Per-routine budget math

What to do

1. Run the solo math first because solo is the deepest line item. Choreography is private time, no split, so the fee runs $400 to $900 for the original work, due before the first comp. Costume is custom or boutique at $250 to $500, billed at fitting in October. Comp entries are $90 to $140 per comp, and most teams hit 4 to 6 regional comps, so $360 to $840 across the season. Convention add-ons (entering the solo at JUMP or NUVO prelims) run $50 to $80 per convention; 2 to 3 conventions add $100 to $240. Music editing is $50 to $150 if she has a custom cut. Dedicated solo rehearsal at the studio runs $25 to $40 an hour for an hour a week, $900 to $1,440 across a 36-week season. Props vary $0 to $200. Real all-in: $2,260 to $4,270 per solo per season, before nationals.
2. Duet and trio math is mostly the same as solo, divided. Choreography fees are charged in full and split between families. Typical totals are $300 to $600 for a duet ($150 to $300 per family) and $400 to $750 for a trio ($133 to $250 per family). Costume runs $200 to $400 per dancer. Comp entries are $70 to $110 per dancer per comp, so $280 to $660 across 4 to 6 regional comps. Convention add-ons run $40 to $70 per dancer per convention. Music editing splits across families at $20 to $60 each. Paired rehearsal time runs $20 to $30 an hour for an hour every other week (18 hours across the season), $360 to $540. Props $0 to $100. Per dancer all-in: $1,000 to $2,300 for a duet, $900 to $2,100 for a trio. The relational cost of pulling a duet (see the withdraw guide) is real money before it is a relationship cost.
3. Group routines look cheap until you add them up across the season. Choreography splits across 5 to 12 dancers at $30 to $80 per dancer. Costume runs $150 to $350 per dancer. Comp entries are $50 to $90 per dancer per comp; $200 to $540 across the season. Convention is usually bundled into the team registration, so no add-on per group routine. Verify that, because some conventions still charge per routine. Rehearsal time is bundled into team tuition; group is the only routine type where rehearsal does not bill extra. Props $0 to $50 per dancer. Per dancer all-in: $430 to $1,070 per group per season. The trap: a competitive dancer is usually in 2 to 4 groups, so the per-routine number is small but the total group spend lands at $860 to $4,280 across the season.
4. Convention layering is the budget surprise most parents miss. Many regional comps let the same routine enter convention prelims for an extra $30 to $80 per routine. If she is at three conventions (Radix, JUMP, NUVO) and has 5 routines, that is $450 to $1,200 in convention add-ons, separate from convention tuition ($250 to $400 per dancer per weekend, billed through the team contract). Convention add-ons are usually billed by the studio in October or November; convention tuition is usually billed in March or April. Different bills, same season.
5. Know what the choreography fee pays for and what it does not. Choreography fees pay for the original creation of the routine. Cleaning (the work the choreographer does in later rehearsals to fix formations, timing, and counts) usually happens inside the rehearsal time that is already billed elsewhere: a solo's private $25 to $40 hourly rate, a duet or trio's paired rate, or a group's bundled team tuition. The exception is pre-comp cleaning sessions, mostly for solos, where the choreographer schedules an extra 60 to 90 minutes the week of a major comp; budget $50 to $150 per session, 2 to 4 sessions per major routine per season. Ask the director in writing, before you sign the team contract, whether pre-comp cleaning is included or billed separately. The answer varies by studio more than any other line item.
6. Comp entry fees pay for judging, the rehearsal floor time on the day, the awards ceremony, sometimes a small trophy. They do not pay for awards photography ($30 to $80 per package), video downloads of her routine ($25 to $60 per routine), prop storage at the venue, or your daily spectator admission ($25 to $50 per adult per day at most major comps, $10 to $25 per child per day, free under a certain age at some). Budget the spectator admission for both parents and any siblings for every day of the comp. A 3-day comp for a family of four (two adults, two kids) runs $200 to $450 in spectator admission alone.
7. Nationals is the line item families forget when they say yes to a new routine in October. If her routine qualifies (most do; see the qualifying breakdown), the additional cost per routine at nationals is the nationals entry ($150 to $400 per routine) plus the host hotel package ($1,500 to $3,500 per family per nationals trip; see the host-hotel guide). The hotel does not scale per routine; it scales per nationals trip. Adding one solo and one trio to her current schedule does not add 2 hotels; it adds 2 entries to the same trip.
8. Add the running total before you say yes. If she has 1 solo, 1 duet, and 3 groups, the per-dancer running total is roughly: solo $2,260 to $4,270 plus duet $1,000 to $2,300 plus 3 groups $1,290 to $3,210 plus convention tuition $750 to $1,200 plus nationals $1,500 to $3,500. That lands at $6,800 to $14,480 per dancer for one competitive season. Adding a 7th routine (trio) adds $900 to $2,100, taking the worst case closer to $16,500. The decision is not whether you can afford the trio in October; it is whether you can afford the trio plus the other six routines in March. The season budget tool takes these line items and turns them into the cash-flow timeline that shows you which month each bill lands.