Hawkins Dance Academy

At Hawkins, our goal is to create a fun, family environment that enables children to experience the benefits of dance, movement, and expression, while also inspiring and preparing them to grow as a performing artist. Our staff is dedicated to fostering a constructive and positive learning environment, ensuring that each student feels valued and nurtured as they explore their artistic potential.

Our Story

Hawkins School of Performing Arts was founded by Deirdre Hawkins over 30 years ago in Folsom, California. With an early interest and commitment to ballet and modern dance, Hawkins took root in the community and grew rapidly, prompting two moves and expansions to accommodate the strong interest across dance disciplines. Today, Hawkins is a regional leader in the performing arts, offering a broad base of classes across all dance disciplines, as well as programs in musical theater and acrobatics.

Our Philosophy

At Hawkins, we believe that every individual is unique and has their own artistic potential. Our teachers take the time to understand and adapt time-tested teaching principles to uncover a student's passion and garner their potential. We foster a culture that promotes a constructive and positive learning environment, where students can feel supported and encouraged as they grow as artists.

Why Choose Hawkins

When young children first come to Hawkins, it's usually to fuel an interest in dance or some form of expression. But, they are often just beginning to explore their inner artist. Hawkins is fairly unique in that while offering great depth and breadth in the classic dance disciplines, we openly encourage the exploration of tangent interests as well - acrobatics, musical theater, and parade.

Our Programs

Hawkins offers a variety of programs designed to cater to different ages and experience levels. Our Children's Classes & Program are designed for children ages 2 to 8 and incorporate fun and imaginative activities as a way to teach dance techniques while still introducing and reinforcing techniques core to each dance genre. For recreational dancers and performers, we offer classes that appeal to all ages and experience levels, encouraging students to find their artistic self at their own pace, as well as perform on stage pieces they have learned in class.

For more serious dancers and performers, Hawkins Troupes and Companies represent an opportunity to make a season-long commitment to hone their talent and perform in a team environment. Hawkins is fortunate to have a team of artistic directors ready to work across the performing arts in ballet, contemporary, jazz, tap, modern, and hip hop dance disciplines, as well as musical theater and parade.

Join Our Community

At Hawkins, we believe that the collective of our teachers, students, and parents truly is a second family. We welcome and openly embrace anyone who would like to be part of our community. Whether you're a seasoned performer or just starting to explore your artistic side, we invite you to join us at Hawkins School of Performing Arts.