Dance Recitals
2023/24 Recital Dates for Shoreline and Ballard academies!
The June 2025 Recital is at Shorewood Performance Center!
Our Ballard and Shoreline dance classes perform twice per year. We do a showcase performance at the studio during regular class time from January 25th through 31st, 2025; which is a more casual performance. Then in June on the 13th, 14th, and 15th, 2025, we have our formal grand end of the year recital with full costumes, lighting, and sometimes live musical accompaniment! Our year end recitals are held in professional performance spaces with world class incredible lighting and sound engineers. Year end recital locations have included Benaroya Hall, Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall, Shorewood Performance Center, the Seattle Children’s Theater in Seattle Center, and McMenamins Anderson School Hotel. To attend our year end recital you must purchase a ticket. Ticket prices vary depending on the venue, but plan to spend $25, plus sales tax and fees. Keep in mind that our shows tend to sell out!
Our recitals are the perfect venue for your child to show family and friends the results of months of learning and practice. As a performing art, the dance recital is an important part of the dance experience as a whole.
Working as a team and working towards a collective goal are great lessons learned during the recital experience. Our recitals are organized and designed to eliminate “stage fright” and help performers build self esteem. The excitement of the costumes, make-up, big stage and fun games backstage make for an experience your child will remember for a lifetime.
Our dance recitals are an entertaining event for parents, grandparents, neighbors and the other dancers waiting to perform backstage.
Why Performing is Beneficial for Your Child
As you’ve probably noticed, the team at The Academy of Music and Dance has already begun talking about the end of the year recital! Recital planning is already well underway by the first day of classes. It’s this time of year, with the buzz of recital just beginning, that parents sometimes ask us, “Why should my child participate? What’s beneficial about it?”
This is an excellent question—and a significant one! The recital is an investment in your child’s dance education, and it’s a pretty important commitment. At its core, dance is a performing art, which is part of the reason why we want every child to experience the thrill of being onstage.
We believe there are three core reasons at the heart of why performing is so valuable, even for our youngest dancers:
1. Progress
Throughout the dance season, your child is making awesome progress in class. And when we say “awesome progress” we don’t necessarily mean the obvious, like learning fancy ballet steps (although that is pretty awesome too!). What we mean is that your super-shy child bursts with confidence, or your child who said “I can’t” now says “I can,” or your teen who hid her smile now shines with every practice. Seeing this kind of progress in class is great, but having it showcased on stage is priceless! Performing allows your child to demonstrate their progress—both with the steps AND with their self-esteem.
2. Potential
The recital is an excellent time to see what’s possible if your child sticks with dance for the long-term. From the audience, you’re able to see the potential dance holds as you watch the variety of styles and age groups. Your child, too, will be inspired by seeing the different dance routines, and might think to themselves, “I bet I can do that too!” Dance offers the promise of so much growth if a young child perseveres and works hard; the recital performance brings this potential into the spotlight!
3. Passion
Performing holds an excitement like some children have never experienced before. Nerves can transform in an instant as the dancers light up with joy when stepping foot onstage; they are swept away by the magic of entertaining the crowd. The sense of accomplishment they feel has them hooked! It’s this growing passion—not perfect technique or memory—that makes performing so special.
Progress, potential, passion … these are foundation of what performance is all about! At The Academy of Music and Dance, we love pretty much any opportunity to chat about these benefits, so if you have any questions about having your child perform in our recital, don’t hesitate to ask!