NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–TZP Group, a multi-strategy private equity firm, announced today it has made strategic investments in Break The Floor Productions and Star Dance Alliance to create Dance One Holdings, LLC, the largest holding company of dance brands in the world. This investment is the first for TZP Capital Partners Fund IV and represents the largest institutional investment in the dance industry to date. The transaction closed in August, 2023, and financial terms were not disclosed.
Company Overview
DanceOne combines the leading dance innovators to deliver the best dance training and competition offerings in the world. With more than 60 years of educating, choreographing and producing exceptional experiences for dancers, the new combined company will address the complementary training and competition segments within the broader dynamic dance ecosystem. Together, the organizations have hosted more than 500 events annually and serve more than 10,000 dance studios across the world per year.
Announcement Highlights
- Following this transaction, the Break The Floor Productions brand will be discontinued and its premier brands that include the elite conventions Jump, Nuvo, 24 Seven, Radix, Kaos, The Dance Awards, Dance Teachers Summit and DancerPalooza will be held directly under the DanceOne brand name.
- Star Dance Alliance will sit separately under DanceOne. Star Dance Alliance events such as Starpower, Nexstar, Revolution, Believe, Imagine, Dream Maker, The World Dance Championship and others will continue to run independently.
- Gary Pate will become Chief Executive Officer of DanceOne and will continue to focus on development of the Star Dance Alliance portfolio and will bring his more than 40 years of dance event experience to the company.
- Chris Ganan will become President and Chief Strategy Officer of DanceOne, with oversight of the Jump, Nuvo, 24 Seven, Radix, Kaos, The Dance Awards, Dance Teachers Summit and DancerPalooza as well as overall DanceOne company strategy, including merchandise expansion, sponsorships and business development.
- DanceOne also announced the naming of renowned film and television director, producer and choreographer, Adam Shankman, as the Company’s new Chief Creative Officer. Shankman, whose credits include award winning hit films such as Hairspray, Hocus Pocus 2, Disenchanted, Rock of Ages, Step Up, Bringing Down The House and A Walk to Remember, will work closely with the DanceOne teams on long form and digital content development, faculty assessment and the overall program strategy and creative direction for the Company’s competitions and tours. The three-time Emmy Award nominee was also the choreography lead for over 100 film and television projects, including the 82nd Academy Awards, for which he also served as a producer. Shankman also appeared as a judge for eight seasons on So You Think You Can Dance.
- Russell Geyser, former CEO of Break The Floor, will remain on the board of directors and serve as Non-Executive Vice Chairperson. Dan Galpern, Partner, and Zack Vertsman, Principal at TZP Group will both join the board of directors.
- DanceOne’s highest priority is the continued elevation of industry leading safety standards for all events and programs across the Company’s platforms.
Executive Comments
“We believe strongly in the growth of the dance category and are investing in events like competitions, as well as the creativity, production and tremendous community of studios, dancers, choreographers, instructors and participants from around the world,” said Dan Galpern, Partner at TZP Group. “These two companies have proven to be world leaders in dance competitions, workshops, on-line dance training, theatrical and video productions. We believe there is tremendous potential for continued elevation of the authentic dance event experience for dancers and studios, professionalization, and systemization, as well as expanding the types of partners with which DanceOne brands engage. We look forward to leveraging Gary’s more than 40 years of experience in the dance community and to partnering with Chris and Adam to supercharge our growth efforts across live events, apparel, media, sponsorship, and new business development channels.”
“I’m thrilled to be joining the incredible DanceOne team. Personally, I would have nothing without dance. It’s who I am, and what gave me a life. Elevating dancers, choreographers, teachers, and putting them on the global digital stage while developing unique educational, scripted, documentary, and non-scripted content is something I’ve always dreamed of. This is deeply personal for me, and I couldn’t be more grateful for this opportunity,” said Adam Shankman, Chief Creative Officer of DanceOne.
