I am an AM student who wants to compete, but the AM franchisee won't let any of his teachers in his studios compete in any competitions other than AM's and they are usually out of state which becomes costly. I do like my teacher, but can't pay for him to go to out of AM competition. Should I just leave and find an independent ? That means starting all over again.

Yes, leave and never look back. You will be starting all over again but hopefully some of your training will make the process easier. Your costs will be much less at an independent studio and you will have complete control over how much you spend and where you go to compete. AM's often can't compete in the real dance world and they don't want their students finding out how little they know when they have paid so much. You won't be sorry.

Brava, ladydance! Truer words were never spoken. I'm a competitive dancer training at an independent studio -- we've had several "gold level" AM students coming in for smooth coaching ... but what good are fancy steps when there isn't any technique to carry them ?!

Buffy

The only thing I can add to Ladydancer is, you will find the cost to be less than what you were spending at A.M. most of the times.

There was a gal that was winning all kinds of championships for several years in the A.M. world. She wanted to dance outside A.M. and started with my instructor wanted to hit the local comps right away. He told her she wasn't ready, but she pushed and pushed. The customer is always right...right? She came in dead last in every rhythm heat. She didn't know cuban motion yet. It was pretty shocking to her and made her really mad.

As Ladydancer said, don't look back. It's the best move you can make. There ARE great dance teachers out there!