Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School & Camp

Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School & Camp offers dance, theatre, musical theatre, production design, circus arts, and equestrian activities. Participants can take part in acting, voice, a full range of dance styles, theatrical design, concept development, hands-on practice, choreographing, puppeteering, teaching, equitation and jumping, horse care skills, barn duties, and formal riding lessons. The program includes equestrian programming for students ages 7–12 and offers programs in Dance, Theater, Production Design, and Circus Arts.

• Ages: 7–18 years old
• Schedule: Dance program offered as a two-week program

Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School & Camp is described as the first performing arts camp in the U.S. and the oldest continuously operating performing arts school and camp in the country, with more than a century of artistic legacy and over 100 years of nurturing artists and young people. The mission of Perry-Mansfield is to provide young people superior arts training in body, heart, and mind and to promote creativity, a sense of the close association of the arts, and the values of a way of life close to nature, accomplished through world-class instructors and a holistic approach. Dance program participants train alongside a nationally recognized dance company, and theatre program students train with a renowned faculty. The organization attracts 250 students from ages 7 through adult professional students from across the country and showcases over twenty performances each summer. Perry-Mansfield is also described as the first camp to offer English riding instruction west of the Mississippi and notes small equestrian class sizes to support personal attention and growth in riding skills.

Perry-Mansfield mentions community partnerships under its school year programs and is working on a Conservation Easement Initiative to permanently protect its land through a conservation easement, supported in part by community donations toward legal and conservation costs. The Perry-Mansfield Endowment is intended as a permanent financial foundation to support long-term stability, artistic excellence, and expanded access. One testimonial from Ben Howard describes time at Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School & Camp spent choreographing, puppeteering, teaching, reconnecting with old friends, meeting new artists, and staging “101 Dalmatians Kids,” and another testimonial notes a night watching pre-professional intensive dancers described as very dedicated and hard working and mentions meeting a former camper who became a Rockette.

Last updated June 3, 2026.