FAQs

This depends on your child’s age and interest level. Children ages 18 months through six years of age should enroll in our Children’s Program, while students ages seven years and older have the option to join either our Open/Recreational Program, or our Classical Program. Information about each program is listed specifically on our website under the appropriate tabs. Or, feel free to contact our front desk for more information!

Our Children’s Program is designed for our youngest dancers and is age-based.

Placement for the school year is determined by a dancer’s age as of October 1. This allows children to learn alongside students at a similar developmental stage while working through curriculum specifically designed for their physical, cognitive, social, and emotional abilities.

Students in the Children’s Program progress to the next age-appropriate level during the fall placement cycle rather than moving levels throughout the school year.

Classical Program placement is determined by the directors through an auditioned process. Placement is based on technical readiness and safe execution of the curriculum, not simply a dancer’s age or the number of years they have taken ballet (or any other genre of dance). 

Faculty consider multiple factors when determining placement, with a dancer’s ability to safely and consistently perform the required material taking priority. Physical development, strength, coordination, technical understanding, attendance, maturity, and readiness for the demands of the next level can all play a role. 

It is completely normal for a dancer to spend more than one year at a Classical level. Training is cumulative, and advancing before the body is ready can create technical weaknesses that become much harder to correct later. 

Classical placements and promotions occur during the fall placement cycle and are non-negotiable. Transfer students are required to complete placement classes so that we can determine the safest and most appropriate starting point. 

At NSB, placement is not a race, it is part of the training. 

These classes are completely optional and based exclusively by age as listed. If your child is looking for a less intensive dance experience while still receiving excellent training from master instructors, then this is the program for you!

ATP stands for Accelerated Training Program.

ATP is an additional program for dancers who want a more intensive and diverse dance experience that includes expanded training, performances, competitions, conventions, master classes, choreography, and other opportunities.

It is important to understand that ATP is not a separate substitute for NSB’s classical training. Instead, it builds upon that foundation.

ATP is designed for dancers ages 6–18 who are enrolled in NSB’s qualifying Children’s or full Classical Program. Recreational/Open Program students are not eligible. Dancers apply to the program and are accepted based upon experience followed by a placement audition. Dancers younger than age 5 may also be accepted at the discretion of the directors on an individual basis.

Requirements vary by age and assigned level and may include ballet, jazz, lyrical/contemporary, acrobatic dance, choreography, and additional genres. 

For younger dancers, ATP provides an exciting, supportive introduction to broader training and team experiences. As students mature, the program becomes increasingly intensive and provides opportunities to maximize technical development, artistry, versatility, and performance experience. 

ATP is appropriate for many serious dancers, but a professional career is not required to make the program worthwhile. Its purpose is to help participating dancers reach their individual potential, whether their future includes professional dance, collegiate dance, or simply becoming the strongest artist they can be. 

All class registrations must be made through the online portal, where you will be required to set up an account.

Students participating in the Children’s Program or Open/Recreational Program can register at any time, selecting classes based on their age as of October 1 for the school year.

Students participating in the Classical Program must first attend placement classes before they can register in their assigned level.

Classes are not able to be dropped online. Instead, you will have to email our office and request that we drop any desired classes. Drop requests must be completed before that month’s tuition is run in order to avoid being charged.

Students in the Classical Program are not permitted to drop any classes required for their level placement. See the Classical Program tab for details.

It depends upon your dancer’s program.

Every enrolled student is expected to follow the dress code and classroom policies for their assigned class or level. Some programs also have minimum training and attendance requirements. In the Classical Program, for example, students must attend the scheduled classes required for their placement, and tuition is based on the total number of weekly training hours associated with that program and level.

Performances are not automatically mandatory simply because your child takes classes at NSB. Additional productions and performance opportunities may be optional, with the exception of ATP students for whom it is required.

NSB tuition is calculated according to the total number of class hours your dancer takes each week, with minimum training requirements varying by program and level. Tuition is paid monthly and is non-refundable once run.

Summer sessions are billed separately, and camps and intensives have separate fees.

Your exact amount depends upon your dancer’s enrollment. Please refer to your NSB account or contact the front desk if you are unsure what your family will be charged.

Once payments are made they are non-refundable, except on a case-by-case basis at the exclusive discretion of the directors.

Families who withdraw after tuition is run may request a credit be placed on their account for future use.

NSB’s level-specific ballet leotards are ordered through Dance Away in downtown Chico.

Simply tell Dance Away your dancer’s NSB level, and they can help you with the appropriate uniform. Families are also responsible for the required shoes, tights or socks, hair supplies, pointe supplies where applicable, and any genre-specific dance wear.

