Three franchised studios in January. Ten scheduled by December.
A research-backed children’s dance franchise, family-owned since 2000. Here’s where the system stands, what your candidates are buying, and how to check a territory.
2026, one opening at a time
6 studios on January 1. 10 open today and 13 scheduled by December 31, including our three company-owned studios.
Status as of October 2026. Outlined stars are scheduled openings, not yet open.
Recognized this year
Judged industry award
2026 Franchise Innovation Award: Most Innovative Use of Data
Products & Services category, presented by Franchise Update Media. Awarded for the before-and-after-class mood check-in built into Dance Positive, which turns each class into coaching data for studio owners. One of 26 category winners from more than 100 entries.
Read the award coverageFeatured in Entrepreneur’s Hottest Franchise Trends for 2027
Children’s Education & Enrichment, November/December 2026 issue.
Fran-tastic Brand, 2026
Research you can cite
Our curriculum is built on positive psychology, and our studios measure how children feel before and after every class. One study is published; the next is underway at Stanford.
Frontiers in Psychology, June 2026
Mood changes of children and adolescents in dance classes: a prospective repeated-measures study
4,224 paired before-and-after measurements from 256 students across 4 studios. The design is observational with no comparison group, so the findings show an association between class and mood, not proof that class caused the change.
Tiffany C. Henderson, first author, with co-authors including researchers affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania.
Read the open-access paperStanford collaboration
Stanford’s Minds, Experiences, and Language Lab is analyzing Dance Positive’s de-identified operational data under a Stanford non-human-subjects determination.
A separate Stanford study of executive function in young dancers launched in April 2026.
Neither has reported findings yet. They’ll appear here when they’re published.
When a candidate asks what makes this concept different, you can answer with a citation instead of an adjective.
What your candidates are buying
No dance background required
Dance experience matters on the instructor bench, not in the owner’s chair. We help select instructors and train them at our studios before opening.
Enrollment before the doors open
Pre-opening marketing starts about two weeks before launch, and paid enrollments typically begin on opening day.
A lean, one-room model
Studios run 1,000 to 2,000 square feet. A remote virtual-assistant team handles calls, scheduling, billing and parent questions, and costumes ship direct from suppliers.
The whole system is included
Curriculum, choreography, music, training, the operations manual, the Dance Positive and Priceography platforms, and marketing support all come with the franchise.
Our Plano franchisee, open since 2022, is opening a second studio in Rockwall this December.
Family-owned since 2000, with no private equity or venture capital.
Inside a studio
Twinkle Star Dance Academy studios are built as one room with a parent lobby. These photos are from our franchised studio in Naperville, Illinois.
Where we are
California
Texas
Florida
Illinois
New York
Dallas–Fort Worth: ask us before submitting. We’re mapping the full metro before releasing new territories there.
The investment, and where it fits
From the current FDD
- Total initial investment
- $124,000 to $196,000
- Franchise fee
- $25,000
- Training fee
- $15,000
- Royalty
- 6% of gross revenue, monthly
- Studio size
- 1,000 to 2,000 sq ft
For unit-level financial performance, see Item 19 of our Franchise Disclosure Document.
Markets where the model tends to fit
- Median household income around $110,000 or higher
- Children making up roughly 15 to 20% of the population
- A suburban trade area of about 40,000 residents or more
- No entrenched anchor competitor
If a market misses on these, we’ll tell you why and suggest where your candidate might fit instead.
This is not an offer to sell a franchise. An offer can only be made through delivery of a Franchise Disclosure Document registered in your state, if applicable.
From territory check to Discovery Day
- 1Territory check
- 2Franchise Disclosure Document delivered
- 3Discovery call
- 4Validation calls with current franchisees
- 5Item 19 review
- 6Discovery Day
Request a territory check
Requests go to Paul Henderson, co-founder.
Prefer email? paul@twinklestardance.com
This is not an offer to sell a franchise. An offer can only be made through delivery of a Franchise Disclosure Document registered in your state, if applicable.
Henderson, T. C., Henderson, P. R., Robertson-Kraft, C., & Saltzberg Levick, J. (2026). Mood changes of children and adolescents in dance classes: a prospective repeated-measures study. Frontiers in Psychology, 17. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1719704
Status as of October 2026.