Top Hat Dance Academy

Enjoy your special month everyone!!!🎂🎈🎊

We hope you have the BEST day☀️❤️

✨ Holy cow… you guys have kept us BUSY, and we are SO excited! 💜⭐

Our registration post went up less than 24 hours ago, and WOW… we’ve already welcomed 37 new students for our upcoming 40th season! We are beyond excited, and our hearts are so full.

One thing that has made us smile over and over again is hearing the same message from so many new families:

“A friend of mine had nothing but wonderful things to say about your studio, and I’d love some information.” 🥹

There is truly no greater compliment than hearing how much our dance families love being here. Your kind words, recommendations, and support mean more than you’ll ever know.

Word of mouth has always been our biggest, and really our only, form of advertising, and it’s because of our incredible dance families that our studio continues to grow year after year.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for believing in us, sharing your experiences, and helping us welcome so many new faces into the Top Hat family. We can’t wait to make this our best season yet and celebrate our 40th season with all of you❤️

Text HAPPYDANCE to 203-932-4149 to start your registration!

This picture of LuLu seemed fitting because it’s filled with excitement and if you were at our recital last month you’d get starting this post with Holy Cow😂

😂 Okay, parents… who’s ready to fill those calendars with even more places to Uber to? 💃

Registration for our 40th Dance Season is officially OPEN! ✨

📲 Text DANCE40 to 203-932-4149 to start your registration today.

We can’t wait to dance with you this season! ⭐

✨ Happy 40th Birthday to us🥰✨

It’s honestly hard to believe that 40 years ago, Top Hat Dance Academy was nothing more than a dream.

The lease was signed on a space in a brand-new condo complex on July 15, 1986… before the walls were even up. There were no dance floors, no mirrors, no music filling the rooms. Just an empty space, a dream, and one simple belief:

Where Every Child Is a Star. ⭐

Forty years later, that dream has become so much more than a dance studio.

It’s become a second home.
A place where friendships are made, confidence is built, tears are wiped away, victories are celebrated, and thousands of dancers have discovered what they’re capable of.

Every recital, every competition, every class, every laugh, every challenge, and every standing ovation has helped write this incredible story.

To every dancer who has ever walked through our doors, every parent who sat in the waiting room, every teacher who shared their passion, every family who believed in us, and every friend who has cheered us on… thank you.

This anniversary belongs to all of us. ❤️

Because a legacy isn’t built by one person. It’s built by every child who took a chance, every family who believed in the dream, every teacher who inspired, and every memory made inside these walls.

So today, we celebrate 40 incredible years… and we celebrate every single person who has helped make Top Hat Dance Academy what it is today.

Happy 40th Birthday to all of us. Here’s to the legacy we’ve built together. ⭐✨

🥁🥁🥁 DRUM ROLL PLEASE… 🥁🥁🥁

I already told you guys how INSANE the competition was this week at nationals… so here are our Top 5 Highest Overall Scores from the entire weekend! 🤯✨

🥇 1st Place: Lulu • Over the Moon (Musical Theater) • 298.8

🥈 2nd Place: Danielle • When the Party’s Over (Contemporary) • 297.3

🥉 3rd Place: Danielle • I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Tap) • 297.2

⭐ 4th Place: Abby & Ashley • End of the Line (Musical Theater Duo) • 297.1

⭐ 5th Place: Lily • Brave (Lyrical) • 297.0

🤯 Holy cow! These scores are absolutely incredible, especially considering the level of competition this weekend. Every single one of you should be so proud of yourselves!

As soon as I get the videos back, I’ll definitely be sharing little snippets of these incredible performances. I can’t wait for everyone to see them! ❤️✨

✨🏆 WORK IT DANCE
CHALLENGE NATIONALS 🏆✨

We are beyond proud of everything our dancers accomplished this week! This was hands down our toughest Nationals to date! The competition was incredibly fierce and inspiring all at the same time. ❤️

⭐ SPECIAL JUDGES AWARDS

* Ashley (Tap) – Fast as Lightning, Clear as a Bell
* Gianna (Lyrical) – Graceful as Can Be
* Team Rise – Perfect Party
* Ashley & Abbey (Musical Theatre) – Energizer Bunnies
* Team Dream (Tap) – Taptastic Coordination
* Team Dream (Open) – It Should Be a Crime to Be That Fantastic
* Lilly (Jazz) – Future Broadway Star

