The Tutus News: October 2026 Edition
The October Issue
What's Happening in Class and Important News for Tutus Dance Center
Happy October to our Tutus Families! We are having tons of fun in class and making notable progress. Both students and teachers are “settling in” and are enjoying getting to know one another!
October is a busy month with lots of fun fall learning activities, recital costume measuring week
(Recital Track Only) and our super popular Halloween event "Wear Your Costume to Class Week"!
Please take a few minutes to read through the Newsletter as it will keep you connected and up-to-date! Communication is important to us, so if you have any questions regarding your child, please don't hesitate to contact us. We love getting feedback on our program, so drop us an email and let us know how we are doing.
Sincerely,
Jaclyn and Staff
October Important Dates and Events
The month of October has lots in store
for our Tiny Tutus Families!
Check out whats going on and
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
In this Newsletter:
Fall Registration is still OPEN!
10/11 SESSION 2-6 WEEK COURSES REGISTRATION OPENS
10/12 Columbus/Indigenous People Day: Tutus is Open
10/22-10/30 - Session 1: 6-8 Week Courses End (Tutu Duo: Parents observe last 10 mins of class)
10/31-Studio closed for Halloween
11/1- 2nd Quarterly Payment + Costume Fee Due*
PLUS....
Non Recital Classes: Upcoming 6-8 Week Courses
Upcoming November Events
What's Happening in Class!
Special Note from the office:
*Costume fees/2nd Quarterly fees have been posted to all recital track accounts. Fees are not due until 11/1 but are posted in an effort to allow families with multiple costumes make early/multiple payments.
Wear Your Costume to Class Week!
WEAR YOUR COSTUME TO
CLASS WEEK! 10/24-10/30
DANCERS MAY WEAR THEIR HALLOWEEN
COSTUMES TO CLASS THIS WEEK! MAKE SURE YOUR DANCER IS ABLE TO DANCE SAFELY IN THEIR COSTUME.
DURING THIS WEEK DANCERS WILL DO HALLOWEEN DANCES AND PLAY HALLOWEEN THEMED GAMES! EACH DANCER WILL RECEIVE A SPOOKTACULAR GIFT AT THE END OF CLASS!
Non Recital Track Classes!
Session 2: 6-8 Week Course-
Registration OPENS 10/11!
Session 2 Courses run from November 2nd - December 19th
*No classes the week of 11/23-11/28 for Thanksgiving
Register ONLINE 10/11
Session 2: 6-8 Week Courses
Non Recital Track Course Offerings:
*Dance with Me
*All By Myself
*Tutu Duo
*Starlet Hip Hop
Session 3 + 4 Non Recital Track Courses:
Session 3: 6-8 Week Courses
Registration Opens 12/13
Starts: Week of 1/11-1/16
Ends: Week of 3/1-3/6
Session 4: 6-8 Week Courses*
Registration Opens 2/8
Starts: Week of 3/8-3/13
Ends: Week of 4/26-5/1
*No classes the week of 3/26-4/4 for Spring Break *Friday + Saturday classes are 6 weeks due to spring break
Don't see a class that suits your schedule? Contact us! If we have a teacher and at least 5 students, we will start a class! Please keep in mind that you are not automatically enrolled in the next session.
YOU HAVE TO REGISTER FOR EACH SESSION.
Upcoming Events at Tutus
November
11/1 2nd Quarterly Payment + Costume Fee Due
11/9-11/14-Costume Measuring: Recital Track Only
11/2-11/7 Session 2 Begins: 6-8 Week Courses
11/11 Veteran’s Day-Tutus is OPEN
11/15 Nutcracker Parties Registration Opens
11/23-11/28 Tutus is Closed for Thanksgiving
Notes & Reminders
Parking. PLEASE READ- Tutus parking lot is located directly behind the building. If the lot is full, there is parking on Union St and 3rd Street. Please DO NOT PARK in the Mill Street Tires lot or in the 400 N. Church Street and gravel lots.The owner will tow.
2nd Quarterly Payment & Costume Fee are due 11/1! Remember- if you are currently registered in a Recital Track class, you do not need to re-register- only make your quarterly payments. You hold your spot in class September through May. Only our 8 Week Course (Non-Recital) students need to register for each new session.
Costume fees/2nd Quarterly fees have been posted to all recital track accounts. Fees are not due until 11/1 but are posted in an effort to allow families with multiple costumes who like to make early/multiple payments.
Want to avoid late fees? Check with the front desk to see if you are enrolled in Autopay! You can also pay via Parent Portal or at the front desk.
What's Happening in Class!
Click the > to find out what's happening in
your dancer's class this month!
-Tutu Level -
Tutu Ballet/Tap 1 (Ages 3-4)
Unit 2 👑 Once Upon a Time!
👑 This month, our classroom is becoming a magical world of castles, princesses, dancing characters, and imaginative adventures! Through our Once Upon a Time unit, dancers will continue building on the confidence and classroom routines established during the first four weeks while being introduced to new ballet and tap skills.
👞 Tap: dancers are beginning to work on shuffles, heel steps, toe digs, and simple movement sequences.
🩰 Ballet: we are continuing our familiar warm-up while introducing and reinforcing ballet walks, tendus, pliés, relevés, arabesques, bourrée turns, and curtseys.
👑 You may hear your dancer talk about building a castle, reaching for a princess crown, dancing through a magical kingdom, or flying like a little witch. While these activities feel like play, each one has a purpose. Through imagination, dancers are learning spatial awareness, stage directions, balance, musicality, memory, coordination, and how to follow short sequences.
