Dance Recitals & Performances

The Stage Awaits You!

About our Dance Recitals

Unlike other studios who only offer one recital a year, we offer two big performances: our Spring recital in June and our Christmas show in December. Our productions are held in professional theatres with state-of-the-art audio and lighting.

For the June recital, our students perform original choreography with their individual classes. Dances are taught and practiced during the normal class times, so there are no outside rehearsals until the weekend of the performance. This performance is open to all dance students. Unlike other studios, LAAPA does not charge hefty recital fees for our students to participate. Students are only responsible for paying for their costume(s). An awards ceremony is held immediately following the Spring recital, in order to recognize the hard work each student has put into his/her classes!

Our Christmas show provides a unique opportunity for our dancers, allowing them to audition for a variety of available soloist/character roles thus gaining valuable group audition experience. All students who audition will receive a role. This performance is outside of classes and there will be separate weekly rehearsals scheduled. Students must be at least five years old to audition.

Students are never obligated to perform in any recital; however, they are invited and encouraged to do so by their teachers! We understand that it's a big commitment to make your debut on the big stage and our faculty and staff are committed to providing students with all the necessary tools and information to ensure success! Although stage performance isn’t mandatory, it is a vital part of a dancer’s training. Not only does it help the student grow as an individual, but it also helps their class grow as a team.

Over the past 40 years and hundreds of performances later, our favorite part about what we do hasn't changed at all. We love seeing the growth of our students. At their first performance, students are sometimes a tad shy/nervous and perhaps thinking "Should I really be up here?". That's usually just the first one or maybe two performances. After that, an amazing transformation happens, and self-confidence tends to skyrocket!

As we are an education focused dance school, our parents do not need to be concerned with competition schedules which require students and parents to regularly travel out of state several weekends of the year. Our focus within the dance program at LAAPA is exclusively on the education of students in a fun and low-pressure environment.

Watch student, Jaelyn, talk about why she loves dance after performing!

Additional Performance Opportunities

In addition to our main recitals held each year, many of our teachers enjoy putting smaller showcases together that feature certain classes. These performances are held on campus in our own performance halls. There’s no cost to participate in these smaller showcases (with the exception of a costume purchase, should one be required).

Teachers may also find other performance opportunities within our community and invite students to participate. Past opportunities included being casted as extras in the Amazon Original Film "Troop Zero," dancing at the English Tea Room in Covington for their annual Nutcracker Tea, and more!

Watch our Contemporary / Modern dance students perform their original choreography showcase!

What Are Some of the Benefits of Performing?

As previously mentioned, Building Self-Confidence is a huge part of performing. Getting up on stage in front of a large audience can be intimidating, but with the right preparations, it is a skill that can be mastered and utilized in many different areas of life.

A sense of Accomplishment and Affirmation is another important reason to perform. Certainly, many students can be perfectly secure in their achievements and progress without setting foot on stage; however, as humans, we all typically have an innate desire to share and connect with others when we feel we've done something impressive! Children love to share their drawings with parents. A father might show off the car that he just spent 6 months rebuilding. Artists hold public events at galleries to proudly display the culmination of their hours upon hours of intensive labor and creativity. Musicians hold recitals in hopes of sharing the fruits of their labor and joy with others. Dancers participate in group showcases to share their creative choreography and physical accomplishments in their discipline. The accolades from their teachers, parents, and fellow students in turn create positive motivation for them to continue in their studies.

Finally, solo and group performances hold tremendous power of Inspiration & Influence. Performing for any group of people is an emotional experience, not only for the performer, but also for the audience as well. Audience members will appreciate the performance, but one never knows who in the audience will additionally be inspired to perhaps join a dance class or work harder in their current class!