Op, the answer above it yourmic drop answer. I would just like to add that being a safe and effective dance teacher is not even kinda the same as being a dancer/performer.

Do not misjudge performance credits with teaching skills. A high level dance Education matters far more than anything else. That is where the excellent teachers learn appropriate pedogogy, kinesiology, injury prevention, classroom management, etc.

OP. I am in the industry and teach the teachers....well of the programs responsible enough to exgage in continuing ed for their staff..Happy to give you some pointers.

1. Programs in social halls and other random spaces are a big red flag. Please don't do it. These programs are more interested in saving money than protecting the kids. Children, especially young children, are susceptible to injury (leg, spine, and teeth)on concrete sub floors...which all of these spaces have. Do not accept anything but a real dance floor.

2. Competition rec programs exist only to feed the competition company. The once a week dancer gets less attention and less competent instructors.

3. Do not go to a studio that uses highschool and college age teachers. Check indeed for who they hire. It will give you a clue as to the quality of the staff and programs.

4. How safe is the neighborhood and parking situation?

5. Look at the social accounts and see if they are displaying any sexualized costumes or choreography.

6. Is the place affiliated or certified with credentialing bodies? A random ballet certificate does not count.

7. Look at your local "best of" lists. They are highly regarded by the community for a reason. The more recent the better.

Anonymous wrote:My kids started at age 4 in a local, casual program in a church basement with a cute recital every June. Perfect for us and made a lot of nice neighborhood friends. One child decided she loved dance and switched to a more serious program later.schools are.

hed to a different style of dance. The third gave it up after three years as not her thing.

Never put your child in a program that is not on a real dance floor.

Anonymous wrote:

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

I would stick with a classical ballet school

Why?

Do you really want your kid shaking their stuff for a plastic trophy? That is what competitive schoolsare.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I strongly disagree.

At 5 I would prioritize where the friends or kids from school go, proximity to your house, cost and time commitment. Do you have to sign a year long contract? At that age I would not commit to any year long program since interests change.

No recital fees. No slutty outfits. No makeup. No pop music.

Which often means a classic ballet school.

Anonymous wrote:

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

I would stick with a classical ballet school

Why?

Annoying crazy moms, sexualized little girls

Yawn! Why must parents with no experience in a given extracurricular weigh in on things they don't understand? There is nothing wrong with competitive dance (just like any other athletic team) nor any stage performers of any variety applying a reasonable amount of make up to assist with their expression. Answer the OP's question and don't tell him or her to "run" from anywhere she feels comfortable instructing her kiddo.

OP, I agree you should find the most convenient place to try out a variety of disciplines. Ignore the points about what not to look for and focus on those who provide proactive advice.

Avoid any school where they talk about being a “family”

It sounds so warm and fuzzy until you realize this means a clique environment of families who have been there years and years and years. It’s not that they aren’t nice it’s just that things get skewed to their preferences quite a bit

Any dance program from recreation center just too see if your daughter enjoy the class then decide if you want to be serious or just have casual fun.

My kids started at age 4 in a local, casual program in a church basement with a cute recital every June. Perfect for us and made a lot of nice neighborhood friends. One child decided she loved dance and switched to a more serious program later. One switched to a different style of dance. The third gave it up after three years as not her thing.

If any of the classes are setting choreography on their kids from music videos, walk the other way.
If the "recital" requires a four figure outlay, walk away
If they make the kids wear heavy make up for performances, walk away
Otherwise, you can't really go wrong for a five year old with no stated interest in dance.

Anonymous wrote:

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?

NP. I agree -- the kid is 5 and you're planning on committing her for a couple years already, even though she has no strong interest? Really, just go with whatever is closest and most convenient. My kid is 11 and at a ballet pre-pro school where she's doing 5 classes a week, but at 5, she was just doing classes at some local kids activity center. She bounced around between dance and gymnastics and soccer and violin before deciding at 8 that she really wanted to pursue ballet in depth. Ballet at 5 isn't even real ballet any way, it's just movement, pre-ballet.

Anonymous wrote: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?

PP from immediately above. Re: the bold, most studios are going to offer ballet and other classes as well. I don't know about pre-professional biggies like Washington School of Ballet or Maryland Youth Ballet but pretty much all ballet studios around here also offer at least some amount of modern, jazz and tap. To be frank it's a way to make more income and it also keeps kids engaged; however, some studios do require that students take ballet first of all, because ballet does teach the basics and starts conditioning the body for everything else.

So your choice doens't have to be as binary as "ballet studio" versus "studio that has a variety of dance forms." You can get a good ballet studio that also has good instruction in other forms.

But to come back to this...make sure your DD is interested. Of course she can't know that until she tries for a little while, I get that! Just take care this is something she's trying out for fun right now. At five, she should have no more than one dance class a week, MAYBE two, and I'd have her in some other non-dance activity too so she gets a variety.