How to select a dance studio

[Anonymous]

I'm looking at dance for my 5 year old. She doesn't have any strong interests but I'm looking to explore this for a couple of years to see if this might be something she wants to pursue seriously. What should I look for in a dance studio? I was thinking ballet, but should I look for a studio that offers all dance types.

[Anonymous]

Where do local friends go

[Anonymous]

We took recreational dance classes with the county

[Anonymous]

At that age, choose close and cheap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm looking at dance for my 5 year old. She doesn't have any strong interests but I'm looking to explore this for a couple of years to see if this might be something she wants to pursue seriously. What should I look for in a dance studio? I was thinking ballet, but should I look for a studio that offers all dance types.

Follow her interest. Don't push her into pursuing activities "seriously," focus on letting her explore different things and have fun.

[Anonymous]

Former serious dancer here - signed my DD up at Washington school of ballet. Where are you located ?

[Anonymous]

I would go with friends’ recommendations for a dance school with a good location close to your house that offers the basics - ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop - so that your child can explore various styles of dance and see if she likes it and if so, which types of dance she enjoys.

If your child seems focused on ballet like mine was, the more serious question is whether to move her to a pre/pro type of dance school around age 10 when she begins pointe (boys may want to move earlier for more focused training). But at age five, you are still at the exploration stage.

[Anonymous]

Avoid any school that has a competitive dance program.

I would stick with a classical ballet school

[Anonymous]

Op here. Thanks, that is what I was trying to decide - ballet vs a school that offers a bit of everything. I thought ballet was the basics and you could branch out later if needed. Is that true?

[Anonymous]

Yes, it is largely true that ballet is the foundation for any kind of dance later. The school my daughter attends, Maryland School of Dance, off Nicholson Lane near the Rockville/N. Bethesda area, starts will ballet until about age 7 and then you can add modern, contemporary, jazz, Bollywood, and other forms of dance. Some kids stick with ballet and add the others and some kids end up taking only the add-on classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would go with friends’ recommendations for a dance school with a good location close to your house that offers the basics - ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop - so that your child can explore various styles of dance and see if she likes it and if so, which types of dance she enjoys.

If your child seems focused on ballet like mine was, the more serious question is whether to move her to a pre/pro type of dance school around age 10 when she begins pointe (boys may want to move earlier for more focused training). But at age five, you are still at the exploration stage.

I think this is good advice. For many girls, being with friends is the most important thing. As the years go by, you'll see if she is "into it" enough to specialize or pursue more rigorous training.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it is largely true that ballet is the foundation for any kind of dance later. The school my daughter attends, Maryland School of Dance, off Nicholson Lane near the Rockville/N. Bethesda area, starts will ballet until about age 7 and then you can add modern, contemporary, jazz, Bollywood, and other forms of dance. Some kids stick with ballet and add the others and some kids end up taking only the add-on classes.

Maryland school of dance is fabulous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm looking at dance for my 5 year old. She doesn't have any strong interests but I'm looking to explore this for a couple of years to see if this might be something she wants to pursue seriously. What should I look for in a dance studio? I was thinking ballet, but should I look for a studio that offers all dance types.

Follow her interest. Don't push her into pursuing activities "seriously," focus on letting her explore different things and have fun.

I'm surprised nobody is else commenting on this. She doesn't have an interest in dance, why explore for a "couple of years" to see if she wants to purse seriously? Why not ASK her what she'd be interested in trying? My 5 year old wants to do gymnastics and kung fu (thank you Raya and Kung Fu Panda), why not give her 3 options and let her decide what activity she wants to try?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Avoid any school that has a competitive dance program.

I would stick with a classical ballet school

Why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Avoid any school that has a competitive dance program.

I would stick with a classical ballet school

Why?

I'm a new poster, not the one above, but to add -- a "competitive dance program" means a school focused on dance team competitions. If you see a bunch of trophies from dance team competitions in a studio window, run. While some kids adore doing that, it also can be very, very high-pressure and can suck the joy out of dancing. Yes, I know there are kids who love it, parents who think it's a blast, etc. but I know too many kids who started that route and burned out fast.

OP, for your five-year-old, if she is just going to taste dance as an activity, a studio with a competition focus is going to distract her with the shiny idea of costumes and winning. Competitive dance parents will come here to ream me for that, but whatever.

While I would not necessarily say a "classical ballet school," which conjures images of the Kirov etc., yes, a studio that has a solid grounding in ballet is best because it's the foundation for the strength you need for other styles. And OP, you don't even know yet if your DD wants to dance at all, much less dance for "a few years" or further.

Take time to go observe, on your own without your DD if you can, some classes for kids her age at a couple of non-competition studios. See the vibe, see if the kids seem happy, if the instructor is patient and fun, if the instruction is age-appropriate but also just challenging enough the kids are going to do things properly. Look for safety -- no klds allowed to hang on the wall barrres, no roughhousing among the little kids, and "sprung" floors (raised flooring designed to take the stress off legs and feet when dancers move and jump).

My own DD started out with kiddie ballet through a county rec center with a great teacher who taught even three-year-olds the appropriate French names for very basic things, but who also made everything fun. A six- or 10-week rec center class would be a good way to let your DD try to dance and see if she wants to commit to more classes at a studio after that. Be aware that studio classes do run on a schedule covering the entire school year and then most expect dancers, once past a certain age, to take summer classes as well, to keep up their conditioning and skills.

I would really start simply rather than thinking of this as something she should keep at for a few years. She's young. She might dance the rest of her life or she might take one class, have fun, then have as much fun in karate or art class. Start out easy.