If you're raising a young dancer in De Motte, Indiana, you don't need to drive to Chicago or Indianapolis to find quality ballet instruction. Despite its modest size—just under 4,000 residents—this Jasper County town supports a small but dedicated community of dance educators serving everyone from preschoolers taking their first plié to serious students eyeing collegiate programs and summer intensives.
Below, we profile the three established ballet and dance studios operating in De Motte. Each takes a different approach to training, and which one fits your family depends on your child's goals, temperament, and schedule.
Classical Focus with Regional Reach: De Motte Dance Academy
The approach: Rigorous Vaganova-based classical training
Best for: Students ages 8+ who want structured, exam-track instruction
Founded in 2006 by former Joffrey Ballet dancer Margaret Chen-Lewis, De Motte Dance Academy occupies a renovated 5,000-square-foot warehouse on the east edge of town. The studio features sprung Harlequin flooring, wall-mounted barres, and live piano accompaniment for all intermediate and advanced technique classes.
Chen-Lewis, who performed with Joffrey from 1994 to 2003, designed the academy's syllabus around the Vaganova method, with students progressing through annual examinations administered by visiting adjudicators from Chicago's Ruth Page Center for the Arts. The school fields no competition team; instead, its annual spring production draws from the classical repertoire. In 2023, students performed excerpts from Paquita and Les Sylphides at the Jasper County Fairgrounds theater.
Notable outcome: Three academy graduates have been accepted into the School of American Ballet's summer program since 2019, and one former student now dances with Cincinnati Ballet's second company.
Practical details:
- Ages 3 through adult
- Classes run Tuesday through Saturday; pointe work begins around age 12 with director approval
- Tuition ranges from $85/month for one weekly class to $340/month for the pre-professional track
- Scholarships available for boys and for families demonstrating financial need
Cross-Training and Creativity: InMotion Dance Studio
The approach: Ballet fundamentals plus contemporary, jazz, and modern
Best for: Dancers who want versatility, musical theater aspirants, and tweens exploring multiple styles
InMotion Dance Studio opened in 2012 under the direction of Kelsey Voss, a Ball State University graduate whose performance credits include regional musical theater productions across Indiana and Michigan. Located in a small retail plaza on North Halleck Street, the 2,400-square-foot studio keeps two classrooms busy most weekday afternoons.
While ballet is required for all company members, InMotion is explicitly not a ballet-only school. Voss and her four-person faculty teach a blended curriculum: students take two ballet classes weekly, then add contemporary, jazz, or tap depending on interest. The studio competes regionally and stages a full spring recital at a theater in Merrillville.
A distinctive program is the "Choreography Lab" for teens, in which students create and cast their own works under faculty mentorship. Several alumni have gone on to study dance at Indiana University, Purdue Fort Wayne, and Columbia College Chicago.
Practical details:
- Ages 2 through 18
- Ballet, jazz, contemporary, tap, hip-hop, and acrobatics offered
- Monthly tuition averages $95–$175 depending on class load; sibling discounts available
- Competition and convention travel is optional, not required
Small-Scale, Personalized Training: De Motte School of Ballet
The approach: Low enrollment, individualized correction, and emphasis on artistic development
Best for: Shy or late-starting students, dancers recovering from injury, and those who thrive with close teacher attention
The newest and smallest of the three studios, De Motte School of Ballet opened in 2018 in a converted church fellowship hall on West Division Road. Director Rebecca Holt, a former Pennsylvania Ballet corps member, caps enrollment at 45 students total and teaches most classes herself.
Holt's philosophy centers on "quality of movement over quantity of steps." She often spends an entire 90-minute class on a single classical variation, breaking down port de bras and épaulement in granular detail. The school's single studio has simple amenities—wooden barres, a modest sound system, and mirrors on one wall—but parents praise the atmosphere as supportive and low-pressure.
There is no annual recital in the traditional sense. Instead, Holt hosts an informal "Studio Showing" each May where students perform short solos and repertoire excerpts for family and invited guests. Several students have successfully auditioned into regional summer intensives including those at Milwaukee Ballet and BalletMet Columbus.
Practical details:
- Ages 6 through 16 (adult beginner ballet offered Wednesday evenings)
- Classes
