Creative Dance Center

WOW WOW WOW! My daughter started attending the Nurturing Baby classes at 6 months and now she is in the Parent /​Toddler classes at 17 months. WE ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!! (Her and I)
Location: I love this building at Haller Lake, it is a little dated, but I love the big room with the beautiful wood floor. I love having so much space to run around and spread our wings :-). Especially now that she is a toddler! Also, at quiet time there are these magical rainbow lights that come on all around the ceiling and when that is combined with a beautiful melody it has brought me to joyous tears. There is lots of parking too which is nice you never have to think about that or pay for it.
Teacher: Terry Goetz has been our main teacher and she is wonderful! I have taken many different baby classes by now and she is the most genuine. She is always so inclusive of Desiree and takes notice of her development stages. It is so fun to have someone so clearly dedicated to their career and so caring. She is always thinking up new ideas for assisting her and the other students with their development. I don’t know how she remembers all the different names of everybody, but she does it. I also love the music that she carefully chooses for us each week. She has helped me to broaden my music library… thankfully…because I was getting tired of the same thing over and over. LOL!
Other moms and kids: The other moms are so delightful and the ones I have been a part of have always been so involved. I have been to other classes where the parents barely dance, sing, or do anything, but at CDC my experience is very different. All the moms are so involved, dancing and singing and helping with the flow of the class. I have made some wonderful friends in this class and so has my daughter! It also really helps to see all of the different development phases and see how much diversity there is in learning and growing between kids. It has helped put my mind at ease that my daughter is developing perfectly in her own time.
Nurturing Baby Class: We took this class twice and I just can’t say enough about the value of this class. The day after ever class my daughter would make so many development shifts. It became so obvious and undeniable that the class was directly correlated to her spikes in development. Even the day after her very first class she did 8 new things and I had never seen her hit so many milestones in one day!!! I especially notice these spikes the first day back after a break between classes, she spikes again developmentally. The class is super fun, but it is so nice to see that it really does make new pathways in their brain and body development. AMAZING!!! The typical class has a wonderful rhythm and flow to it that becomes natural. Of course there are always little shifts in the topic of the class or the music, but overall there is a continuity to the content that allows you and your child to get comfortable with what is probably going to happen next. You get to learn songs and dances and I use a lot of them at home, even now. There is some lovely play time with musical instruments and my daughter seems to have very good rhythm because of it. Also, there are some tunnels, mats, scarves, hoops, balls, and other age appropriate toys. My favorite parts of class are when we waltz around the room with our munchkins squealing with delight. And also at the end when we get out a sheet «magic carpet» and they lay down on the sheet as we whisk them around the room. I feel so much connection to my daughter during this class and her smiles and squealing help me to know she was having a great time too! I also love that it is fine if your little one is interested in other things and is wandering off. You don’t have to force them to do the lesson, but encourage them if they are interested. Of course you still have to keep an eye on them. As the class gels and gets to know each other many of the babes were wandering all around and we could relax knowing that our fellow mom would keep an eye on them during the less structured play time. I felt such community!!!
Parent /​Toddler Class: We are about to finish this class in a week and it has been so much fun! I think our favorite part is the obstacle course. We even do it at home now and she loves it. At first she had no idea what was going on and neither did I :-), but as the weeks went by we both got the hang of it more and more. It has been so fun to watch her understand different aspects of the obstacle course at different times. Oh wait I can’t forget the parachute that is super cool too! Oh and there are more new songs to learn and enjoy and there is a clean-​up song that I use at home which works miracles ;-)! Plus there is a quiet time in the middle of the class where the moms get to lay down for a moment! Wahoo!
I would encourage anyone who wants to have FUN to take this class, even if it is a drive to get there!!! Enjoy!

I’m so grateful to have discovered the Creative Dance Center (CDC) in Seattle. If I could give it ten stars, I would. It is, hands down, the best place for kids to learn and grow. It’s also awesome for the parents.
Dance has always been a huge part of my life, and I wanted to introduce movement and music to my daughter, at an early age. My sister is a dance instructor and actually told me about Anne Green Gilbert’s incredible curriculum, because she studied it in college. She encouraged me to check out CDC, since it is in Seattle (she’s quite envious of this, in fact!). I really couldn’t say enough good things about my experience. Honestly, our family was considering moving just outside of town, but the proximity of CDC was one of the factors that made us change our minds. I want my kids to be able to take advantage of this place and its excellent classes.
We’ve now completed two sessions (10 – 12 weeks each) of the «Nurturing Baby» class — both with Terry Goetz, who is quite an impressive instructor. From the moment I met her in January, I felt so welcomed and nearly nurtured myself. She was just what I needed, as a new mom. We started the class when my daughter was four months old, which I felt was the best timing for her. She was really in need and ready for tummy time, which the class helped with tremendously. She has come a long way in her development, since that first class. I learned oodles from the class and from Terry about how babies develop. The class has helped my daughter become really grounded and stable. It also helped my brain, as the caregivers are involved and challenged.
Don’t even think twice about enrolling your babies or kids in the classes here. The location is a little drab, but you’ll get over that, the moment you walk in the door. You will meet other great parents/​caregivers/​babies, have a lot of fun, and learn so much about your child’s development and how to best help them grow. It’s worth every penny (and actually quite reasonable). We are super excited to start taking the next class.

My son and I have been taking the «nurturing baby» classes for the past 6mo and it has been very rewarding. The classes have helped in my son’s development in many ways. The singing, dancing and playing of instruments have given him alertness with sounds and energy, and the floor time has made him very grounded and sturdy in his body. He enjoys interacting with the other moms and babies.
I have enjoyed the flow of the class and the content. I have learned a lot about my son’s development and how to assist him along this pathway. The props have given me many ideas for games to play at home. The music has also been great to dance and sing and play instruments. Teri is a wonderful, compassionate instructor. She knows all the moms and babies and is very engaged and excited for all of their new developments.
I would definitely recommend this class. My son was 5mo when we started and for me that was a great age but there have been babies much younger in the class. It is so fun to watch them go from rolling to crawling to walking.

What a thrill to see my child dancing today in the school show «An afternoon of dance.» This was her first time performing on a stage and now she can’t wait to do it again.
At beginning of the show, we were told that we would not be seeing expensive costumes that we’d had to buy, and we not be seeing very precise dances that had been drilled into the dancers for months. What we did see was a burst of colorful costumes that clearly each dancer had picked out for themselves at home, that expressed each personality wonderfully. And more importantly, we saw a ton of creativity, joy, and teamwork on the part of the kids, gently guided by the dance instructors. It was amazing to see how skilled the older dancers were at both dancing and choreography.
My daughter and I started out in the parent/​toddler class, then took the parent/​child class, and she has taken the creative dance and creative ballet classes. And we really enjoy the intergenerational interplay classes which happen once a month on Friday nights.
Whenever I tell my daughter that it is time for dance class, she immediately stops whatever she is doing, gets dressed, and goes out to the car at a speed usually reserved for birthday parties and trips to the candy store. As long as that is the case I will keep signing her up.