A Little Page With a Lot of Purpose

At Reach For The Barres, getting to know our dancers has always been about more than learning their names, remembering their favorite steps, or knowing where they stand at the barre.

We want to know the person who walks into the classroom each week, too.

That’s why, at the beginning of each season, our dancers receive a Dancer About Me Page to complete and return to their teacher. It’s a tradition we’ve continued in different forms for nearly a decade, and one that has become a meaningful part of how we begin each new season together.

For Season 12, we asked dancers to tell us things like what makes them happiest, what helps them feel brave, how they like to be encouraged, and something they simply want their teacher to know about them.

For our dancers, it’s a fun opportunity to share a little bit about themselves.

For our teachers, those answers can offer another window into the child they’re teaching.

Every dancer responds differently to challenge, correction, encouragement, and connection. One child may light up with enthusiastic praise, while another may feel most supported by a quiet word from their teacher. Something as simple as knowing a dancer’s favorite song, what makes them laugh, or what helps them feel brave can give a teacher another way to build trust and connection in the classroom.

And sometimes, the answer to “Something I want my teacher to know about me is…” tells us something we might not otherwise have known to ask.

Giving Dancers a Voice in Their Experience

Part of helping children grow is giving them opportunities to understand themselves and communicate what they need.

Our About Me pages give dancers, from our littlest students to our oldest, a simple way to say: This is who I am. This is what matters to me. This is how you can help me.

As teachers, we get to listen.

Over time, these pages become something else, too: a snapshot of who our dancers were at a particular moment in their childhood.

We’ve been collecting versions of them for nearly a decade, and there’s something pretty special about watching the answers change as a dancer grows. Favorite things change. Personalities emerge. Confidence develops. The little dancer who once needed help feeling brave may one day become the older dancer helping someone else find their courage.

Meet Our Season 12 Dancer About Me Page

Want to complete one at home?

Click the image to open and print a copy of our Season 12 Dancer About Me Page. Your dancer can fill it out, decorate it, and bring it with them to the studio for their teacher.

Because meaningful connection begins with knowing the child in front of us. And when dancers feel known, supported, and understood, we create more space for them to learn, take risks, grow, and experience the joy of reaching higher.

Together, we reach higher.