There are many factors that come into play when placing your dancer into a specific class, to name a few: age, maturity level, discipline, years of experience, dominion of dance vocabulary and ability to perform steps.

Let’s discuss…

Age, Maturity and Discipline:

• Students are typically grouped by similar ages, by doing this you ensure that students are learning at a pace that allows them to understand the steps and grow as dancers. If there is too large of an age range in a given class it lends itself for disruptive behavior from younger students or older students getting bored from the simplistic material that is being given.
• There are cases where younger students are mature for their age and are disciplined enough that they may be invited to attend a higher level and older age group. In this instance the instructor will evaluate if the student has dominion of vocabulary and ability to perform steps.

Years of Experience, Dominion of Vocabulary, and Ability to Perform Steps:

• A student’s years of experience go hand in hand with a dancers ability to perform the steps and know the terminology. It is imperative for the dancer to be able to demonstrate proper technique when executing the steps in order to demonstrate they belong/are ready for a given level.
• There are cases where a student may be placed in a specific group based off of their years of experience and age, but then be placed in a different level because they lack the dominion of vocabulary and performance of steps. On the other hand, if a dancer is placed in a class but demonstrates dominion of the terminology and the steps for that level, they may be placed in a higher level; despite their age and years of experience.

Keep in mind that students learn at their own pace, so always encourage them to enjoy the movement and explore their creativity while learning the correct terminology and performance of steps.