HOW WE PLACE DANCERS
Supporting Every Dancer’s Journey
At Reach For The Barres, we believe every dancer deserves to be appropriately challenged, supported, and positioned for success.
Our progressive curriculum is designed to create meaningful opportunities for growth while ensuring dancers develop strong technical foundations, confidence, and a lifelong love of dance.
Because growth is not about moving through levels as quickly as possible.
It’s about continuing to learn, improve, and reach higher.
WHY DO WE USE LEVELS?
Levels allow us to group dancers who are working on similar skills, concepts, and developmental goals.
Rather than focusing solely on age, our curriculum helps ensure dancers are placed in an environment where they can:
- Feel confident and successful
- Be appropriately challenged
- Develop strong technical foundations
- Progress safely and effectively
- Continue growing at a pace that supports long-term success
Just as children develop at different rates academically, socially, and physically, dancers develop at different rates as well.
Our goal is not simply advancement.
Our goal is meaningful growth.
HOW ARE PLACEMENTS DETERMINED?
When determining placements, we consider a variety of factors, including:
- Technical skill development
- Movement quality and body awareness
- Strength, flexibility, and coordination
- Musicality and performance skills
- Ability to apply corrections
- Focus and classroom readiness
- Consistency and training history
- Confidence and emotional readiness
No single factor determines placement.
Instead, we look at the whole dancer.
All curriculum placements are determined by Reach For The Barres through professional assessment of each dancer’s experience, demonstrated skills, and developmental readiness. While families are encouraged to share their dancer’s interests, goals, and classroom experiences, placement is not independently selected based on age, grade, or personal preference.
This approach helps ensure each dancer is learning in an environment that supports appropriate challenges, meaningful progress, and continued development.
ARE PLACEMENTS BASED ON AGE OR GRADE?
Age and grade are important considerations, particularly when creating developmentally appropriate classroom environments for younger dancers.
However, neither automatically determines a dancer’s placement or advancement.
As dancers progress through our curriculum, their placement reflects a combination of discipline-specific experience, demonstrated technical skills, developmental readiness, and classroom needs.
This means dancers of the same age or grade may appropriately participate in different levels, just as an individual dancer may have different placements across multiple disciplines.
WHY MIGHT DANCERS IN THE SAME GRADE BE PLACED AT DIFFERENT LEVELS?
Two dancers in the same grade may have very different training histories, technical foundations, and developmental needs.
For example, one dancer may be progressing into Level 1 after developing the necessary skills through our Primary curriculum, while another dancer of the same age may be entering Primary II as they begin training in a new discipline.
Both placements can be appropriate.
Our faculty evaluates each dancer individually, considering their technical abilities, classroom readiness, experience, and developmental needs.
We also recognize that technical and social-emotional development do not always progress at the same pace. Our goal is to provide meaningful challenges while maintaining age-appropriate learning environments that allow children to continue being children.
HOW DO PRIMARY I, PRIMARY II, AND LEVEL 1 DIFFER?
Our Foundational Program includes progressive stages of training designed to help dancers build the skills, understanding, and independence needed for continued development.
Primary I introduces discipline-specific fundamentals, including foundational technique, coordination, musicality, and classroom expectations.
Primary II builds upon these foundations with greater technical expectations, movement complexity, and independence. Depending on their experience and developmental readiness, older dancers beginning a new discipline may also be placed directly into Primary II.
Level 1 represents the next stage of technical development, introducing more complex skills, combinations, and expectations for execution, retention, and application.
These levels are not assigned according to school grade. Placement reflects each dancer’s experience, demonstrated skills, and developmental readiness within the discipline.
Progression is determined by readiness, not simply age or time spent in a class.
CAN A DANCER BE DIFFERENT LEVELS IN DIFFERENT STYLES?
Absolutely.
Every dancer develops differently across various disciplines.
A dancer may be ready for a higher level in one style while continuing to build foundations in another.
Because each discipline develops unique skills, it is common for dancers to have different placements across Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, Acro, Lyrical, Pom, and other training opportunities.
UNDERSTANDING PLACEMENTS, OPPORTUNITIES & RECOMMENDATIONS
Because every dancer’s journey is unique, families may occasionally see different placements, opportunities, and recommendations throughout the enrollment process.
Understanding the distinction between these can help make enrollment decisions clearer and more meaningful.
Placement
Placement reflects where Reach has determined a dancer belongs within our curriculum based on age, experience, technical readiness, developmental readiness, and overall growth.
Placement serves as the foundation for all future recommendations and opportunities available to a dancer.
Examples:
- Ballet Level 2
- Jazz Level 1B
- Hip Hop Level 1
Opportunities
Opportunities are additional classes and programs a dancer may be eligible to participate in based on their placement, age, experience, and readiness.
Opportunities are determined by Reach For The Barres and may vary from dancer to dancer.
Eligibility for an opportunity does not necessarily mean it is the next recommended step for every dancer.
Examples:
- Tap
- Hip Hop
- Acro
- Pom
- Pre-Pointe
- Conditioning
- Jazz Progressions
- Performance Companies
Recommendations
Recommendations reflect the schedule we believe will best support a dancer’s continued growth, confidence, and long-term success.
While there may be multiple opportunities available, our recommendations represent the path we would most strongly encourage based on our professional assessment of the dancer.
If your family is unsure which option to choose, we recommend starting with the schedule provided in your recommendation.
Example
Placement
Ballet Level 2B
Opportunities
- Pre-Pointe
- Conditioning
- Jazz Progressions
Recommended Schedule
- Ballet Level 2B
- Pre-Pointe
In this example, Ballet Level 2B is the dancer’s placement.
Pre-Pointe, Conditioning, and Jazz Progressions are additional opportunities available to the dancer.
Our recommendation is Ballet Level 2B combined with Pre-Pointe because we believe that schedule would best support the dancer’s continued growth and development.
WHY DO I SEE CLASSES IN THE FILTER THAT WERE NOT RECOMMENDED?
Our enrollment filters help families explore classes based on age and general program eligibility. These filters are a registration tool and do not independently determine curriculum placement.
Because individualized recommendations consider developmental readiness, training history, discipline-specific experience, and long-term progression, families may occasionally see classes that were not specifically recommended for their dancer.
For example:
- A dancer may be recommended for one discipline but see several disciplines available.
- A dancer may be eligible for multiple classes within a program but receive a recommendation for the class we believe is the strongest fit.
- A dancer may hold different placements across different styles.
When this occurs, we encourage families to use their individualized recommendations as their primary guide and reach out if they have questions.
WHAT IF MY DANCER STAYS AT THE SAME LEVEL?
Growth is not always measured by moving to the next level.
Sometimes the most meaningful growth happens when dancers deepen their understanding, strengthen their foundations, gain confidence, and refine previously learned skills.
Remaining at the same level does not mean a dancer is standing still.
In many cases, it means they are building the strength, confidence, and consistency necessary for long-term success.
At Reach For The Barres, we believe strong foundations create endless possibilities for growth.
WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE?
At Reach For The Barres, success looks different for every dancer.
For some, it means mastering a new skill, refining their technique, or advancing to the next level.
For others, it means developing greater independence, becoming a more confident performer, strengthening their commitment to training, or discovering a lasting love of dance.
We believe meaningful progress comes from appropriate challenges, consistent practice, strong foundations, and a willingness to continue learning.
Our goal is not simply to move dancers through levels. It’s to ensure they develop the skills, understanding, and readiness to succeed at every stage.
Because at Reach For The Barres, there is always another way to grow.
Together, We Reach Higher.
