Hawkins School of Performing Arts

Hawkins School of Performing Arts offers classes in Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Contemporary, Tap, Hip Hop, Musical Theater, Acrobatics, Singing, Acting, and a range of children's classes. The program includes options for both dance and other performing arts such as musical theater, vocal training, and acting.

• Ages: 3–18 years old
• Schedule: Office hours Monday–Thursday roughly 3:00pm–8:00pm and Friday roughly 3:00pm–7:00pm, with additional Saturday office hours from 10:00am to noon

Hawkins School of Performing Arts was founded by Deirdre Hawkins over 30 years ago in Folsom and has been a place where artists of all ages come to learn, grow, and discover their passion for the performing arts for 39 years. The school describes itself as a family-centered studio built on community, creativity, and excellence, and notes that students are welcome to participate casually or more seriously depending on their interest level. Growth is supported through regular classes, camps, workshops, master classes, and intensives, and the school offers trial classes that can be booked online.

The leadership team includes founder Deirdre Hawkins and Luke Hawkins, who is a 10+ year resident of New York City, tours and performs professionally in a variety of productions, and dedicates much of his time to teaching. Hawkins is described as a regional leader in the performing arts with a broad base across many dance disciplines and as offering programs in musical theater, acrobatics, singing, and acting in addition to dance.

The school states that its goal is to create a fun, family environment that enables children to experience the benefits of dance, movement, and expression, while also inspiring and preparing them to grow as performing artists, and that it does not just train performers but helps build confident, creative, and passionate people who carry a love of the arts with them for a lifetime. Hawkins notes that it has provided excellence in training in the performing arts for 37 years and is described as “The Greater Folsom Area's BEST PERFORMING ARTS BEST DANCE STUDIO BEST INSTRUCTORS” and “the premier dance and performing arts academy in Folsom and the greater Sacramento area.”

Hawkins took root in the Folsom community and grew rapidly, prompting two moves and expansions to accommodate strong interest across dance disciplines. Programs are offered for children's classes and program, recreational dancers and performers, and troupe and company dancers.

Parent and community testimonials describe Hawkins as the premier dance and performing arts academy in Folsom and the greater Sacramento area and state that there is no better place to train. One parent shares that Hawkins has been a second home to their dancer for 10 years and that teachers have instilled a great sense of confidence and love for the art form. Another parent notes that their three daughters love dancing there and that their oldest is on the tap dance company and is thriving, and describes the staff as great with amazing talent. A further testimonial states that Hawkins is a studio where a child can receive foundational training to become a technical dancer while also understanding the importance of the art of performing, and that the family loves the studio and recommends it strongly.

Last updated June 10, 2026.