If your son or daughter loves to dance chances are they will want to keep working on their skills once the regular class season is over. While it can be tempting for parents to take two months off of classes and practice sessions, the fact is that this much time can cause your child to lose some of what they have worked so hard to achieve. If you want your child to continue to excel as a dancer, summer dance programs Ottawa may be just what they need.

While some programs can be fun and more recreational in nature others are much more involved and will devote more of the day to teaching and perfecting new skills. Some may even expect students to learn a set piece of choreography in order to be part of a performance. Only you will know whether or not your son or daughter would enjoy a more dedicated program. The last thing you want is to turn your child off of dance after they attend summer camp.

Some summer dance schools focus on one type of dancing while others offer instruction in more than one style or form of movement. If you have a dancer who wants to be more well-rounded as an artist they may appreciate a program where they work on more than one style of dance.

Some children know from an early age that a career in dance is right for them. If this is the case in your family you may want to find out when professional companies will be in town to audition students. Companies such as the National Ballet of Canada and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet travel to Ottawa in order to find talented students who may want to attend their summer programs.

Of course, while Ottawa has some fantastic schools that offer classes during the summer you can also check to see what is available in Gatineau. This city is only a short car ride away and has many high quality instructors that may be offering instruction during the summer months.

Parents of younger children may want to look for full-day programs where their child will be watched during the day. If this is the kind of program you want to sign your son or daughter up for you may want to look at the hours that the program will run in order to tell whether you will need to arrange additional babysitting both before and after each day's sessions.

Remember to start looking for programs early. Popular ones may fill up quickly especially for certain age groups. If you are not sure where to look and your child's regular school is not offering summer sessions you may want to look online or ask other dance parents where they have enrolled their children.

As with any physical activity, dance requires some specialized equipment. If your artist already takes classes you may not need to buy them anything but if they are taking different forms than they normally would you may need to buy additional shoes or clothing. Asking the people running the school what your child needs will make sure that they are completely ready once summer rolls around.