What are some dance studios in Philadelphia?

Dance teams and studios?

• Okay so tonight my mom took me to Alvin Ailey dance tour performance in Boston (we live in MA) and we were talking a lot about doing more for dance (I've been in dance since I could walk and it's basically my entire life). I have never been on a team before but I REALLY want to go to a competition. I go to Tony Williams Dance Center and I LOVE it, it's like my second home (or first home!) and it's my favorite place ever. But, sadly, they don't have a team. (Sometimes the girls in upper level classes go to competition, but that's only one a year and my teacher said she didn't think I was ready for that class even though I can do everything the other girls in the class can do, which is totally not fair). Anyway, I was looking around and I found this link for a place called Elite Academy of Dance, where they take dance VERY seriously and it becomes very intense, which is something I would like, and I could take gymnastics there for the same price (I've been bugging my mom to get me gymnastics classes forever). They have a team, but you have to be enrolled in 5 classes to go to competitions and compete. I was planning to take upper level classes next year, but this place looks amazing. I have no idea what to do. I LOVE my studio, but I want to be able to improve as a dancer and get the right training that would get me into the cutthroat world of production and dance show business. Tony Williams is like a part of me, but I don't want them to be holding me back. Should I try both studios? Or should I forget about Tony Williams or Elite? Elite is everything I'm looking for, but I don't want to leave everything I came from.

• Answer:

  If you want a dance career you don't go to a competition school. They do not teach proper dance technique but are basically tricks and incorporate Acro into their dancing. You said you toured backstage at Ailey. Those dancers never were in competition dance. They were in a serious dance school that did not do competition or gymnastics. They learned proper dance techniques. If by serious you mean you want to do competition dance which is a dead end after high school, then by all means go to Elite and spend your parents money on classes, costumes and travel, but don't think that will make you a better dancer. It will make you a more flexible acro dancer but unless you are looking for Circus job, don't expect to get hired as a dancer with that kind of training.