Upstage Center of Performing Arts

What Upstage Center of Performing Arts does

Upstage Center of Performing Arts (UCPA) is a privately held, single-location dance studio based in Charlotte, North Carolina, offering in-person dance instruction across ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, contemporary, and acrobatics for students aged 18 months through adults. The studio is structured by age-segmented programs (My Grown Up and Me for 18 months-2.5 years, Discover Dance and Discover Club for preschoolers, ages 5-7, ages 8-10, and teens/adults) and supplements instruction with a Competition Team, Performance Team, annual Spring Recital, and Summer Programs in two sessions. Ancillary offerings include birthday party packages ($200 for up to 12 children), private lessons ($40/half-hour), and studio rental ($35/hour). The studio uses the Discover Dance early-childhood curriculum and issues annual progress reports and acrobatics assessments to track student development.

The business operates a direct-to-consumer, in-person service model with no e-commerce or online delivery layer. Customer acquisition relies on a continually updated blog, Facebook and Instagram organic social, free trial classes, and seasonal Try It Week events, with enrollment managed through a self-serve online registration portal and parent portal. The studio is co-owned by Jenny Griffes (owner/director) and Ashley Baker (owner/competition director), supported by a named staff of approximately 6 people including instructors and a customer care specialist hired in 2024.

Revenue is generated primarily through monthly tuition ($75-$195 per student based on weekly instruction hours, auto-drafted on the 15th from August through May), supplemented by a $25 annual non-refundable registration fee per family, separately billed competition/recital/costume fees, and the ancillary transaction-based streams noted above. The studio holds a 2024 Best of Charlotte Award and is in its 10th operating season, with multiple testimonials documenting 10-year family enrollment spans. No public ticker, institutional investors, parent company, patents, or integration partners are identified.

Name

Upstage Center of Performing Arts

Legal name

Upstage Center of Performing Arts

Website

https://upstagecenterpa.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Upstage Center of Performing Arts is a single-location Charlotte, NC dance studio offering in-person ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, contemporary, and acrobatics instruction for students aged 18 months through adults, with ancillary birthday party, private lesson, and studio rental services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Dance Instruction Services

NAICS

Fine Arts Schools (611610)

SIC

Services-Membership Sports & Recreation Clubs (7997)

akta.pro primary industry

Dance Education (Ballet, Contemporary, Hip-Hop, Cultural Dance) (EDAMAAAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Youth/Student & Community Dance Recitals (MPAGADAI), Dance Competitions & Showcases (Non-Esports) (MPAGADAH)

Keywords

• Dance studio classes
• Youth dance education
• Ballet instruction
• Competitive dance team
• Performing arts training

Headquarters

HQ city

Charlotte

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Tuition and Recurring Fees: Monthly tuition charged August through May, calculated based on total weekly instruction hours. Tuition is split into convenient monthly payments and auto-drafted on the 15th. Summer session is charged separately. This is the primary revenue stream.
2. Registration Fees: Annual $25 non-refundable registration fee per family, charged each season.
3. Birthday Parties: Birthday party packages priced at $200 for up to 12 children, with additional children at $10 each. Includes 45 minutes of dance instruction/tumbling/games, setup and cleanup, party supplies, a choreographed dance routine, and goodie bags with free class passes.
4. Competition and Performance Team Fees: Competition team events, costumes, recital fees, special events, and community performance fees are billed separately from tuition.
5. Private Lessons: Private lessons offered at $40 per half hour.
6. Studio Rental: Studio space available for rental at $35 per hour for special events, rehearsals, or ongoing yoga/music classes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Upstage Center of Performing Arts is a Charlotte, NC dance studio that teaches group dance classes in ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, contemporary, acrobatics, and tumbling for students ages 18 months through adults. It supplements classes with audition-based Competition and Performance Teams, early-childhood Discover Dance and Discover Club programs, private lessons, birthday-party packages, studio rental, a spring recital, and seasonal summer programs.

