Ballet Classes For Kids Ages 5-7

ballet for kids, kids ballet class, kids ballet schools, kids ballet

Dance teacher, Ines Andrade, with her children's pre-ballet students 'back stage' awaiting their art-walk performance.

Click on any red flag above to learn more about our studio locations.

Summer Session

Session Dates: June 30 - August 28, 2025

  • Greenwood

  • SHORELINE

  • WEDGWOOD

  • MAGNOLIA

Scroll for any additional class listings

Spring Session

Session Dates: March 31 - June 19, 2025

  • Greenwood

  • SHORELINE

  • WEDGWOOD

  • MAGNOLIA

Scroll for any additional class listings

Winter/Spring Session

Session Dates: February 10 - June 19, 2025

  • Greenwood

  • SHORELINE

  • WEDGWOOD

  • MAGNOLIA

Scroll for any additional class listings

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

American Dance Institute's 34th Annual Dance Recital
Elizabeth Chayer, American Dance Institute Seattle, dance classes, dance studio, Hip Hop studio, Ballet classes

"

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 is an assistant Director at The American Dance Institute and teaches ballet and more.teaches

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.

Read More

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 Instructor The American Dance Institute

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. 

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.  

Read More

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

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. 

Read More

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.

Join our mailing list to get new class announcements & helpful dance tips here.