New Hampshire Dance Institute (NHDI)

Ballet Extensions performs in both Saturday and Sunday shows. Ballet Extensions is a dance class for young performers.

The NHDI Residency Program gives elementary and middle school children the opportunity to participate in our performing arts outreach program during their school day. Residencies are typically one week in length, during which all students dance. This gives everyone exposure to the arts, while many children might not otherwise have this unique and empowering opportunity. Through the arts, we challenge students to develop life-long skills, such as analytical thinking, clarity in expression, collaboration and creativity.

The NHDI Year-Long Program brings weekly dance instruction to children at school, during the school day, under the direction of professionally trained NHDI teaching artists with piano accompanists. Through the rigors of dance and the energy of live music, children directly experience the value of discipline, concentration and collaboration.

The eXcel Team includes older, experienced, advanced NHDI students who have continued to develop their dance skills over several years. Dancers are typically in high school, and therefore not part of any other NHDI in-school program. Many eXceL dancers have joined us as Counselors or Counselors-in-Training (CITs) at our Summer Intensive camp.

The Celebration Team is made up of experienced dancers who have participated previously in the NHDI Year-Long Program, NHDI Residency Program, or in an NHDI summer program. Dancers are typically in grades five through eight, and currently attend schools that are not part of the NHDI Year -Long Program. “Cel” meets for 75 minutes on Saturday mornings from January through May, and performs in the Event of the Year.

The Minions Team is comprised of NHDI’s youngest dancers, and are invited from students who have participated either in the NHDI Residency Program at their school or in an NHDI summer program. Minions meet on Saturday mornings for one hour from January through May, and gain their first performance experience in the Event of the Year.

The Special Teams are an opportunity for interested children to grow and expand their dance and performance experiences with NHDI. The Special Teams meet on Saturday mornings, and have an opportunity to perform in the NHDI Event of the Year.

NHDI’s Adaptive Dance team, REACH, partners age-matched peers with neurologically or physically diverse children to create and perform movement that is unique and specific to the participants. We focus not on what can’t be done or needs to be modified because of a disability or challenge, rather what can be done!

The New Hampshire Dance Institute believes that dance is for everyBODY! For 37 years NHDI has provided a rich arts experience by providing dance education to NH school children as part of their academic day. Our programming has always been, and continues to be, inclusive of children of all abilities.

Each year, students are chosen by NHDI Artistic Director Kristen Leach as special representatives of their Year-Long Program schools on the SWAT (“spirited, willing and talented”) Team. SWAT is an important commitment as dancers rehearse for three hours every Saturday morning from January through May. The students get to broaden their experience on the one-day SWAT-a-thon event, during which they participate in workshops taught by local dance and theatre professionals.

NHDI's summer dance camp develops children's enthusiasm for movement and broadens their dance experiences. The Summer Intensive is open to children entering 2nd-9th grades for the 2025-26 school year.

This camp is open to children entering 5th-12th grade for the 2025-26 school year.