Product overview

Upstage Center of Performing Arts operates as a premier dance studio offering a comprehensive suite of dance instruction services. The core offering centers on structured dance classes across multiple disciplines (ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, contemporary, and acrobatics) organized into age-appropriate programs including My Grown Up and Me (18 months+), Discover Dance and Discover Club for preschoolers (ages 2.5-4), youth programs for ages 5-7 and 8-10, and teen/adult classes. Specialized offerings include Competition Team and Performance Team for advanced dancers, Spring Recital performances, Summer Programs, Birthday Party Packages, Studio Rental, Private Lessons, and Try It Week trial classes. The studio uses the Discover Dance curriculum for early childhood education and employs annual progress reports and assessments to track student development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Group Dance Classes (Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Acrobatics, Tumbling) Weekly group dance classes offered in multiple styles for students ages 18 months through adults, taught in age-graded levels with progressive curricula.
• Discover Dance Program Early-childhood dance and movement program designed for toddlers and preschoolers, introducing foundational motor skills, rhythm, and coordination in a structured classroom setting.
• Discover Club Fine-arts enrichment program covering music and theatre for young children, complementing the dance curriculum within the studio.
• Competition Team Audition-based competitive dance team that trains and competes at regional dance competitions, intended for committed dancers seeking elevated performance opportunities.
• Performance Team Performance-based dance team offering additional stage opportunities for committed dancers beyond standard weekly classes.
• Private Dance Lessons One-on-one private dance instruction tailored to individual goals, offered in specific styles for students seeking accelerated or targeted training.
• Birthday Party Packages Studio-hosted birthday party packages providing a dance-themed venue and structured activities for children's parties.
• Studio Rental Rental of the studio's dance space to external parties for events, rehearsals, or instruction by other instructors.
• Spring Recital Annual spring recital performance showcasing class work and team choreography for students and families.
• Summer Programs Seasonal summer dance programs and intensives offered during the summer break, providing concentrated training and themed dance experiences.

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Charlotte Ballet: Charlotte-based ballet company and academy (charlotteballet.org) offering multi-style training from beginner through pre-professional, including a competition-track equivalent. It is the most directly comparable dance-education competitor in the same metro, with an overlapping age range and similar classical/contemporary curriculum positioning.

Broad incumbents

• The Ailey School (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater): Renowned NYC-based dance school offering multi-discipline, age-segmented training for young dancers, teens, and adults with strong ballet/contemporary foundations. Comparable on age-segmented curriculum and recurring-term enrollment, though operating at a significantly larger and more selective scale.
• Broadway Dance Center: NYC-based multi-style commercial-dance studio offering drop-in and class-card pricing across ballet, jazz, hip-hop, contemporary, acro, and tap for children through adults. Directly comparable curriculum breadth and age segmentation, but at professional-training scale with national draw rather than a single community studio.
• Arthur Murray International: Long-established global dance-studio franchise offering private and group ballroom lessons on a recurring-payment basis. Comparable to UCPA in recurring-revenue billing, private-lesson pricing, and youth/adult programming, though focused on social/ballroom rather than studio dance styles.
• Fred Astaire Dance Studios: Large national franchise of ballroom and social-dance studios with recurring private-lesson pricing and a multi-style curriculum. Overlaps UCPA on private-lesson instruction, recurring tuition model, and studio-rental/community-event revenue, but at a national scale across a different dance sub-category (social/ballroom vs. studio dance).
• Joffrey Ballet School: Major national ballet and contemporary-dance training institution with locations in New York and other cities, serving children through pre-professional adults. Comparable on age-segmented ballet/curricular-depth positioning and annual-recital format, but at a far larger scale and broader geographic draw.
• Steps on Broadway: Long-running NYC multi-style dance school and studio-rental venue offering recreational and pre-professional programming across ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, contemporary, and acro. Comparable multi-style, age-segmented curriculum and studio-rental monetization, though at much greater scale and professional-drawing clientele.

Emerging players

• STEEZY Studio: Online dance-education platform offering streaming classes across hip-hop, contemporary, ballet, and other styles for beginner through advanced adults. Adjacent emerging model that competes for adult-beginner attention and signals a virtual path that UCPA does not currently offer.

Others

• Discover Dance: Curriculum and certification program in early-childhood dance education that UCPA explicitly licenses for its preschool Discover Dance and Discover Club offerings. Functionally an enabler/partner: it provides curriculum IP and teacher training that underpin UCPA's differentiated early-childhood programming.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/ucpa2
• Instagraminstagram.com/upstagecenterpa
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/upstage-center-of-performing-arts

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Upstage Center of Performing Arts