Dance Lessons for a 3 Yr Old

Hi A.,

My daughter turns 3 in a month. We are starting ballet & tap at The Dance Company on Park Row/Bowen in Arlington tomorrow. I looked around at a lot of studios in the area, and in Arlington this is the best that I've seen. They have a deal there if you pay the registration fee and first months tuition you get the ballet shoes, tap shoes, leotard and tights free. They have 3 dance studios in their building each with mirrored walls and floating dance floors, and each has double-sided mirrors that SPAN the length of the room so you can watch her dance and see how she is doing. Their website is http://www.thedancecompanydfw.com/

Also, my sister is a dance teacher (at studios further East and West than I'd like to travel this young). I had her go there and a couple other places and she thought this was the best place to go as far as their teaching policies, knowledge, and technique. Some other places had no control over the classes, and were having the preschool classes do dangerous tumbles and such without supporting them properly where the kids could easily get hurt or even break a neck. Let me know if you need anything else!

Try your local parks/recreation. It's much more affordable and you can pay by the session which is normally 8-10 weeks for less than $50. We offer it at the NRH Recreation Center (http://www.nrhtx.com/pdf/discover_brochure_new.pdf) see page 15. Just call ###-###-#### for details, availability, etc. Good luck!!

Most rec centers have toddler/little people dance classes for really cheap. The rec center by my house only charges like $30 per month.

You might want to post what area you live in...

On Cheek Sparger, in Colleyville, I've heard lots of good things about Pat Riddle. In Arlington, there is the CATS theare; they provide dance. Also, in Arlington off Park Row, just West of Bowen, on the North side of the road, there is a dance studio that several of my friends have their girls enrolled.

I'm not sure where you live, but my 4 year old started taking dance when she was 3 at StudioOne Dance Center in Keller. It just opened in August 2007, and my daughter started taking dance when it opened. Jennifer, the owner/instructor, is wonderful. You can tell she loves what she does and loves the kids as well. She is patient and kind with them always. We love, love, love the studio. My daughter takes a tap, ballet, tumbling combo class on Monday evening, and she absolutely loves the class. Feel free to contact me if you'd like more details. I couldn't say enough positive things about the studio. We also love the fact that it is a Christian dance studio... we don't have the concerns about appropriateness of moves/costumes as our daughter gets older. We pay $50/month for one hour/week class. There is also a recital fee in the spring. I think that fee is $50, and a costume fee of $65. Good luck with your search. If you'd like to check out their website it's www.studioonedancecenter.com.

Hi A.,

You could try Kindermusik classes. I teach those in Plano and Arlington. All our classes are built around music and movement, and we offer classes for birth to age 7. The 3 yr. olds are in a class called "Imagine That!" which is built around their imagination. For more info, you can go to my website at www.kindermusikbysheila.com or give me a call at ###-###-####. We always let you come try a class for free!

I don't know where you live but we go to Dance Invasion in Arlington. Addysen has been there since she was 3 and she loves it. At that age they do I think 20min of ballet, 20min of tap and 20min of a tumbling class. This year Addysen was asked to be on their competition team and so I'm not real sure what they do in the regular 4yr old class, I'm sure it's just ballet and tap. If your interested in trying a class(I think you can do a trial class for free) call them at ###-###-#### and tell them R. Grigsby sent you.