charged at X amount. I do not know if different franchises send out completely different emails but this was all certainly transparent.

I pay the amounts because she enjoys doing it, and she may not always.

If you have an issue with the amounts needed not being clear perhaps bring this up with whoever's provided the information so they can amend their wording in the future.

userwithnumbers · 20/03/2019 21:57

Yeah it's a rip off but it's a business. It's Baby Ballet, not a school. You have no obligation to send your child there.

icanhearapindrop · 20/03/2019 22:02

Actually OP, I agree with you. I think they should tell you at the point of signing your child up for the show how much it will cost for you to watch as well. We are years in to ballet with DD now, so i get this is quite standard stuff, but I didn’t know it at the beginning, and I don’t think it should be assumed that people will.

NaughtToThreeSadOnions · 20/03/2019 22:02

Paddy heres what you do

Don't pay to enter your child in the show. Shes 3 whe wont care

Dont go to the show, shes 3 she wont care if you dont go if sh3s not in the show.

Unless the ballet teacher is holding a gun to your head yo fo either you dobt have to do either

MaHeidsGouping · 20/03/2019 22:03

My DD attended Baby Ballet, did a show while she was there. It was a waste of money, at the show there was also a photographer where you felt under pressure to have photos taken. Then the DVD after Grin.

Comefromaway · 20/03/2019 22:13

My dd danced from a young age and ds now dances too.

It’s all perfectly normal. If you want your child to take part in the annual show then there are costs involved.

You are either charged a show fee that covers costumes, chaperones, extra rehearsals etc or you may be asked to pay separately for the extra rehearsals and buy or hire costumes.

And of course it’s normal to have to buy tickets. How do you think they pay for the theatre hire, sound and lighting, music licence etc.

My two loved and still love doing shows. If you don’t want to buy a ticket to watch, withdraw her from the show or just don’t watch and go the pub instead while she’s performing. (where you can spend your £12:50 on a few pints)

FastandLoose · 20/03/2019 22:21

Yep, I think they’re fleecing you. £45 to watch three year olds prance around in a church hall! Totally fine to cover costs, but that’s not what’s going on. I’m not keen on franchises because so many people take a cut.

burgundyjumper · 20/03/2019 22:26

It's Baby Ballet. Slightly different from normal dance schools in that it is a franchise.

A ballet show with kids under the age of about 5 has a strong resemblance to herding cats, so enjoy Grin

MakeLemonade · 20/03/2019 22:29

That’s ridiculous, totally get it for a proper show at a ballet school but baby ballet is basically a toddler class - ours is in a pretty drab church hall too. No way I’d be paying that.

lottiegarbanzo · 20/03/2019 23:11

Oh I see. To me 'baby ballet' is just the youngest class at the dance school. The whole school show is looong and, in parts, impressive.

So this is a ballet version of Waterbabies?

GunpowderGelatine · 21/03/2019 00:16

OP if you want to stick at ballet you're in for a lifetime of expensive shows, costumes, exams etc. I've just paid £39 for my 5yo to take an exam and they've done shows on stage a few times. Something to bear in mind is that more often than not the cost of your entry fee and ticket means they break even at best. After venue hire, costumes, wages etc these shows don't generate ballet schools a profit. £12.50 for a performance ticket is quite reasonable , the ballet teachers work hard to pull these things off and I would just suck it up TBH and enjoy the show (and expect more things like this and for it to get more expensive).

GunpowderGelatine · 21/03/2019 00:22

Baby ballet isn't a toddler class, they're shown techniques and it's more than just stumbling about. Ballet is serious business and they 'get' them from a very young age. TBH I wish my DD would want to pack it in but she loves it so much (and is surprisingly good for her age) so I can kiss my hard earned cash goodbye for the foreseeable!

GunpowderGelatine · 21/03/2019 00:23

And yes it's likely the other classes in the ballet school will do a performance. That's another thing - if you stick with ballet or dance you'll spend around 2 years of your life sitting through other people's children's performances trying not to fall asleep or yawn

Stroller15 · 21/03/2019 00:25

Yes I think the problem here isn't the cost of a dance class or actual ballet show, this is a toddler group so a franchise as I understand it. No way would I pay £45 for ds to run around a hall for a bit. YANBU, they should have made it clear from sign-on.

MakeLemonade · 21/03/2019 10:01

If the OP is referring to the BabyBallet franchise then it is definitely more baby/toddler class than ballet class. Appreciate some dance schools may call an entry level class baby ballet though which is adding to confusion here as we don’t know which type OP is referring to.

BabyBallet starts from 6 months! They aren’t learning ballet techniques at that age Grin and even as they progress through the classes it’s still a lot of running around, singing, jumping etc with some ballet steps thrown in. It’s great fun and a good introduction - my three year old loves it - but it’s quite a different proposition to my eldest DD’s ballet school.