Dan Galpern is the CEO of DanceOne, the premier producer of educational and competitive dance events and largest family of dance brands in the world. At DanceOne, Dan is focused on spearheading strategic growth initiatives and enhancing the company’s more than 500 yearly elite dance conventions and events. Under his leadership, DanceOne aims to expand its live events, enhance its digital experience offerings, strengthen and add new partnerships among other initiatives all while continuing to revolutionize the dance industry.
Before joining DanceOne, Dan was a senior partner at TZP Group, where he helped lead the initial strategic investments that created DanceOne in 2023. Dan’s extensive background includes his role as the Chief Operating Officer and Head of Strategy at CurtCo Media Labs, LLC, and his ongoing commitment to child welfare through his service as Chairman of the Board of Children’s Rights, Inc.
Congratulations on your appointment as CEO of DanceOne! Can you share what initially attracted you to this role and the company?
Thank you! DanceOne is a rapidly growing leader in the dance industry which itself is experiencing robust and exponential growth. As a partner at the TZP Group, I had been spending a good amount of time developing a thesis around youth enrichment and the critical importance of athletic and artistic activities to the development of healthy bodies and minds for kids. As part of that process, I led the initial strategic investments that created DanceOne. Having two daughters who are dancers also helped me to understand the community and its incredible impact on participating kids. So, I have been a big believer in the power of dance and the dance community’s role in fostering and developing world class dancers, excellent students and future artistic business leaders.
When the opportunity came to build DanceOne, to provide the highest quality family of competitive and educational dance brands by bringing together two of the industry’s most respected convention and competition businesses, we worked collaboratively to make it happen. I’ve been Chairman of the Board since DanceOne’s formation in 2023, and having the opportunity to join this team and become CEO was simply one I could not turn down.
DanceOne is about helping those in the dance community – dancers, studios, choreographers, our partners and others – achieve excellence by reaching their maximum potential as a dancer and globally elevating the dance community. I am very passionate about and proud of this effort.
DanceOne has seen significant growth in the last year. What do you believe are the key factors that have contributed to this success?
Our team of world class dance professionals has come together to create a foundation that now allows us to accelerate and continually enhance our partnership with the dance community. Of all positive tailwinds and trends that we’re seeing, quite possibly the most impactful has been the increasing global focus on the power of dance in pop culture, the dedication and training needed to be excellent and the growing appreciation of the physical and mental benefits of dance. Thanks to popular trends and videos on Tik Tok, YouTube and other social media platforms, as well as media and entertainment moments with mind-bending choreography in movies like Wicked or on television shows like the Grammy’s and Dancing with the Stars – all of whom have used choreographers that DanceOne is partnered with – all have significantly contributed to increasing the spotlight on dance.
As a result, people everywhere, particularly younger generations, have a growing desire to learn and take part in all that dance can offer – from a competitive outlet, self-expression, artistic vision, athletic preparation and more career opportunities for dancers at every level. As the largest family of competitive and educational dance brands in the world, we’ve become the gateway for dancers to realize their full potential, and we could not be more thrilled to welcome all those that have contributed to our success thus far as we grow, innovate and give back to all those that have helped build us up.
Importantly, there are also enormous opportunities to both strengthen what DanceOne currently offers and bring it to the next level with expansions into new verticals. Besides the fact that we’re creating a fun and safe environment for dancers to learn and grow in a positive way, I’m truly excited to continue building the company as a leader in this growing category.
With your extensive background in operational management and financial strategy, how do you plan to leverage your experience to further DanceOne’s growth?
Before taking on the role of CEO of DanceOne, I spent the last sixteen years as a partner at TZP Group, DanceOne’s private equity partner which manages approximately $2 billion where I invested in and worked with premium consumer and business-to-business brands in varying industries. So I have a very diverse mindset when it comes to successful financial and operational strategies that promote growth.
Before TZP, I also gained significant experience as an operator when I served as the Chief Operating Officer and Head of Strategy at CurtCo Media Labs, LLC, a media-focused holding company for the Robb Report Family of media brands, which we expanded from just two magazines to an international integrated media platform with fifteen media brands, producing over 60 live events annually. So, I plan to leverage this experience and my other experience in building premium brands in developing premium assets, fostering strong partnerships and driving growth to expand the DanceOne platform, create new opportunities for media content while adding to our live events and competitions.
As you mentioned, the dance industry is experiencing an increase in demand and popularity. How does DanceOne plan to capitalize on these trends?
Yes, that’s right. The participation levels of educational and competitive dance are continuing to grow, which we fully expect to continue. Along with industry icons like Gary Pate, DanceOne’s Vice Chairman, and Adam Shankman, our Chief Creative Officer, we have assembled a remarkable leadership team and the strong infrastructure that we’ve built over the past year, we’re well-positioned to take advantage of these trends by providing world class service, education and competition for the dance community.