👑 We are also encouraging greater independence this month. Dancers are becoming more organized during shoe changes, remembering where their belongings go, following familiar classroom routines with less help, and beginning to remember what comes next.
👑 At this age, imagination is one of the most powerful ways children learn. By connecting dance skills to stories and pretend play, we help young dancers understand new concepts while keeping them engaged, confident, and excited to learn.
💕 This Month, Look for Growth In:
Remembering familiar routines with less help
Changing shoes with greater independence
Following two-and three-step directions
Using beginning ballet and tap vocabulary
Moving through the room with greater awareness
Listening and responding to music and lyric cues
Taking turns and beginning to perform independently
Growing confidence when trying something new
Tutu Ballet/Tap 2 (Ages 4-5)
🎃 UNIT 2 • THE GREAT PUMPKIN ADVENTURE
This month we're heading on The Great Pumpkin Adventure! Dancers will continue building the skills from Unit 1 while learning to connect movements together with greater control.
👞 Tap: dancers will work on step-heels, shuffle steps, shuffle bunks, and hopping on one foot. They'll practice keeping a steady beat while moving through fun Halloween-inspired combinations and obstacle courses.
🩰 Ballet: dancers will strengthen passé, arabesque, and balance while beginning to explore piqué with passé and parallel pas de chat. These movements ask dancers to coordinate their bodies while transferring weight and balancing on one foot.
🎃 Our imaginative activities—including pumpkin games, witches' broom activities, and obstacle courses—give dancers opportunities to practice balance, musicality, body control, and spatial awareness while having fun.
💖 Tiny Steps at Home: Ask Me About...
🎃 How I can hop on one foot.
👞 What a shuffle bunk sounds like.
🩰 How I balance in passé.
🧹 My favorite Halloween dance game.
🎵 How I can dance to fast and slow music.
-Starlet Level -
Starlet Triples 1
Ballet • Tap • Jazz | Unit 2
We’re moving into the next stage of our Starlet journey! In Unit 2, dancers are taking the skills they’ve been practicing and beginning to put them together in new ways. We’ll introduce new steps, build longer movement patterns, and give dancers more opportunities to work independently and perform. With Halloween-inspired music and activities woven throughout the month, there will be plenty of opportunities to learn, move, and have fun!
🩰 Ballet
This month, ballet becomes a little more challenging as dancers begin working with balance, turns, jumps, and traveling movement. We’ll introduce spring points, piqué with passé, spotting, chaînés, bourrée, and pas de chat, while continuing to strengthen arabesque and port de bras. Dancers will also begin combining several of these skills together in our Once Upon a Dream combination. Our focus is on control, balance, remembering sequences, and moving from one step to the next with purpose.
👞 Tap
In Tap, we’re taking our rhythm work on the move! Dancers will explore faster shuffles, Suzy Qs, heel-ball changes, heel drills, and traveling patterns while continuing to develop their ability to transfer weight and keep a steady beat. We’ll introduce the shuffle bunk and, for dancers who are ready, add a hop to the pattern. Through our Witches on Their Brooms and Which Witch is Which? activities, dancers will practice listening, reacting to musical cues, coordinating their feet, and keeping their sounds crisp and clear.
✨ Jazz
Jazz this month is all about changing directions, exploring rhythm, and putting movement together! Dancers will work on three-step turns and pivots while continuing to develop isolations, grapevines, chassés, and other traveling patterns. Our Monster Boogie combination gives them the chance to practice remembering a longer sequence while adding big movements, character, and energy. We’re encouraging dancers to listen for changes in the music, coordinate their whole bodies, and become more comfortable performing a combination from beginning to end.
💕 What We're Developing
Across all three styles, Unit 2 focuses on helping dancers move from individual skills to connected movement. They’re developing their ability to remember sequences, transition between movements, manage their bodies in space, listen for musical cues, and work through new challenges. We’re also beginning to encourage more independence and stage-ready confidence as dancers practice performing combinations for their teachers and classmates.
Starlet Triples 2
Ballet • Tap • Jazz | Unit 2
🩰 BALLET
Dancers will continue working on pliés, tendus, retiré passé, sautés, and grand battements, while adding piqué turns, pas de chat, and Chassé Temps Levé (Chassé Sauté). We will also continue developing balance, musicality, and longer center combinations.
👞 TAP
Tap will focus on strengthening shuffle, shuffle hop bunk, heel-toe, heel ball change, drop cramp roll, and flap down ball change. Dancers will begin putting these skills together into longer combinations while working on rhythm and independence.
⭐ JAZZ
Jazz will continue building cha cha cha, three-step turns, skitters, triple hips, Kimbo, and shimmy digs, while introducing ¼ and ½ pivots and new center combinations.
🎃 THIS MONTH
We will have some extra Halloween fun in class with Halloween music, witches' brooms, and fun movement activities! Dancers will also continue preparing to show off their skills during our upcoming observation week.
Starlet Hip Hop
Highlights for the Month
Our theme for the second month in hip hop is "Fall Fun”. Across the floor our hip-hoppers are working on variations on "breaking the stick", criss cross clap clap and fun bounce variations such "picking up suitcases" and "cake in the face"! In the center, students practice jump out cross and adding a turn, pivots and a class favorite- coffee grinders! Each class is learning a center combination this month for a special Halloween treat!
***Only Tutu Level & Starlet Level classes are included in our monthly newsletters. Prima Level students should be able to articulate what they have been learning in class. If you have any class related questions, please do not hesitate to speak with your student's teacher. ***
Comments