Youth Dance Program
NW Dance Project Creative Center, 211 NE 10th Ave, Portland, OR 97232
About
Youth Dance Program includes classes in Creative Movement, Ballet, Primary Ballet, Pre-pointe, Pointe, Contemporary, Jazz, Broadway Jazz, Strength & Stretch, Hip hop, Conditioning and fitness, Improvisation, Repertoire, and Performance. Students may choose to train in individual styles, and annual registration is required with no drop-ins allowed.
• Ages: 4–18 years old
• Schedule: Annual 2025/26 Youth Program runs from September 15, 2025, to June 7, 2026, with youth classes resuming January 5, 2026, after Winter Break and including a Winter Showcase in December and a Student Artist Showcase in May.
• Price: Students will train in ballet and contemporary classes at a cost effective tuition rate; annual registration is required and a payment plan is available.
The Youth Dance Program offers Creative Movement for ages 4 and 5, a Junior Track (Primary Ballet to Level 4) for ages 6 to 16, and a Pro Track for ages 13 to 18. Primary Ballet and Ballet 1 placements are determined by age with no formal evaluation necessary. The Pro Track Program provides a comprehensive study of the techniques, discipline, and styles of dance that support a professional career and prepares dancers for entry into leading companies, conservatories, and colleges.
Young Creatives Company is by audition only, requires enrollment in Pro Track, and focuses on nurturing the next generation of artists through creative choreographic process, repertoire, and performance experience. Dancers in Young Creatives Company must attend all rehearsals to be considered for performances and other opportunities, and pre-registration is required for auditions. Throughout the year, aspiring young dance artists have two performance opportunities, the Winter Showcase and the Student Artist Showcase, plus special performing opportunities and events.
The 2025/26 Youth Program calendar includes no classes on Halloween (October 31, 2025), Veteran’s Day (November 11, 2025), Martin Luther King Jr. Day (January 19, 2026), President’s Day (February 16, 2026), and Memorial Day (May 25, 2026). Thanksgiving Break runs November 24 to 30, 2025, Winter Break runs December 15, 2025, to January 4, 2026, and Spring Break runs March 23 to 29, 2026. The Winter Showcase is scheduled for December 13 and 14, 2025, the Winter Dance Intensive runs December 29, 2025, to January 2, 2026, and the Student Artist Showcase and its rehearsal are scheduled for May 31, 2026. The Young Creatives audition is scheduled for September 27, 2025, from 12:00 to 1:30 PM.
NW Dance Project, which runs the Youth Dance Program, was founded in Portland in 2004 by acclaimed dancer, mentor, and choreographer Sarah Slipper, who serves as Artistic Director. NW Dance Project opened an 8,500 square foot Creative Center in March 2014. The organization states that it celebrates, supports, and represents excellence in dance and is dedicated to creating and performing original contemporary dance works and providing dance training for all while performing, educating, creating, cultivating, and championing diversity.
NW Dance Project is described as an award-winning, bold, and innovative contemporary dance company with an international reputation for cultivating and nurturing young dancers. It is committed to advancing dance education and community involvement through projects, intensives, workshops, classes, accessible performances, studio sessions, outdoor performances, special events, master classes, collaborations, and conversations with artists. It brings performances into public spaces such as streets, coffee shops, hospitals, and shopping malls, offers cost-free Dance Moves programs for young, challenged community members, and holds free public performances as often as possible. NW Dance Project states that it believes dance is for everybody and every body and is dedicated to the fair, just, and equitable treatment of all races, cultures, national origins, ages, genders, gender identities, gender expressions, religions, sexual orientations, and socioeconomic statuses.
Published comments about NW Dance Project describe it as “changing the way dance is created” and “a laboratory, factory and repository for risk-taking new works from the next generation of choreographers from Europe and North America” (Dance International Magazine), “an essential part of the city’s arts scene” (The Oregonian), featuring “some of the best dancers you will ever see” (Calgary Herald), “the it company...one of the most dynamic dance troupes in the country” (Oregon Public Broadcasting), and “a company of slick, skilled dancers” (The New Yorker).
