by Jacqui Owens

Choosing a dance school for your child, whether it be ballet, tap, jazz or other, isn’t as straightforward as it seems! Or at least it wasn’t for me. There are quite a few studios in the Ryde area to chose from and they all offer something a little different. What they DON’T all offer is a free trial – but Rhapsody Studios in Gladesville does.

This term I took my 4yr old daughter Maddie for a free trial. Rhapsody offer lessons from 2years old, and specialise in Jazz, RAD Ballet, Contemporary, Tap, Hip-Hop and Acrobatics. The class we chose, appropriate for her age group, was a 60-minute Tap, Ballet, Jazz combo. 

The class is divided into 3 x 20-minute parts of Tap, Ballet and Jazz which means 3 shoe changes (I do hear that by around 5ish years old, the teachers get them to do it all by themselves, so you can nip down for a coffee at Sporties). The music is fun, the moves are adorable and the focus on technique is good. At the end of the class everyone gets a sticker and waits to hear who gets to take home the  elusive “sharing trophy” (it’s like getting “man-of-the-match”) for the week.

After our trial, we decided to sign Maddie up for the term. There were a number of reasons- most importantly, the fact that she loved it.

Other reasons include:

• the lovely Miss Jamielee (teacher), who is firm but fair and pretty much has a permanent smile on her face.
• the combo class factor means Maddie can try a few different types of dance and stay interested for the whole hour.
• the end of year concert is optional, and broken into 3 parts – tiny tots, juniors and seniors, making each a shorter and more manageable concert. It’s also on in the day instead of at night. 
• the location – above Gladesville Sporties – means carers can grab lunch / dinner / a coffee before or after class while the kids play in the Sporties play area. Also, if an alternate carer is taking your little dancer, they shouldn’t haven’t issues locating the venue! 
• Maddie wouldn’t ever need to change Dance School as Rhapsody offer classes all the way up to year 12 students and beyond. They also recently launched a new division, The Sydney Ballet Conservatory which supports dancers aspiring to a career in classical ballet.
• the Little Stars class is also a fun, imagination based introduction to dance for my younger daughter when she is ready.

Overall, Maddie has loved her first term at Rhapsody and I’ve loved watching her love it!

To start your free trial, contact Rhapsody on

Phone: 02 9817 2805

Email: dance@rhapsodystudios.com.au

This is a sponsored article but the thoughts and feelings are my own.