Fall 2025 Registration opens 8/12
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Fall 2025 Registration opens 8/12 ○
Dance with
teacher marika
With music and dance, Teacher Marika creates a safe and energetic environment for dancers and their caregivers to learn and explore together.
Inclusive, joyful and educational music and movement classes through Seattle Parks and Recreation
Through fun and engaging movement-based activities, informed by her training of Anne Green Gilbert’s nationally renowed Brain-Compatible Dance Teaching Method, Teacher Marika’s class will strengthen:
Physical Coordination
Social / Emotional skills
Brain Development
dance CLASSES with teacher marika
& SEATTLE Parks and Recreation
Registration starts 8/12 at 12:00pm. Call or use the link provided below to register.
Search Teacher Marika on the Parks and Recreation portal and scroll down for all classes offered.
Fall Session #1: September 8th - October 24th
Fall Session #2: OCTOBer 27th - December 19th
Dates may vary depending on location / class schedule
Dakota Pl. Community Center
206-225-8472
Monday afternoons
Wednesday mornings
Jefferson Community Center
206-684-7481
Tuesday mornings
High Point Community Center
206-684-7422
Tuesday afternoons
Thursday mornings
Van asselt Community Center
206-386-1921
Thursday afternoons
Rainier BEach Community Center
206-386-1925
Friday mornings
Family Dance with Teacher Marika
Family Dance is a joyful and inclusive class for all types of learners and their caregivers. Dancers and their adult(s) engage in fun movement-based activities designed to strengthen physical coordination, social emotional skills and brain development. Teacher Marika uses a combination of singing, music, props and movement to make a sensory-rich and age-appropriately challenging class. This dance class provides students and their caregivers opportunities to grow, bond, gain confidence, build connections with others and have lots of fun! Caregivers are required to stay and participate with their dancer through the duration of class.
2-4 years old. Caregiver participation required.
Non-walking babies ages 0-2 are welcome to join under caregiver supervision. All walking/dancing babies must be registered. Call if you need an age exception.
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays
at various locations
Creative Ballet with Teacher Marika
Creative Ballet is a joyful and inclusive class for all types of learners. Dancers engage in fun movement-based activities designed to strengthen physical coordination, social emotional skills and brain development. Teacher Marika uses a combination of singing, music, props and movement to make a sensory-rich and age-appropriately challenging class. This dance class provides students opportunities to grow, gain confidence, build connections with others and have lots of fun! While there is a strong focus on healthy separation and independence for the dancer, caregivers are requested to stay and observe class and be available, especially, for bathroom assistance.
3-5 years old. 4-6 years old. 6-10 years old.
Caregiver attendance requested.
Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at various locations
Summer Camps
Summer Camps 2025 are at High Point Community Center
9:30am - 12:00pm Monday - Thursday or Friday (depending on your week)
On the last day of camp, please plan to come back at 11:45am for a show!
For Drop Off:
On Monday drop off, please make sure Teacher Marika have your preferred phone number listed, in case we need to contact you during camp.
IF dropping off, you are agreeing that your dancer is fully potty trained and can use the adult toilets at High Point Community Center. If your dancer needs help with the bathroom, we ask you to stay in the lobby of High Point for the duration of camp to be available to assist your dancer when needed.
Each day of camp, please provide your dancer with the following items:
1. Bring a water bottle.
2. Bring a small snack. Dancers will have a break halfway through class to rest and refuel.
3. Optional to bring a small sheet or blanket so if your dancer wants personal rest space, they can set up an individual area.
4. Wear comfortable clothes dancers can move in. Dresses and tutus are welcome but please make sure they're not too long, so we can stay safe and avoid tripping.
5. Wear ballet slippers, sneakers or barefoot. Please no socks or sandals, so we can stay safe and avoid tripping.
6. If feeling shy, bringing a special stuffy to class can sometimes help the drop off transition.
teacher marika
Marika (she/her) is a dance educator of over a decade with a deep passion for using movement, music, and inclusive practices to provide young children with the social-emotional tools critical to their brain development. Marika holds a B.A. in Dance and Business from the University of Oregon and a certification in Ann Green-Gilbert’s nationally renowned Brain-Compatible Dance Teaching Method – all of which inform her work as a community educator. She has taught dance in studio settings, after school programs, and temporary housing shelters, focusing her primary instruction in Seattle Public pre-k classrooms and as an outreach educator at Creative Dance Center. In addition to this work, she is currently teaching her own classes through Seattle Parks and Recreation community centers across the Greater Seattle Area and is proud to have recently joined Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Community Education Department as a Teaching Artist offering arts integration in SPS elementary schools. Marika is thrilled to be continuing her journey offering inclusive and joyful movement and music experiences for families across her home of the Pacific Northwest - she would love to dance with you!
brain & body benefits
of Teacher Marika’s Curriculum
The BRain Dance
The Brain Dance is the warm-up Teacher Marika starts each class with. It was created by Anne Green-Gilbert and is a brain strengthening technique using movement patterns to stimulate reflexes your brain develops in your first year of life. This exercise re-patterns the neurological system to return the brain to its foundational and healthiest form. The patterns and their correlating social/emotional benefits are:
Breath “Oneness” Moro Reflex – Confidence, sensitivity, and adaptability.
Tactile “Sensing” Palmar, Plantar, Grasp Reflex – fine motor skills, speech, handwriting, and appropriate/safe touch.
Core Distal “Twoness” Moro Reflex, Extension and Flexion – Strengthen relationships to self and others.
Head-Tail “Lively Space” Tonic-Labyrinthine Reflex (TLR) Spinal Galant Reflex – Bonding with others, and the ability to self-sooth physically and emotionally.
Upper-Lower “Emotional Grounding” Landau, Babinski, Symmetric Tonic Neck Reflex (STNR) - Develops emotional stability, ability to reach for goals, set boundaries, self-regulate and problem solve.
Body-Side “Side Dominance” Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex (ATNR) – make choices and decisions, balance both sides, and express opinions.
Cross-Lateral “Robust Brain” Integrated Reflexes – integrating right and left side of brain and body, problem solving, thinking, strong sensory motor foundation and binocular vision.
Vestibular “First Sense” Moro, TLR Reflexes - Balance, eye-tracking, spatial awareness, proprioception, and joy.
Eye-Tracking “Vision” Landau, STNR, ATNR Reflexes - Visual and spatial awareness, single and multi-focus, and binocular and peripheral vision.
weekly dance concepts:
Place: self and general
Speed: slow, medium, and fast
Energy: smooth and sharp
Body Parts and Body Positivity
Balance: on and off
Size: small, medium, and big (near yourself or far away)
Directions: forward, backward, sideways, up and down
Flow: free and bound (go, go, go, or go and stop)
Levels: low, medium and high
Relationships: on/off, over/under, in/out, around/through
Shapes: curvy, pointy/angular, and straight
Rhythm: patterns
Weight: light and strong (muscles engaged or disengaged)
Pathways: curvy, straight, and zig zag
Focus: single and multi (one thing or many)
social/emotional skills:
Spatial awareness and self awareness
Secure attachment and positive separation
Emotional regulation
Sharing with others
Waiting their turn
Safe touch and consent
Expressing personal needs and boundaries
Decision-making
Reflecting with ourselves and others