Ballet Schools & Academies Benchmarking
November 2024
This article is related to a recently completed custom research project conducted on behalf of an ABA member. Our research team is always delighted to speak with members about tailoring research projects to your organization. To learn more or submit a custom research request, simply contact your member advisor or email us at info@advisoryarts.com.
How are ballet schools structured in terms of leadership and staff, and how do they operate vis à vis their parent ballet company? What is the overall landscape of ballet school revenues, expenses, enrollment figures and overall programming. What challenges and opportunities are schools facing and considering moving forward?
These questions led to ABA’s first co-commissioned custom study with four ballet member organizations. ABA deployed a comprehensive survey to analyze and benchmark ballet schools both in the US and Canada.
Findings from the research include:
Revenues and expenses: Ballet schools in our dataset represent around 17-19% of their parent company revenues, and around 13-15% of total parent company expenses.
Changes since pre-pandemic: There seems to be a near event split in our data between schools that have increased and maintained their revenue versus those who have seen a decline in revenues compared to the last pre-pandemic year (2019).
Leadership and staffing: There are a variety of leadership and staffing models for Ballet Schools, including dedicated school staff and staff fulfilling their function only partially for the school.
Summer programming: Summer programs are an important source of revenue, representing on average 30% of total school revenues.
Challenges: Schools are facing common challenges including increasing access to studio spaces, staff retention and student enrollment.
The full report is available to ABA members by clicking below.
