Denise’s Dance Academy Travel Team Tryouts 2026-2027 Season

 

Our Travel Teams are a specifically selected group of dancers who will be required to travel out of town for one regional competition, attend three in town regional competitions and one out of town national’s competition.

Please READ over carefully………..these teams are highly selective and while we always encourage our dancers who have the confidence and meet the criteria for auditions like this, we want to remind you that these teams most often consist of dancers who exceed the amount of experience listed.

ENROLL IN THESE TRYOUTS TODAY!  You will NOT receive the tryout videos sent out on MAY 28, 2026 if you are not officially enrolled in these tryouts.  There is not an extra fee for tryouts – this is included in your audition fee for teams.  You will need to enroll in each style that you are interested in trying out – the times for each audition are listed on the enrollment page.  The Auditions will take place on Saturday, June 6, 2025.  Choose Tryout season and scroll to the month of June.  Here is the link to enroll: https://app.thestudiodirector.com/denisesdanceacademy/portal.sd?page=Login

 

INFORMATION AND PREREQUISITES:

If you are interested in auditioning for our Travel Teams – Guest Choreography pieces for next season -below is some information regarding the tryout process. Please make sure to note the prerequisites for each style before your dancer auditions. Only dancers who meet the eligibility requirements will be allowed to audition this season. We also will be taking into consideration 2025-2026 technique attendance, work ethic, class/competition attendance and respectfulness into account when placing these teams.

Travel Team Information – please read to the end

Dancers who are eligible to audition for these pieces MUST meet the following criteria below prior to auditions on June 6th.  (ages are as of 8/1/2026).  For our travel teams we bring in 4 different choreographers for our pieces in the styles of jazz character, hip hop, contemporary, and tap.  Dancers who meet the requirements can try out for any styles they qualify for. These travel team dancers compete at the highest level of competition so we have strict criteria for the audition and selection process. The dancers who would like to be considered for our level 7-9 Travel Teams in lyrical and jazz need to audition for these during the July summer session in their current level of lyrical and/or jazz classes

  • All Dancers must have a minimum of 2 years of technical ballet class experience
  • Tap – open to ages 12 and over with 3 years of tap competition team experience
  • Hip Hop – open to dancers ages 10 and over with at least two years Hip Hop Competition Team experience
  • Contemporary – open to dancers ages 10 and over with at least one year of Contemporary Team experience
  • Jazz Character – open to ages 12 and over with 3 years of jazz competition team experience
  • Regional Teams Experience does NOT count towards the requirements.
  • Mandatory Events for Travel Teams: Dancers are required to perform at our Showcase in January/February, compete at 1 out of town regional competition, 3 local regional competitions, and 1 out of town national competition (extra weekend rehearsals may be added in as needed)
  • Dancers will be required to take a movement class in addition to one leaps/turns class and 2 hours of ballet each week.
  • There is an extra choreography fee for each routine that you are selected to be a part of.  This is in addition to regular tuition fees, costumes, and competition entry fees.  Cost has not yet been determined – last year the range was $275-$300.  Fees will be set prior to tryouts.   Dancers are also required to purchase a Travel Teams t-shirt –  those run $25 -30. We will use the same shirts as our previous season.
  • Selection criteria includes judged audition results, respectfulness, work ethic, commitment, ballet and leaps/turns attendance, master class fulfillment, and attendance/performance in teams this past year.  These are highly selective teams and require a lot of dedication and work! Dancers currently on Travel Teams may not make one or more travel teams if these requirements are not met.  If you are a new dancer to the studio, you will not be deducted for not having some of the above criteria.

 

Our Audition Process:

  • Dancers interested in each style need to sign up on the audition tab of the website in order to know how many dancers we have interested in each style. Dancers will also get the audition videos only if they are signed up.
  • Videos of the tryout routines will be available via a link that will be sent out May 28, 2026.  Dancers will be able to learn the tryout routines at their own pace during that week.
  • NEW THIS SEASON:  We will be offering an in-person opportunity for dancers to learn the choreography from Miss Katie in all 4 styles if a dancer does not want to rely on just the videos to learn it.  These will take place on  Monday, June 1 from 5-9 pm (more specific schedule will be sent by style at a later time).   
  • We will also offer additional rehearsal opportunities open for each style of dance on Wednesday, June 3 from 5:30 – 7:30 pm. (A more detailed schedule will come out at a later time.)   Miss Katie will be there to help guide the dancers with the dance and/or answer any questions they may have.  Dancers are not required to attend – but it would be very helpful if they have questions or want to review with Miss Katie and other dancers.
  • Saturday,  June 6th– Auditions for all styles will take place during this date.  If you are unable to attend in person, we will accept video tryouts as long as they are received prior to June 6th.  Please make arrangements with Miss Jeni.
  • Final decisions will be sent out on Tuesday, June 23.  Dancers will have until July 11th to accept or decline their placements on their chosen teams.

Our Choreography 2026-2027 Tentative Dates:

  • Contemporary Choreography – August 28-30
  • Hip Hop Choreography – Sept 26
  • Tap and Hip Hop Choreography – Sept 11-13
  • Jazz Character Choreography  – Oct 3-4

 

If you have any questions – you can contact Miss Jeni ([email protected]) or Miss Denise.