My daughter danced with Dance Empower for five years and built meaningful friendships and beautiful memories. For much of that time, we were happy and engaged members of the studio. But the final competition of the 2024-2025 season shattered our trust in the leadership -- and ultimately forced us to walk away. I mean immediately, we collected costumes for a recital my daughter will heartbreakingly never dance in. I have held off on this review to make sure I felt as strongly as I do, and to ensure I was writing a logical and factual review.
What we witnessed that weekend was not simply stress or exhaustion. It was a pattern of emotional volatility, public humiliation, and unregulated outbursts from Coach Kimberly Sederburg -- directed at children, staff, parents, and even her own dancers. Young teammates were screamed at inches from their faces, punished for displaying basic emotions after 14+ hour days, and simply eating. I myself was yelled at by Coach (and owner) Kimberly, and after apologizing and giving her an out to save the moral/mood of the moment, she instead decided to throw a massively humiliating, blusterous, and unprofessional tantrum in front of a changing room of 100+ competitors and their support systems. My daughter became genuinely afraid to return, saying she feared being yelled at the way her teammates and mother had been. No child should carry that kind of anxiety from a space that's meant to be safe and empowering. Abby Lee Miller would have thought she was looking in a mirror on her worst day in this moment, but even then I think she would have backed off. Kim did not, and continued that behavior throughout the remaining hours of the competition.
What made this even more damaging was the lack of accountability. Kimberly's daughter, (11 year old)-- a company member herself -- was allowed to behave cruelly toward teammates with no consequences (cussing out small children over a chip bag for example), despite violating the studio's own code of conduct. Going as far as to cuss out her own team captain via text message as well. Meanwhile, two of the most loyal and beloved staff members were berated and pushed out in a single weekend by Kimberly, not for wrongdoing, but for daring to show compassion and leadership.
The truth is this: multiple families, many of whom had been part of the team for years, left immediately after that competition. The majority of the 2024-2025 company will not be returning. And yet, the studio continues to spread false narratives -- like families leaving due to military orders, illness, or finances-- instead of acknowledging the real cause: Coach Kim's actions and unchecked behavior.
Had prior families spoken up publicly, we might have seen the red flags sooner. Now, like them, we grieve the loss of our village, our teammates, and our child's safe space. But we're choosing to speak -- because silence only protects the behavior that harmed us.
If you're considering Dance Empower, especially for the competition team, please proceed with caution. We write this not out of spite, but out of deep pain -- and with the hope of protecting other children and families from experiencing the same.
One final note: After touring other studios, we've learned that Dance Empower is significantly more expensive than others in the area. Prices are hiked up across the board, and the mandatory hours and chaotic scheduling far exceed what's typical -- even among top-rated programs which beat Dance Empower regularly at every competition. Most importantly, other studios show genuine retention of their team members, many of whom have stayed for a decade or more. By contrast, Dance Empower has few, if any, students who make it past five years -- and the office wall proves it. There are less than half a dozen students on that wall, and only one of them (her own daughter) is still dancing there today. read more
