Once upon a time, a dance teacher opened her own studio across the street from her former employer’s school, taking advantage of her former teaching position to start her own studio. Sounds familiar? This is a very common story in the dance studio business and sadly not a fairy tale.

We have all heard a version of this story or perhaps experienced it first hand. Student poaching, the direct or indirect solicitation of students from others, is a practice that mindlessly fragments and divides the dance community. In addition to poaching students, other subtle, but just as divisive practices include: making negative comments about other teachers/schools, misrepresenting your identity by making false, exaggerated, or ambiguous claims, and making derogatory comparisons or references about others.

What drives enterprising people to engage in business practices that burn bridges, sow the seeds of deception, and model mindless behavior?

Darwin. You heard me, Darwin is to blame. Well, not really Darwin himself, but the misinterpretation of his theories in a business context is at the root of this dilemma. When the business world embraced the neo-Darwinian philosophy of “survival of the fittest,” it unleashed a ready-made excuse for unethical action.

As a culture that has witnessed the “cola wars” firsthand, we embrace the idea that anything goes when it comes to business and marketing. It is not necessary to apply ethics and morality. “That’s business” they say while defending their actions. They fail to see the big picture: look closely at the situation. They unknowingly harm the dance profession in general and thus themselves. It is a case where the right hand shoots the left and thinks that this is good.

What makes one feel justified in approaching the business of dance studios in this senseless way?

At the root of the neo-Darwinian approach to business is a sense of isolation and scarcity. These professors believe that it is “them against the world” or, more directly, “them against the other local studies/professors”. Add to this sense of isolation a sense of scarcity, that there aren’t enough students to go around, and you begin to understand how one begins to rationalize why stealing students is necessary to survive. However, these twin concepts, isolation and scarcity, are illusions in the world of dance.

Studios fighting over the same group of students create a negative atmosphere in the community. Parents perceive this negativity and choose alternative activities for their children because they seem healthier: the potential young dancer takes up soccer. However, in a community where more than one dance school thrives without negativity, more students enjoy dance as an activity. This increased number of students translates into a greater number of future dancers, dance teachers, and most importantly, audience members in the future. If dance studios stopped seeing themselves so much as competitors and more as colleagues, the entire dance profession would benefit.

The solution begins simply by making substitutions: replacing mindless competition with mindful togetherness, mindless isolation with mindful interconnectedness, and mindless scarcity with mindful abundance. We must realize that the dance profession, from the smallest recreational dance class to the largest professional company, is interconnected. The entire network of the world of dance is vitally linked.

For example, the dance community is quite small compared to the broader world of sports. There are many more children participating in sports than in the arts. Instead of interpreting this as a reason to fight for resources, we should embrace a sense of abundance. There are more than enough potential students to sustain each school if we focus on getting more students to the dance instead of fighting over the ones already there. It is to the benefit of the dance profession at all levels to include more of the non-dance world within our walls rather than building walls within our own.

So how can we begin to break the twin illusions of isolation and scarcity in the world of the dance studio and open our eyes to interconnectedness and abundance?

We need to base our actions and practices on ideals that reflect the world of dance as a healthy and vibrant community rather than a terrible and hopeless community that lends itself to mindless behaviour. Adopting a code of ethics that reinforces a conscious and healthy outlook will not only serve as a guide, but will also help promote a positive environment for those it affects.

Going forward, we must all adopt a code of ethics that addresses these issues. The following list is not complete, but it is a place to start.

Business ethics for the conscious dance professional

In all professional and commercial relationships, the dance professional must show respect, honesty and integrity towards himself, his clients and colleagues.

a. respect

A dance professional will refrain from making negative comments that may disparage, defame, or in any way reflect the professional position of another school/studio or teacher.

A dance professional will refrain from making derogatory references or derogatory comparisons to the services of others.

A dance professional shall refrain from publishing, or causing to be published, any notice, newspaper advertisement or any other matter that may damage or depreciate the reputation of any colleague.

B. Honesty

A dance professional should accurately present their qualifications or affiliations to the public, especially in advertising material, and avoid any ambiguity or exaggeration.

A dance professional shall refrain from presenting their qualifications or affiliations to the public in a manner that is intended to mislead the uninitiated. For example: having danced a child role in the Nutcracker with a professional company and listing it as portraying having danced professionally with the company.

C. Integrity

A dance professional shall refrain from directly soliciting business from another teacher or studio by approaching, in any manner, the student(s) or employees of another teacher and, for any reason, attempting to induce them to join their school.

A dance professional shall refrain from indirectly soliciting business from another teacher or studio by criticizing other teachers’ methods, offering free coaching, citing the benefits the student will gain from the change (for example, offering roles/parts), or other similar methods.

With each of us taking responsibility for our own actions by embracing a conscious ethical foundation, we can co-create a healthier, more connected and abundant environment in the dance school business. Plus, with all we have in common, we might find we’re better friends than enemies.