We encourage you to please trust your teacher’s placement of your dancer in a certain level/class. The teachers have many years of training and teaching under their belt and only want what is best for your child. The student and teacher both benefit by being placed properly. We would not be doing our jobs if we did placements based on friendships, or even ages. As students get older, it is more about level and ability, rather than age or even years of experience. We want everyone happy, but ultimately, we have to do what is best for each and every individual student for their personal growth. In order to achieve certain skills, they must be grouped with like levels.

Please know, if your dancer did not move into a different class day/time, this does not mean they are “repeating” the same class or skills or not advancing as a dancer. There are only so many classes. If everyone “moved up” every year, Level 4 would over fill very quickly and/or never learn anything new with this mindset. Every teacher strives to challenge all students in every class. It is a misconception that the only way a child can be challenged is to be in a class where they are surrounded by more advanced students. Like any skill set, dance has a foundation to be built upon. When placed in a class above their skill set, students can develop bad habits in an effort to “hang in there.” For example, a student who has not proficiently mastered a double pirouette should not be placed into a class that has mastered triples or quads.

Please consider that the students placed into our asterisked classes often spend many, many hours in technical training every week in addition to other classes. Dance is like anything else - the more hours you spend doing it, the more you will improve. If your child has not been recommend for an asterisked class, this is not because they are not a wonderful dancer. We would never expect a dancer who dances 2-3 hours a week to have proficiently mastered the same skills as those who spend double or triple or even quadruple the amount of time dancing. We hope that you will help us to explain this your child and encourage them not to be discouraged by this!

In closing, please know that all teachers use the month of September to evaluate all placements. If your child’s instructors feel she would be better served by moving to another class, we will be sure to let you know immediately. Thanks so much!