⭐ STANDOUT AWARDS

* Gabriella – Ballet
* Abbey – Lyrical
* Team Dream – Tap
* Kenzie – Lyrical

⭐ STAR PERFORMANCE AWARDS

* Ashley – Tap
* Gianna – Lyrical
* Gianna – Musical Theatre
* Layla – Musical Theatre
* Gabriella – Musical Theatre
* Team Believe – Musical Theatre
* Ashley – Student Choreography
* Shealynn & Danielle – Jazz
* Ashley & Abbey – Musical Theatre

⭐ TOP CHOREOGRAPHY

* Gianna – Musical Theatre (Miss Megan)
* Team Rise – Hip Hop (Miss Stacey)
* Shealynn – Lyrical (Miss Stacey)
* Team Inspire – Lyrical (Miss Stacey)

⭐ VIBE CHECK AWARDS

* Emilie – Jazz
* Emilie – Lyrical
* Carmen – Tap
* Kennedy – Jazz
* Danielle – Tap
* Team Inspire – Tap
* Danielle – Musical Theatre
* Team Dream – Open
* Lilly – Lyrical
* Lilly – Jazz
* Kailyn – Jazz

⭐ OVERALL VIBE CHECK

* Team Rise – Hip Hop
* Lulu – Musical Theatre

🏆 OVERALL PLACEMENTS

Mini Recreational Solos

* 🥉 Kenzie (Lyrical) – 3rd Overall
* 8️⃣ Quinn (Jazz)

Junior Recreational Solos

* 🥈 Lilly (Jazz) – 2nd Overall
* 1️⃣3️⃣ Kailyn (Jazz)

Mini Recreational Small Groups

* 4️⃣ Team Dream (Tap)
* 4️⃣ Team Dream (Open)

Petite Intermediate Solos

* 🥉 Kennedy (Jazz) – 3rd Overall
* 4️⃣ Layla (Musical Theatre)

Petite Intermediate Small Groups

* 🥉 Team Believe (Musical Theatre)
* 4️⃣ Team Believe (Tap)

Junior Intermediate Large Groups

* 4️⃣ Team Rise (Jazz)
* 9️⃣ Team Rise (Hip Hop)

Junior Intermediate Solos

* 9️⃣ Gianna (Musical Theatre)
* 1️⃣8️⃣ Gabriella (Musical Theatre)
* 2️⃣0️⃣ Emilie (Lyrical)
* 2️⃣1️⃣ Carmen (Tap)

Teen Intermediate Solos

* 🥈 Lulu (Musical Theatre) – 2nd Overall
* 1️⃣7️⃣ Shealynn (Lyrical)
* 1️⃣8️⃣ Abbey (Lyrical)
* 2️⃣2️⃣ Mia (Tap)
* 2️⃣7️⃣ Ari (Tap)

Teen Intermediate Duo/Trio

* 🥉 Ashley & Abbey (Musical Theatre)
* 🔟 Shealynn & Danielle (Jazz)

Teen Intermediate Large Groups

* 7️⃣ Team Inspire (Tap)
* 8️⃣ Team Inspire (Lyrical)

Senior Intermediate Solos

* 🥉 Danielle (Contemporary) – 3rd Overall
* 2️⃣2️⃣ Ashley (Musical Theatre)

Senior Student Choreography

* 🥉 Ashley – 3rd Overall

👑 Senior Intermediate Title

* 🥈 Ashley (Tap) – 2nd Overall

⭐ 13 & Over Highest Scoring Intermediate Solo

* 🥈 Lulu (Musical Theatre) – 2nd Overall

❤️ Congratulations to every dancer, teacher, and family on an incredible Nationals! We are so proud of each and every one of you. Thank you for representing Top Hat Dance Academy with heart, passion, and professionalism all week long.

We are already so proud of each and every one of you❤️

Months of hard work, determination, commitment, and countless hours in the studio have led to this moment. Now it’s time to trust your training, believe in yourselves, and enjoy every second on that stage.

No matter what the scores say, you’ll always make us proud because of the heart, sportsmanship, and passion you bring every time you perform🥰

We’ll be sharing updates, photos, and all the Nationals excitement in our Stories throughout the weekend, so be sure to follow along and cheer on Team Top Hat from home🎩

Good luck, dancers! Now go shine🌟