Ballet Classes For Kids Ages 5-7

Dance teacher, Ines Andrade, with her children's pre-ballet students 'back stage' awaiting their art-walk performance.
This video is a performance from the May 2018 Greenwood-Phinney ArtWalk event. These little ballerinas, ages 9-12, performed beautifully and touched every heart in the audience.
A performance from the American Dance Institute's 33 Annual Spring Recital 2022 Seattle's Magnolia Children's Ballet 1.5 & II perform Ballet Suite No. 3
Kid's Ballet Classes Seattle & Shoreline
Beginner Ballet Classes that Build Strong Foundations for Young Dancers
Pre-Ballet, continues working on all the elements of our Creative Toddler Dance class series, but also introduces the basic ballet positions and preparatory steps. Children should not start formal ballet training until they are nearing eight years of age.
Beginning students start in Pre-Ballet I. Promotion to levels II and III is by instructor recommendation.
Progressing levels of our Pre-ballet classes gradually increase the emphasis on ballet technique, building the grace, poise, and strength required to execute the more demanding technical work in our ballet classes.
The American Dance Institute Dance Studios Near You.
Six spacious dance studios in four Seattle locations, including Greenwood, Wedgwood, Magnolia, and two studios in Shoreline, WA.
Spring Session
Session Dates: March 31 - June 19, 2025
Winter/Spring Session
Session Dates: February 10 - June 19, 2025
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New Years Resolution Session Classes
Session Dates: January 6 - March 30, 2025
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Dress Code for ages 5-7
Girls wear short sleeve cotton leotard (Bloch Style #CL5402) in light pink, pink tights, and pink ballet slippers.
Boys wear black dance pants or sweats, white T-shirt, white or black ballet slippers.
Hair should be pulled back in a bun if it will fit. If short, it should be pulled back off the face.
Attire is available at Centerstage Dance Shop, or check our swapbox
Ballet Class levels
Ballet I: Starts at the very beginning. It is designed for students who have never had ballet before or have studied ballet so long ago that they want a complete refresher course.
Ballet I.5 : For student who have had 4 -6 months of recent lessons
Ballet II : For student who have had at least on year of recent lessons
Ballet III: For student who have had at least two years of recent lessons


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Why Our Classes Are Non-Competitive
"Young children have yet to develop a healthy perspective with which to frame ballet's competitiveness. Bad experiences can damage a child's self image and dampen their enthusiasm for ballet. To protect fragile self-images, we encourage young students to first discover their 'own best self', not to compare themselves to others who may have more or less natural ability."
Elizabeth Chayer - Founder, Director of The American Dance Institute
Meet Your Children's Ballet Teachers

Dakota Crist
Assistant Director
MOMMY & ME, CREATIVE DANCE, PRE-BALLET, BALLET, JAZZ and MODERN DANCE
Dakota Crist had her earlier, training in Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, and Modern Dance at Diane’s Dance Works in Helena, Montana, then went on to study at Creative Arts Center in Helena, Ballet Montana Academy and Sacramento Ballet. Dakota relocated to Seattle in 2013 and holds a BFA in Dance from Cornish College of the Arts.
As a young dancer, she attended Joffrey South, American Academy of Ballet, and Ballet West's summer intensives. Her love of dance drove her train pre-professionally with Ballet Montana and as a company trainee with Sacramento Ballet.
After graduating from Cornish, Dakota shifted her focus to dance education. She has been teaching dance since 2009 and has taught for ADI since 2018.

Ainsleigh Orwin
Ballet, Mommy & Me & Creative Dance
Ainsleigh Orwin began dancing at the age of 5 at Village Dance Arts in Claremont, CA where she was trained in RAD curriculum ballet, as well as modern, jazz, hip-hop, and tap. In 2017, Ainsleigh moved to Seattle to continue her education at the University of Washington. She currently holds a B.A. in Dance and B.S. in Biology (Physiology) from UW.
Ainsleigh has been teaching since she was 17, starting at her home studio and branching out to teach summer camps and outreach classes in elementary schools. Her passion for teaching and dance led her to American Dance Institute after graduating from UW in 2021.

Justine Huggins
Office Manager, Ballet, Creative, and Mommy & Me
Justine has been a student of dance since she was 5 years old, starting with pre-ballet at ADI! She studied ballet into adolescence before shifting to focus on modern dance. She has studied other styles; including hip-hop, jazz, and flamenco. Dance has always been her happy place, and she loves to bring that same joy and belonging to young dancers as a teacher.
Justine serves as office manage for our Greenwood office and she is also a student at the University of Washington working towards a bachelors in English.

Heather McRobbie
Mommy & Me, Creative Dance, Pre-Ballet, & Hip Hop
Bio Coming Soon

Grace Smith
Administrative Assistant, Mommy & Me, Creative Dance, & Ballet
Grace Smith is a recent graduate from the University of Hartford (Hartt School) with a BFA in Dance Performance and a minor in Business Administration. She is from Bainbridge Island, WA and began training with Bainbridge Dance Center.
She looks forward to sharing her love of dance with students at ADI.
Grace continued her classical ballet training with Olympic Ballet School and Peninsula Dance Theater. She performed with Peninsula Dance Theater as a principal from 2018-2020. She has attended summer training programs at Walnut Hill School for the Arts, Joffrey Ballet Academy Chicago, University of Utah, Bossov Ballet Theater, and Alonzo King Lines Ballet. Grace most recently trained in Amsterdam with the Henny Jurriéns Studio where she performed at the Café Belcampo in De Hallen Amsterdam. Over the past four years at The Hartt School, she has had the privilege of learning and performing works by Martha Graham, José Limón, Stephen Pier, Debra Collins Ryder, and Hope Boykin as well as developing her pedagogical skills.

Janae Walla
Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, Musical Theater, & Creative Dance
Janae holds a BFA in Dance from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle and an Associate's Degree in Acting from Johnson County Community College in Kansas City.
Janae, originally from Kansas City, Missouri, has recently returned to Seattle after spending several years traveling across the US and living in Southern California. As a teacher, she is committed to providing her students with both functional technique and artistic quality, aiming to inspire and develop their full potential. Beyond teaching dance classes, Janae can be found training aerial arts, practicing yoga, at a farmers market, or camping with her dog.
Janae was a founding member of Wingbeat Movement Arts, a San Diego-based aerial and contemporary dance company. Her training spans contemporary modern styles, musical theatre, ballet, and jazz. With a decade of experience teaching and choreographing musical theatre, Janae also enjoys teaching contemporary, modern, and improv classes. Her dedication extends beyond performance to her personal improv and somatic dance practices.
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