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Programs
At Rooted Dance Collective, our programs are designed to grow with you. Each stage of training is intentionally crafted to cultivate not only strong technique, but also artistry, confidence, resilience, and a deep connection to movement. From a dancer’s first exploration of movement to pre-professional pathways and our professional adult company, our curriculum nurtures the whole artist- mind, body, and soul.
COMPANY
Designed for committed dancers seeking purposeful training, our Competitive Program emphasizes technical excellence, artistic exploration, and personal growth. Dancers are challenged to expand their abilities, connect with their artistry, and contribute to a collaborative community rooted in passion, discipline, and creativity.
root Company (ages 6-8)
Where growth first takes hold.
Before a tree can reach toward the sky, it must first establish roots deep enough to support its growth. Root Company is where young dancers begin their journey into more focused training, learning that progress is built from consistency, curiosity, and care. At this stage, we introduce the responsibilities that come with being part of a company while continuing to nurture the joy and wonder that first drew them to dance. Dancers develop foundational technique, performance skills, and confidence within a supportive community that encourages both effort and exploration. Just as roots quietly anchor a tree long before anyone notices its height, the lessons learned here will sustain every season of growth to come.
sapling company (ages 9-11)
Growing with curiosity and courage.
A sapling has moved beyond its earliest beginnings and is starting to discover its own shape. Sapling Company is designed for dancers who are developing stronger technical skills while beginning to understand their individual artistic voice. This is often a season of tremendous growth, where confidence expands alongside responsibility. Dancers are encouraged to challenge themselves, embrace feedback, and cultivate resilience as they navigate new physical and emotional milestones. Like a young tree reaching steadily upward, Saplings learn that growth does not happen all at once, it happens through patience, persistence, and trust in the process.
Branch company (Ages 12-14)
Reaching farther with every season.
Branches represent possibility. They stretch toward new spaces, adapt to changing conditions, and create pathways for future growth. Branch Company serves dancers who are ready for increased challenge and deeper artistic exploration. Technical training becomes more rigorous, performance expectations rise, and dancers begin taking greater ownership of their development. This level encourages versatility, leadership, and collaboration while reinforcing the importance of staying connected to the values that support long-term growth. Every branch grows differently, and we believe that individuality is not something to be corrected but something to be cultivated.
Canopy company (ages 15-18)
The fullest expression of what has been cultivated.
The canopy is the highest-reaching part of the tree—a collection of branches working together to create something larger than themselves. Canopy Company is our most advanced youth company, serving dancers who have demonstrated exceptional commitment, artistry, and maturity. At this stage, training emphasizes technical refinement, creative expression, leadership, and preparation for opportunities beyond the studio. Dancers are encouraged to bring their full selves into their work, understanding that artistry is not simply about executing movement but communicating something meaningful through it. Like a thriving canopy, these dancers learn that their greatest strength comes from supporting one another while reaching boldly toward their highest potential.
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RECREATIONAL
Whether taking their first dance class or continuing their journey, recreational dancers are encouraged to learn, explore, and thrive in a supportive atmosphere. Our program prioritizes confidence, creativity, and connection while nurturing each dancer's unique growth and love for movement.
seedlings (ages 3-5)
The very first reach toward the light.
Every plant begins with a single, brave push through the soil — and so does every dancer. Seedlings are our youngest movers, discovering for the first time that their bodies can become something beautiful. Here, learning looks like play: we follow curiosity, explore rhythm, and build the muscle memory of joy before we ever introduce the vocabulary of technique. Just as a seedling doesn't yet know what kind of plant it will become, our youngest students are simply learning that movement is safe, that the studio is home, and that they belong to something growing. The most important lesson a Seedling can learn is this — that showing up is enough.
Sprouts (ages 6-8)
Roots forming beneath the surface.
A sprout looks small, but beneath the surface, something remarkable is happening — a root system is forming that will anchor everything that follows. In this stage, dancers begin building the foundational skills that will carry them through every level to come: listening to music, coordinating their bodies, and understanding that discipline is not a burden but a kind of love for the craft. Emotionally, Sprouts are learning how to be part of something bigger than themselves — a class, a team, a community. We plant the values of respect, effort, and resilience here, quietly and consistently, because the strongest trees always have the deepest roots.
Buds (ages 9-11)
Everything the flower will become, held in one place.
Buds are in one of the most electric seasons of a dancer's life — coordination is sharpening, styles are emerging, and the body is beginning to do things the mind only recently imagined. A bud holds the full potential of the bloom before a single petal has opened, and this group is exactly that. This is the stage where technique begins to meet artistry, where students start to feel the difference between executing a step and actually dancing it. Emotionally, this age group is navigating comparison, identity, and belonging, and our role is to cultivate a studio culture where each dancer's unique voice is celebrated, not standardized. A bud doesn't yet look like the flower it will become — and that is exactly the point.
stems (ages 12-14)
The structure that holds everything up.
The stem is the spine of the plant — the part that decides how tall something will grow and whether it can hold the weight of what it will eventually carry. At this stage, dancers are in the most formative season of their development, and we take that seriously. Technically, Stems are building strength, specificity, and stylistic range across multiple disciplines while learning to work with their changing bodies rather than against them. Emotionally, they are discovering perhaps the most important lesson a dancer will ever receive — how to receive correction with grace and use it as fuel rather than defeat. How a dancer learns to stand in this season will determine how beautifully they grow in every season that follows.
Blooms (ages 15-18)
Coming into full, intentional expression.
A flower does not bloom by accident — it blooms because every prior season of growth has prepared it to. Blooms are our most advanced recreational dancers, and this level is as much about artistry and identity as it is about technique. Students in this stage are encouraged to bring themselves fully into their movement — their stories, their questions, their contradictions — because that is what transforms a performance into something an audience remembers. We also use this season to prepare dancers for what comes after the studio: auditions, collegiate programs, community performance, or simply a lifelong relationship with their own body and creativity. Blooming is not a destination; it is the beginning of understanding what you are capable of, and choosing, again and again, to open.
Rooted Plus (ages 18+)
Returning to where it all begins.
There is a quiet wisdom in the adult dancer — someone who chooses movement not for a recital or a résumé, but because the body knows it needs this. Rooted+ is a space designed for adults at every level of experience, from first-timers to returning professionals, built on the belief that dance is not something you age out of but something you grow deeper into. Here we release the performance pressure and return to the purest reason any of us started: to feel alive in our bodies, to belong to a community, and to remember that we are never too far into life to begin again. The roots of a mature tree run the deepest — and in this class, we honor exactly that.