DanceOne is the global market leader when it comes to this evolving category, and we don’t believe we are close to our full potential. Dance is not just a hobby, a passing fashion, or something only children do when they are young. It is an art form, a sports medium, an expressive language that brings us all together. We’re looking to make DanceOne the go-to-choice for opening the door to the exceptional opportunities that dance offers at every level.
DanceOne is known for its live events and educational programs. What are your plans for expanding these offerings on a global scale?
DanceOne is built on the legacy of widely recognized, successful and established dance brands that have served the dance community for decades. These brands, including Radix, Jump and Starpower, are the foundation of our success. They’re why what we offer is so compelling to dancers everywhere. This industry is built on their legacy which provides us the expertise and breadth that no other brand can offer – all of which helps us to continue expanding the global dance ecosystem. We have already commenced our plan to significantly enhance the dancer’s experience at our events by upgrading our production values, updating our brands, launching a more robust loyalty program for our dance studio partners and expanding our capacity and number of events to meet the growing demand.
In the years ahead we plan to further invest in our existing brands while we fortify our live-event dance competitions and tours. We will also bring these tours to the world, expanding beyond the United States, so we can serve dancers everywhere. Plus, we will continue to integrate authentic partners into our ecosystem, building off our previous partnerships with industry icons.
We also have a designer apparel business that we will continue to enhance with more product offerings and an omnichannel buying experience. In addition, we are investing heavily in our content business, as there are so many incredible examples of exceptional dancers competing with, learning from and supporting each other. Those stories need to be told, and we will help make that happen in long and short form scripted and unscripted content for YouTube, Tik Tok as well as digital shorts, movies, documentaries and more. Overall, we want to attract and support the best dancers, dance teachers and choreographers, and shine a light on the excellence, unique stories and extraordinary athleticism of the DanceOne community.
The announcement mentioned plans to enhance the digital experience for customers. What specific initiatives can we expect to see soon?
Our goal is for DanceOne to be the cornerstone of support for anyone interested in dance. Whether that is dancers themselves, their families, choreographers, our studio partners, our brand partners or others, DanceOne is the gateway that any person can count on to unlock countless opportunities that a career or education in dance can provide. The first step is to create a platform for our community to stay engaged, in the loop and apprised of all that working with DanceOne can offer. As I mentioned, that effort includes a loyalty program for our studios, the launch of a short and long form content business, our omnichannel apparel business and more. We’re excited to share more information in the coming months.
Partnerships and collaborations are crucial in the dance industry. How does DanceOne plan to integrate authentic partners into its ecosystem?
You are 100% correct. We’re building something unique at DanceOne, so first, my vision for how this effort would look is where we start. We’ve assembled a really amazing leadership team and are fortunate to have so many talented and well-known team members who have grown up in and served the dance community for many years. We’ve also been attracting incredible new faculty members to continue to enhance our dancer’s experience. In addition, we’ve partnered with dance industry royalty like Derek and Julianne Hough, Debbie Allen and more to come in the next few months. And that’s because of the authenticity of what we’re building and our dedication to that authenticity. Our partners are seeing what we’re doing, and they want to be a part of it. We’re creating a community that speaks to, and hopefully represents, the dance community as one. That’s why it’s called DanceOne, as we believe very strongly that there is no “them,” there is only “us,” and we are building DanceOne to be the center of that amazing community.
We’re doing that in a very deliberate manner by continuing to provide world-class events and education for competitive dancers at scale. And we’re able to get them access to teachers and faculty and opportunities that in the past weren’t available. That’s number one. Number two is we’re opening the eyes of the broader community of sports to this incredible world of dance. As I said, dance is an incredibly athletic endeavor. It is about beauty and movement, but it’s also the number one watched content on TikTok globally for a reason. It is engaging in a way that nothing else can compete with as it is an ageless, timeless and universal language. And so, what we’re doing is we’re putting together a team at the faculty, production and content levels, from the ground, all the way up to management and executives that are all aligned in the execution of that and the celebration of dance.
Lastly, what excites you the most about the future of DanceOne and the dance industry as a whole?
In the end, the incredible opportunity in front of us is what I find to be the most enticing about DanceOne’s future. I am excited to continue elevating the overall experience at our events, to bring our brands to life in content and apparel, and to serve as the dance community’s center of gravity to grow its most talented dancers and teachers.
As these plans develop and as DanceOne continues to grow and offer new opportunities for dancers, choreographers, and dance studios, we’re going to see a lot of new partnerships develop, more people that join studios, greater demand for bigger events and tours and a new wave of opportunities for dancers to engage. This won’t just be on stage or in competitions, but in a broader sense for movies, content, TV, sports and really wherever dance can authentically find a home to bring the inspiring stories of dancers to life. We want the next generation of world class dancers to know DanceOne is here to help enable them to be the best authentic version of themselves.