Last updated March 30, 2026.
• Ages: 4–18 years old
• Schedule: Annual 2025/26 Youth Program runs from September 15, 2025, to June 7, 2026, with youth classes resuming January 5, 2026, after Winter Break and including a Winter Showcase in December and a Student Artist Showcase in May.
• Price: Students will train in ballet and contemporary classes at a cost effective tuition rate; annual registration is required and a payment plan is available.
The Youth Dance Program offers Creative Movement for ages 4 and 5, a Junior Track (Primary Ballet to Level 4) for ages 6 to 16, and a Pro Track for ages 13 to 18. Primary Ballet and Ballet 1 placements are determined by age with no formal evaluation necessary. The Pro Track Program provides a comprehensive study of the techniques, discipline, and styles of dance that support a professional career and prepares dancers for entry into leading companies, conservatories, and colleges.
Young Creatives Company is by audition only, requires enrollment in Pro Track, and focuses on nurturing the next generation of artists through creative choreographic process, repertoire, and performance experience. Dancers in Young Creatives Company must attend all rehearsals to be considered for performances and other opportunities, and pre-registration is required for auditions. Throughout the year, aspiring young dance artists have two performance opportunities, the Winter Showcase and the Student Artist Showcase, plus special performing opportunities and events.
The 2025/26 Youth Program calendar includes no classes on Halloween (October 31, 2025), Veteran’s Day (November 11, 2025), Martin Luther King Jr. Day (January 19, 2026), President’s Day (February 16, 2026), and Memorial Day (May 25, 2026). Thanksgiving Break runs November 24 to 30, 2025, Winter Break runs December 15, 2025, to January 4, 2026, and Spring Break runs March 23 to 29, 2026. The Winter Showcase is scheduled for December 13 and 14, 2025, the Winter Dance Intensive runs December 29, 2025, to January 2, 2026, and the Student Artist Showcase and its rehearsal are scheduled for May 31, 2026. The Young Creatives audition is scheduled for September 27, 2025, from 12:00 to 1:30 PM.
NW Dance Project, which runs the Youth Dance Program, was founded in Portland in 2004 by acclaimed dancer, mentor, and choreographer Sarah Slipper, who serves as Artistic Director. NW Dance Project opened an 8,500 square foot Creative Center in March 2014. The organization states that it celebrates, supports, and represents excellence in dance and is dedicated to creating and performing original contemporary dance works and providing dance training for all while performing, educating, creating, cultivating, and championing diversity.
NW Dance Project is described as an award-winning, bold, and innovative contemporary dance company with an international reputation for cultivating and nurturing young dancers. It is committed to advancing dance education and community involvement through projects, intensives, workshops, classes, accessible performances, studio sessions, outdoor performances, special events, master classes, collaborations, and conversations with artists. It brings performances into public spaces such as streets, coffee shops, hospitals, and shopping malls, offers cost-free Dance Moves programs for young, challenged community members, and holds free public performances as often as possible. NW Dance Project states that it believes dance is for everybody and every body and is dedicated to the fair, just, and equitable treatment of all races, cultures, national origins, ages, genders, gender identities, gender expressions, religions, sexual orientations, and socioeconomic statuses.
Published comments about NW Dance Project describe it as “changing the way dance is created” and “a laboratory, factory and repository for risk-taking new works from the next generation of choreographers from Europe and North America” (Dance International Magazine), “an essential part of the city’s arts scene” (The Oregonian), featuring “some of the best dancers you will ever see” (Calgary Herald), “the it company...one of the most dynamic dance troupes in the country” (Oregon Public Broadcasting), and “a company of slick, skilled dancers” (The New Yorker).
Last updated March 30, 2026.
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