ABOUT US

Dance Fremont is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and an inclusive dance community that inspires a lifelong love of dance in each student.

Founded in 1996, we now have over 200 students from ages three to 74, sharing a passion for dance in a nurturing studio environment full of joy and creativity. We teach to every student, believing that high quality dance training should be available to movers of all backgrounds, bodies and identities.

Adult Program

Ages 15+
We offer weekly beginning ballet and modern dance courses, and regular drop-in intermediate/advanced ballet with a pay-what-you-can option.
Classes emphasize placement, musicality, and anatomical knowledge. Our caring and experienced instructors welcome people of all ages, shapes, and identities in a safe and supportive atmosphere.

Youth Program

Ages 3-18
From creative dance to pre-professional, we give young dancers the tools for self-discovery through dance in a culture of mutual support and encouragement. Our core classes of ballet, modern, and choreographic composition are taught by innovative, motivational, and caring instructors and working Seattle artists.

Our Purpose and Philosophy

To provide quality education in ballet and modern dance for youth and adults, expanding access to dance instruction, performance, and resources to the wider Puget Sound community. We do this through scholarship programs, accessible public performances, subsidized rehearsal space, and community partnerships. We also seek to expand our students’ experience of and connection to the wider dance world, which we achieve through collaborations with guest choreographers and guest teaching artists who work in a wide range of dance styles.

The heart of our teaching philosophy is that students do best when...
- They feel welcomed in the dance studio
- We give them the tools to be active leaders of their own learning and creativity
- Joy motivates their progress and hard work

To this end, we teach dance with an emphasis on anatomical education and alignment so that each student can understand what is best for their individual body. We promote peer-to peer support, encouragement, and thoughtful observation & feedback to create a safe space for learning and growth, and to enable the deeper learning that arises from collaborative, student-led exploration, rather than copying or learning by rote. We help students develop their creative and artistic sense of self through improvisational movement games, choreographic composition, exploration of character and style in technique class, and public performance opportunities.

What We Stand For

Dance Fremont is committed to creating equity in our art form and justice for Black, Indigenous, and all People of Color. We understand our responsibility to help dismantle white supremacy and other harmful structures in dance and ballet. We celebrate differences, including differences in race, gender expression, and body type, and see this work as crucial to our ability to serve youth, families, and adults. We believe that the benefits of dance should be open to all, therefore offering tuition scholarships and a pay-what-you-can option for open class, making classes more accessible to those impacted by systemic racism.

More racial equity efforts include...

- Providing Black, Indigenous and POC artists with reduced-rate rehearsal space
- Updating attire and hair requirements to welcome dancers with all skin tones and hair types
- Formed a partnership with PRICEarts, a Black-founded, BIPOC-led, women-led dance company as our resident dance company. They receive free studio space for rehearsals, and work with our youth program students teaching classes and staging PRICEarts repertory
- Forming a collaborative partnership with TINT festival, which centers People of Color in dance

Dance Fremont acknowledges that we dance on the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish People past and present, and honor with gratitude the land itself and the Duwamish Tribe. To learn more and take action, please visit realrentduwamish.org

Studio Our People History

Studio

Our long-time studio home on Stone Way is being redeveloped into a new building with new and improved studios for Dance Fremont! While the new building is being constructed, our studio is located in Greenwood at 8420 Greenwood Ave N, 2nd Floor. The entrance is in the alley on the East side of the building.
Our Greenwood studio features plenty of natural light, fresh air, and a modern HVAC system, and the area offers many coffee shops and eateries, a library, and excellent transit connections.

We also offer studio rentals! Our large studio offers a professional dance studio space for rehearsals, auditions, private lessons, and group classes/workshops. Visit our rentals page for details.

Our People

History

Dance Fremont was founded in 1996 by Vivian Little on the principle that every
interested dancer deserves a quality dance education, after becoming disillusioned with dance education at many studios that excluded and belittled dancers for their body type or other perceived faults. Little soon brought on Mary Reardon as co-director. Little was a founding Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancer and San Francisco Ballet soloist. Reardon was a professional modern dancer with the Carl Ratcliff Dance Theater and others. Dance Fremont began in a small studio under the Aurora Bridge in Fremont, Center of the Universe, and moved to its location on Stone Way in the late 90's.

In addition to ballet and modern dance technique classes, performance opportunities have always been a central part of Dance Fremont's programming. Dance Fremont's annual holiday performance tradition, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, first premiered in 1996. The story ballet was choreographed by Vivian Little with original music and libretto by Kathleen Mills and incorporates Signing in Exact English. For over two decades, Fremont Danceworks, Dance Fremont's performing company for advanced dancers, gave pre-professional students with the opportunity to work with professional choreographers including Wade Madsen, Markeith Wiley, Kabby Mitchell III, and Catherine Cabeen. Dance Fremont also produces an annual spring recital performance for all students over age 7, the Rite of Spring.

In 2015, Dance Fremont was purchased by longtime faculty member Steve Casteel, with Karena Birk stepping into the role of Director. Over the next few years, Ms. Birk led the studio's transformation to a nonprofit organization, which was completed in 2019. Since this transition, Dance Fremont has incorporated a Board of Directors, created a scholarship fund, and continued to provide high-quality dance training to diverse students of all ages. Ms. Birk introduced Spring Repertory, a yearly performance opportunity for level IV-VI dancers to work with local choreographers and perform their own choreography.

During the 2020 & 2021 pandemic, Dance Fremont provided programming continuity with emergency scholarships, online classes, and performances.

Dance Fremont continues to foster the traditions and core values that Vivian and Mary established over the years, through their remarkable investment of time and love.