Our uniform requirements are intentional. A consistent dress code allows instructors to clearly see alignment and placement, reduces classroom distractions, promotes equality among students inside the classroom, and helps establish the professional classroom environment that is an important part of an NSB education. 

Uniforms are one small example of the larger NSB philosophy: details matter when you are building excellent training.

Our programs and schedules are designed to prioritize dancers ages 18 months to 18 years. We offer adult classes when there is studio space available, so keep an eye out for when those cases arise!

No, duration does not equal quality.

The appropriate class length depends upon a dancer’s age, developmental stage, technical level, physical capacity, and the goals of the curriculum.

For very young children especially, simply making a class longer does not make it more educational. Excellent early-childhood instruction is carefully paced to match young children’s attention spans, motor development, ability to process instructions, and need for repetition and movement. 

As dancers grow and their physical and technical capabilities increase, their class lengths and weekly training requirements increase as well.

At NSB, we would rather provide the right amount of excellent, purposeful instruction than add minutes simply to make a class appear more substantial. Every part of our progressive curriculum is designed with the dancer’s development in mind. NSB specifically identifies developmentally appropriate curriculum as a central part of its training philosophy.

Yes. NSB students and alumni have continued into collegiate dance programs, professional training programs and intensives, and careers in the arts. Our training is intentionally designed to prepare dancers who wish to pursue those opportunities while still serving students whose goals lie outside the professional dance world. 

Our faculty also maintains connections with respected ballet schools and dance professionals around the country, helping serious students understand and access appropriate next-step training opportunities. 

At the same time, we do not believe the value of a dance school should be measured solely by how many professional dancers it produces. For most children, dance will not ultimately become their profession, and we consider their training every bit as important. 

A truly successful dance education should prepare the student who dreams of a professional career and enrich the life of the student who eventually becomes a doctor, teacher, engineer, artist, parent, entrepreneur, or anything else they choose. 

Our goal is to provide training strong enough to open doors without requiring every child to walk through the same one. 

Parents often know what questions to ask when choosing a preschool, sports program, music teacher, or academic tutor, but dance education can be harder to evaluate if you did not grow up in the dance world yourself.

We encourage families to ask questions.

A beautiful costume, exciting performance, large trophy collection, or long class can all be wonderful, but none of those things, by themselves, tell you the quality of the education your child receives each week.

Here are some questions worth asking:

1. Is this class taught by a qualified adult instructor who has been trained to teach this age group using an established methodology and curriculum?

Young children are not simply smaller versions of older dancers. Their bodies, attention spans, coordination, language skills, emotional regulation, and learning styles are still developing rapidly.

An excellent preschool dance class should therefore be more than music and movement. There should be a developmental purpose behind what children are being asked to do.

At NSB, our youngest dancers are taught through age-appropriate curriculum specifically designed to combine movement, imagination, music, direction, and progressive skill development. The Children’s Program is intended not only to introduce children to dance, but to foster creativity, help them grow, prepare them for future classical training, and allow them to have fun in the process.

2. What training does the faculty have?

Look beyond whether an instructor was once a talented dancer.

Ask about education, professional experience, teacher training, certifications, curriculum, and continuing professional development.

NSB’s faculty brings professional experience and specialized teacher training to the classroom, with credentials and certifications that are uncommon in regional dance education.

3. Is there a curriculum, or does every teacher simply decide what to teach?

Strong dance education should build progressively.

At NSB, students work through a graded syllabus designed to establish the skills and qualities needed for the next stages of training.

This creates continuity from teacher to teacher and level to level instead of leaving a dancer’s progress dependent upon a collection of unrelated classes.

4. How are students advanced?

Ask whether dancers move up simply because they have reached a certain birthday, completed a school year, or spent a certain number of years in dance, or whether advancement reflects actual readiness.

In NSB’s Classical Program, safe execution of the curriculum takes precedence over age.

5. Is ballet treated as a foundation?

For families interested in long-term dance education, this is an important question.

Strong classical ballet training develops placement, alignment, coordination, musicality, strength, control, discipline, and technical vocabulary that can support a dancer across many other genres.

That is why NSB remains, first and foremost, a classical ballet school even while offering extensive training and performance opportunities in many other styles.

6. Does the program fit my child, not just today, but if they fall in love with dance?

Your three-year-old does not need to know whether they want to become a professional dancer.

But the school you choose should know how to teach the three-year-old who simply loves music and how to support that same child years later if their interests become serious.

NSB offers a continuum from beginning Children’s classes through recreational, intensive Classical, accelerated, collegiate-preparatory, and pre-professional training. Students can grow within the school as their interests, abilities, and goals evolve.

You do not have to know today how far your dancer will want to go. Our job is to make sure excellent training never limits the possibilities. Train with NSB, and train right the first time.