What will I/my child need for class? We do not have a required dress code, with the exception of our ballet classes which require a black leotard, pink tights, pink ballet shoes and hair in a bun. All of our classes require dancers to come in clothing that is comfortable to move in. Please no street clothes, thank you. Our As far as shoes...Our preschool dancers and 5-7 year olds need tan tap shoes, and pink ballet shoes. Our 8-11 and teen classes need foot undeeze, and tan tap shoes. All of these shoes are available for purchase at Dance Tech, for nearly 25% less than you will find at any dance supply store. For those dancers taking any of our hip hop classes, please wear a good supportive tennis shoe.
When is tuition do and how do I pay? Tuition is due by the 5th of each month. You can pay by check or cash at the studio, or online with a credit card on our online payments page.
Do you offer fundraising opportunities? Yes. We have an excellent Booster Crew that began in 2007. They provide several fundraising opportunities throughout the year to help families pay for costumes and tuition. These are optional. All your proceeds go directly into your dance account. Watch the info boards posted in our lobby, student lounge and entry way for information on any upcoming fund raisers.
What are your class sizes? We try to keep all of our recreational dance classes at 10 students or less. These classes have an adult teacher and assistant teacher. Any recreational classes going over 10 students will have an adult teacher and 2 assistant teachers. Our recreational classes will never have more than 15 students. We take pride in our 5/1 student/teacher ratio!
Can parents observe classes? We have closed circuit television at our Forest Lake location, for parents to watch class from the lobby. We chose to not have viewing windows as so many studies have shown that this becomes distracting to the student, thus hindering their learning. Our Pine City location has "watch weeks" the last class of each month.
What kind of dance flooring & mirrors are used? Many studios choose to cut costs in these areas by not using full length mirrors, or good proper flooring. We feel, next to the quality of instruction, that these are two of the most important things for a quality dance education. All of our studios have floating wood dance floors. This is the ideal floor for all forms of dance. This type of flooring protects the knees and backs of our dancers. All of our studios have full length mirrors so that the dancers can see their full bodies, as well as observe the instructor fully. This also allows our instructors to be able to watch their students from the top of their head to the tips of their toes, to make sure they are doing things correctly.
What are the qualifications of your teaching staff? All of our classes are run by highly qualified, adult instructors. Many that are current or former professional dancers. We do not have students teaching our classes. We also have several of our very best former Dance Tech students, many national dance champions, that have mentored with our owner, and have basically grown up in the studio, learning and observing what is successful in teaching. All of our instructors simply adore children, and have a true passion for dance that they want to pass on to others. Our staff continues their dance education throughout the year by attending workshops and training sessions around the country. This allows them to learn new and improved ways of teaching your children, as well as keep up on the current styles and trends. You will find that our staff is second to none. We have well over 100 years of teaching experience combined. You will find that our instructors range in age, each one with their own unique, wonderful personalities, and gifts. We are sure you will find the perfect fit for your/your child's dance education!
Do you have a recital each year and are all dancers required to participate? We actually have two recital each year. We have a Holiday recital in December, this year we are very excited to announce that we will be doing, The Nutcracker...All Jazzed Up! We also have an annual recital in June. We would love for all students to participate in both performances, but we do not require them to. Our students are welcome to just take class if they choose. Both of these performances are wonderful opportunities for dancers to showcase the skills they learned throughout the year.
How long are your recitals? We are VERY pleased to tell you that our recitals are a reasonable length. Most are approximately 2 hours, with an intermission. We have heard many stories about studios where their recitals last more than 4 hours. You will never find that at Dance Tech. We run a very smooth operation, & have lots of back stage help! We also hold our recitals in auditoriums that seat many people so that our recreational students do not have to be in more than one show.
How about the cost of costumes? We try to keep our costume prices around $50 for each costume for our recreational dancers. These can be paid for in payments or all at once. We do require a $50/ per costume deposit by December 1st of each year, so that we can order the costumes and have them in time for pictures and the recital. You can pay your deposits at the studio or online.
What if I have a question? You will always find a fully staffed front desk. Our managers DeDe(Forest Lake) and Sam (Pine City) are there to help you with all your needs. You may talk to them in person, or call and leave a message and they will get back to you a.s.a.p. Should you need to contact the owner, Robin, you can catch her between classes or feel free to email her at any time. Our instructors are always available in between classes to answer questions as well. You can also email any of our instructors from our website.
