Move The Needle: World of Dance Edition

Business
Written By Amanda Cannon

Discovering this graphic on the internet last night really jacked me up because: (1) it is an untrue and highly inaccurate representation of the dance studio industry and (2) it was displayed on the homepage of the new franchise facing page of the World of Dance Studios.

I felt offended for not only my work, but for my industry and ALL of the dance studios that have worked tirelessly to keep our students moving, especially in the midst of the global pandemic.

I wanted to see if others felt the same, so  I posted in one of our industry's online groups around 9pm:

The response was OVERWHELMING. 

As of this morning (hours after my initial post):

  • Over 200+ Comments on the Initial Thread

  • Multiple Affiliated Threads

  • Hundreds of Comments to the President and CEO of World of Dance

  • Tags to Show Affiliates, like JLo and Derek Hough

  • Tweets

  • Conversation Affirming the Strength and Resilience of Dance Studios

(Note: This is an independently created image from another Studio Owner created for sharing/ bringing attention to the cause)

Actions that have been taken: 

  • The offensive marketing graphic (shown above) has been removed (but not forgotten) from the World of Dance Franchise homepage

  • Social media posts with comments are beginning to be pulled down

  • There's a promise of a conversation with answers from the CEO

There's been no official statement from World of Dance, but the voice of our industry combined with the silent reactions of World of Dance are answers enough for me. 

Was this a negative, highly offensive move on the behalf of World of Dance? Yes. 

BUT, I'm choosing to remember this night as a beautiful moment where the dance education industry stood together and celebrated the work we do, day in and day out, in good times and bad times, because we are PASSIONATE people that truly believe in the ability of the arts to change the world and the lives of our students. When we work together, as a collective, for the good, we are unstoppable. And, we proved it. 

We used the power of our voice and influence to directly exemplify a mantra I (try to) practice on a regular basis and discuss at length in Trash The Trophies:

  • Move the Needle

  • Ignite the Change

  • Make It Better

That's what we did. 

And, we did it overnight, in the span of a few hours. 

Well done. 

Amanda Cannon
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