Looking for Dance School in Berkeley Area for 9-Year-Old
Hi everyone,
I’m looking for a dance school in the Berkeley area for my 9-year-old daughter. She’s taken ballet classes before but didn’t enjoy them much. I’m mainly hoping to find a program that can help improve her posture—something structured and a bit strict, but still fun and engaging.
If the school offers after-school pickup from Malcolm X Elementary, that would be a huge plus.
Thanks so much for any recommendations!
Wendy
Jul 31, 2025
Parent Replies
We love Shawl-Anderson on Alcatraz. Our kids are younger than yours but we've found the classes to be very well-structured.
SADC is serious about dance but they environment isn't overbearing so it's great for kids who like dancing as a hobby as well as those looking to pursue it more deeply.
They don't offer pick up as far as I know, but they have weekday afternoon classes for kids your child's age. You can see the available classes here: https://www.shawl-anderson.org/youth-registration#8-11. Note that the upcoming session starts on August. 18th.
Good luck!
Hi, Wendy- I don't know where your daughter took classes before, but Berkeley Ballet Theatre has a strong kids' program. Shawl Anderson has a robust kids' dance program, which includes beginner ballet for your daughter's age group. I don't know the specific teachers at these studios (I take adult classes at both), but Shawl Anderson offers a lot of other dance genres for kids, which your daughter may enjoy more than ballet. If she likes moving and music, you might even see if she's (more) interested in a kids' jazz, hip hop, or contemporary dance class...and that may lead her to WANT to take ballet in order to improve in her preferred genre. I started in modern dance and love it, and everyone told me I should also take ballet to supplement my development. I had to get over the hump of disliking ballet, and I did :-). But it's not necessarily the most fun genre for a kid to start in...good luck! I coach competitive kid gymnasts and yeah, quite a few don't have the best posture but we work on it as part of their training for competition.
Berkeley City Ballet offers a Youth Ballet class, which might be a good fit for your daughter. It's not part of their training program, but is more of a recreational class for dancers who want to give ballet a try. They offer a free trial class for all new students if she wants to try it out before enrolling! They also have a more strict training program, but that might not be for your daughter if she's isn't trying ballet again after not liking it.