💃 DanceChildren's Dance Conservatory / Island Youth Ballet
3.7Mercer Island, WA
Ages 4–18About this program
A classical ballet school on Mercer Island and the official school for Island Youth Ballet, a nonprofit founded in 1998. Training runs from Pre-Ballet for young beginners through the graded levels and into Vocational Levels and the Conservatory Division, following the Royal Academy of Dance syllabus with students entering annual R.A.D. examinations. Conservatory students perform in Island Youth Ballet's Fall and Spring programs and its long-running 'Excerpts from The Nutcracker', staged each December at the Mercer Island High School Performing Arts Center. Summer classes are also offered.
Written reviews are strongly positive about the quality of classical ballet training, with several families citing many years of continuous enrollment and one multi-generational student. Parents credit the school with building grace, athleticism, poise, discipline and stage presence, and describe a nurturing community that produces confidence and lasting friendships. The annual Nutcracker and other performances are repeatedly singled out as a highlight and are of notably high production quality.