“Star Dance Alliance is very excited to be joining forces with TZP Group to launch this exciting new combined brand, which will create significant new opportunities for growth,” said Gary Pate, Founder and CEO of Star Dance Alliance. “We are immensely proud of our decades of international dance competition leadership and believe this combination will elevate opportunities across all of dance. We look forward to building on our combined platform to enhance and expand the reach of our events. I am also thrilled to continue to expand the Star Dance Alliance business as a part of DanceOne.”
“We are elated to partner with TZP Group to create the premier dance brand in the world, delivering unparalleled experiences of joy and freedom to the entire dance community. We cannot wait to see the incredible artistic expression our dance studio partners bring to our competitions for years to come.” said Chris Ganan, President and Chief Strategy Officer of DanceOne. “DanceOne’s vision is to celebrate the enjoyment of movement and ensure a safe environment for kids to learn and express themselves. Combining competitions with our educational offering helps us deliver even more exceptional experiences to kids across the world and allows us to take advantage of the immense opportunity in front of us.”
Mr. Ganan continued, “We have been working on this for quite some time and believe this combination will create many new opportunities for studios, choreographers, instructors and all our constituents, to supercharge and energize the community. We look forward to accelerating our growth and serving new and existing studios and dancers in the years ahead.”
TZP Investment
TZP’s infusion of capital enables DanceOne to focus on three tentpoles for investment:
- Creative and production enhancements for events, along with expansion of digital and content opportunities, spearheaded by Mr. Shankman.
- New commercial opportunities to create value for DanceOne studio partners, including a companywide loyalty program which will feature exclusive incentives such as first access to our events, custom merchandise, travel perks and more. The transaction will create new commercial opportunities for choreographers to enhance their career development to grow their personal businesses.
- The development of new platforms for choreographers and members of the dance community, including the reintroduction of the foremost event for teachers in the dance community, Dance Teacher Summit; the expansion of Star Dance Alliance’s Wild Dance brand; and the launch of the premier hip-hop experiential dance studio in 2024, Kaos, which will serve as a community and cultural center in Los Angeles.
Advisors
DanceOne’s brand, logo and creative campaign was developed by brand design agency General Idea, who continues to serve as DanceOne’s creative agency.
Kirkland & Ellis served as legal advisor to TZP Group. The Raine Group served as exclusive financial advisor to Break the Floor Productions. Herrick Feinstein served as exclusive legal advisor to Break the Floor Productions. Miller Barondess served as exclusive legal advisor to Star Dance Alliance.
About DanceOne
DanceOne is the largest holding company of dance brands in the world. Founded in 2023 and headquartered in Los Angeles, DanceOne brings together leaders in the dance community around their shared mission of fostering the integrity and education of dance. Its collection of over 500 yearly elite dance conventions and events, including Jump, Nuvo, 24Seven The Dance Awards, and Star Dance Alliance’s Starpower, Dream Maker and more, provides the highest level of talent to teach and mentor while leading the industry in innovations that shape the future of dance instruction. With over 60 years of combined experience serving over 10,000 dance studios yearly, DanceOne’s highest priority is the commitment to ensure a safe environment for kids to learn and celebrate movement by providing the highest possible safeguarding standards in the industry. For more information, visit dance.one.
About TZP Group
TZP Group, a multi-strategy private equity firm managing approximately ~$2 billion across its family of funds, is focused on control, growth equity, and structured capital investments in technology, business services, and consumer companies. Founded in 2007, TZP targets companies with solid historical performance and sustainable value propositions and aims to be a “Partner of Choice” for business owners and management teams. TZP seeks to invest primarily in closely held, private companies in which the owners desire to retain a significant stake and partner with an investor with complementary operating and financial skills to accelerate company growth, increase profitability, and maximize the value of their retained stake. TZP leverages its investment professionals’ operating and investment experience to provide strategic and operational guidance and is dedicated to long-term value creation. For more information, please visit www.tzpgroup.com.
