We are 509.
Where Every Step Counts
Some of our dancers are working toward pre-professional training, and others are here because it is the best hour of their week. Both belong here, in the same building, taught by faculty who are held to the same standard.
Your dancer doesn't need experience
That is not something we say to be reassuring — it is how the classes are actually built. Level 1 assumes that nobody in the room has done this before, and we group classes so that your dancer is never the only beginner in the room.
If a dancer turns out to be in the wrong class, we will move them in the first few weeks at no charge. We would much rather take the time to get the fit right than have a dancer sit through a season that was never going to work for them.
We teach from eighteen months through adults — caregiver-and-child classes, early childhood, every level of youth dance and cheer, and adult classes in the evenings.
Where dancers start, and where it can go
You do not have to know which of these you want yet. Most families start at the top and find their own way from there.
Try it
Session classes run in separate Fall, Winter and Spring blocks, so you can enroll one season at a time and see how it goes before committing to anything longer.
Build it
Full Season classes run September through June, Levels 1 to 3, in ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, contemporary and more. The season ends with our spring showcase.
Go further
Level 4, Pointe and Pre-Pointe by placement, Audition Lab, turns and leaps training, and stretch and conditioning. Serious technical work for dancers who want it.
Compete
Our Competition Program runs three tiers — Novice, Team and Company — by audition. Email us and we will tell you what each one asks of a dancer and a family.
How dancers are treated here
Plenty of studios talk about high standards. We think you should also know how dancers are looked after while they get there. So here is ours, in writing:
- Our faculty do not comment on a dancer's body. That includes weight, shape and line, and it includes praise as much as criticism. This is written into our staff handbook rather than left to good intentions, and our instructors are asked to coach the work in front of them instead.
- Pain is taken seriously. No dancer here is encouraged to push through unsafe pain, and modifying a skill is treated as a normal part of training rather than as a dancer falling behind.
- Corrections are specific and actionable. We ask our faculty to be kind, to be clear about what to change, and to point a dancer toward their next step rather than at what they cannot yet do.
- Faculty are trained and reviewed. Every instructor completes required training in psychological safety, professional boundaries and supporting different learners, and every instructor is coached at least twice during the season.
What we want is for our dancers to still love this at nineteen, and that shapes a great deal about how we teach them at nine.
The Whole Dancer
Teaching steps is only part of what we are doing here. We want every dancer to leave more confident, healthier and more resilient than when they arrived, whatever level they reach along the way.
Strength, alignment, mobility, endurance, and safe technique.
Focus, confidence, goal setting, and the ability to reset after a hard day.
Warm-up, cool-down, hydration, injury awareness, listening to the body.
Musicality, expression, individuality, creativity, and connection.
How 509 started
We started 509 Collective because of our own kids.
We were dance parents first. Our children loved it, our older two were getting serious about it, and we couldn't find what we were looking for in Spokane — training at a real level, taught by people who cared about the whole dancer and not just the dancing. So we decided to build it, and asked Billie's mom, Lori, to be our studio director.
What we wanted was a place where a dancer could become well-rounded at any level. Where they'd work with professionals from all over, with all kinds of experience, and be taught by adults who see them as people first and dancers second. And a place where everyone is safe and everyone belongs.
We're three seasons in now, and the moments that tell us it's working aren't the big ones. It's watching the little dancers come out of class grinning. It's watching our own daughters grow as dancers and, at the same time, get more comfortable being exactly who they are. There have been more of those than we could list, and they're the reason we keep going.
Who's behind it
Billie
Co-founder · Programming & CurriculumBillie is a relational therapist with a PhD, and she grew up dancing until her oldest daughter arrived. She works alongside Lori on faculty and curriculum. The way we talk to dancers here — the coaching standards, the rule about never commenting on a dancer's body — comes directly out of that training.
Libby
Co-founder · Space & OperationsLibby is an architect, and she designed our studio. If you have noticed the floors, the sightlines, the light, or that the lobby is somewhere you can comfortably wait through a class, that is her work. She looks after the building and the operations behind it.
Lori
Studio DirectorLori holds a Master’s in Education and spent her career at the top of dance and cheer. She directed the University of Utah’s Crimson Line dance team and cheer squad and the Nightline Professional Dance Company, coached high school drill teams to state and national championships, and is a member of the Utah Sports Hall of Fame. Her choreography has appeared at bowl game halftime shows, the Pro Bowl and the Olympics. She has owned a studio before, judges nationally, and co-owns RC Competes.
Lori teaches foundations first, and she is the person who coaches our faculty. When we say that every instructor here is reviewed twice a season, she is the one doing the reviewing.
Our faculty come from all over — Juilliard, Bolshoi, Complexions, Limón, Millennium, The Edge, Radix. Meet the faculty and the choreographers who work with our dancers.
What families say
“My daughter has found a place that blends passion, skill, & community. From the moment you walk in the door, you can feel the energy & dedication that both the instructors & students bring to every class. Whether you’re a beginner eager to learn the basics or an experienced dancer wanting to challenge yourself with advanced styles — there is something for everyone!”
— Stephen, 509 parent
“Warm and collaborative, with an intentional culture of inclusion and kindness, creating a parent and family friendly atmosphere. We’ve witnessed a strong emphasis on both skill and technique building, developing dancers through positive growth experiences.”
— Jeremiah, 509 parent
Practical things worth knowing
- Where we are. 2023 E 29th Ave, Spokane, WA 99203. Call us on 509.340.9880.
- What we teach. Ballet is the foundation, and we build on it with tap, jazz, hip hop, contemporary, lyrical, ballroom, acro, tumbling and cheer. Plus adult classes and early childhood.
- Families see the work. Once a session we open the studios so you can watch class — not a performance, an actual class.
- Costs are on the website. No calling to find out the price. Tuition and fees are published in full.
Come see whether it fits
The best way to know whether a studio is right for your dancer is to stand in it for an hour. You are welcome to claim a free week of unlimited classes, with no commitment and nothing to cancel afterward.
Not sure where your dancer would fit? Email hello@509collective.com with their age and what they're curious about, and we'll point you somewhere. "I don't know what my kid would like" is a completely normal place to start.