Tye Chua Dance

10/16/2026

✨ THE MAGIC IS COMING TO LIFE! ✨

A beloved Kalamazoo holiday tradition returns as Tye Chua Dance, home of Kalamazoo Ballet™, presents The Nutcracker 2026! 🎄🩰

Join Clara on an enchanting journey through a world of dancing snowflakes, dazzling costumes, and holiday wonder. Featuring the talented dancers of Tye Chua Dance, this magical production is a celebration of classical ballet and the joy of the season.

🎟️ TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW!

Three performances:

✨ Saturday, December 5 | 2:00 PM
✨ Saturday, December 5 | 5:00 PM
✨ Sunday, December 6 | 2:00 PM

📍 The Jolliffe Theatre in the Epic Center | Downtown Kalamazoo

Early Bird pricing is available through October 25!

Our Nutcracker performances have sold out quickly in the past, and with limited seating available, we strongly encourage purchasing your tickets early!

Whether it’s a cherished family tradition or your very first Nutcracker, we can’t wait to share the magic with you. 💙

🎟️ Reserve your seats:
www.tyechuadance.com/tickets

09/30/2026

The shop is open! ✨

We've put together a collection of items perfect for the studio - or anywhere! No order minimums, order anytime - gifting season is right around the corner!

❣️Apparel for kids & adults
❣️Water bottles & travel mugs
❣️Hats
❣️Bags
❣️Ballet notebooks 👀
❣️Nutcracker 2026 limited collection
❣️Kalamazoo Ballet merch!

Check out the collection at tyechuadance.com/shop

09/28/2026

Ballet should belong to everyone.

For generations, access to serious ballet training hasn’t been equally available to every child, every family, or even every community. We want to be part of changing that.

At Tye Chua Dance and Kalamazoo Ballet, we are committed to creating a ballet community that reflects the community around us - one where dancers of different backgrounds, identities, body types, and financial circumstances can see a place for themselves.

That means more than simply saying everyone is welcome. It means actively working to expand access: reducing financial barriers, reaching families who may not have traditionally seen ballet as a space for them, providing scholarships and support, and creating an environment where every dancer is treated with dignity, respect, and high expectations.

Talent is everywhere. Opportunity isn’t always.

We believe our job is to help close that gap - and to make sure the next generation of dancers knows there is room for them here.

You belong in ballet!

09/26/2026

It's birthday week at TCD! ♎️♎️♎️

Your three favorite Libras all get a little older this week - Aimee & Gene today & Angi on Friday!

09/18/2026

🎙️ We’re on ShopTalk!

Angi had the chance to sit down with Jay Morris to talk about something we’re incredibly excited about - what’s next for Tye Chua Dance and Kalamazoo Ballet in downtown Kalamazoo.

We talked about our new space, our capital campaign, and the opportunity in front of us to create a home that reflects the level of training, artistry and community that has grown here.

Three large, professional studios filled with natural light. A welcoming lobby. Costume room. Dancers’ lounge. Office space. Private bathrooms. Room for our dancers to train, rehearse, create and simply be.

And, most importantly, room to grow.

Tye Chua Dance has called downtown Kalamazoo home for generations, and we are incredibly excited about what the next chapter could look like.

Thank you to Jay and ShopTalk for giving us the opportunity to share the story. ❤️

🎧 Listen to ShopTalk S4E3 on Spotify - and if you’d like to be part of what we’re building, learn more about the Kalamazoo Ballet Capital Campaign at kalamazooballet.org.

Shop Talk · Episode

09/15/2026

What. A. Day!

Once again we are humbled by all the wonderful dancers and families who choose to make Tye Chua Dance their home. Thank you for entrusting us with your dance education, and for helping us create and maintain the warm and positive culture TCD is known for.

Big things are on the horizon for Tye Chua Dance & Kalamazoo Ballet - and we took the first step today by holding classes in our new space. Thank you to the village it took to get us here - from cleaning to installing the sprung floor to adding the finishing touches - it was a whirlwind but well worth it!

And we would be remiss if we didn't send a great big THANK YOU (see slide 3 😅) to City Centre's owner, Harvin Sandhu, who made this happen for us. Thanks to Harvin & the entire 5 Rivers team for continuing to support the arts in Kalamazoo!

09/10/2026

Hands-on correction is an important part of ballet training.

There are things a dancer can understand intellectually - square your hips, lengthen through the spine, engage the turnout, lower the shoulder - but still not quite feel in their own body. A knowledgeable teacher can use careful, hands-on guidance to help a student recognize correct placement, alignment, weight distribution, and muscular engagement in a way that verbal instruction alone sometimes cannot.

That physical feedback can create an immediate connection between what a dancer hears, what they feel, and what they need to reproduce independently. Over time, those corrections help build stronger technique, greater body awareness, and safer movement patterns.

At Tye Chua Dance, hands-on correction is always used thoughtfully and appropriately - and always with respect for the individual dancer.

Personal boundaries matter. Students are encouraged to communicate if they are uncomfortable with physical correction, and our faculty will always respect that boundary and use another teaching approach.

Because excellent ballet training requires both: teachers who are willing to teach with precision, and dancers who feel safe, respected, and comfortable enough to learn. 🩰

09/08/2026

A place at the barre. A place to belong. 🤍

The friends you look forward to seeing. The older dancers you look up to. Someone with an arm around your shoulder as you wait for your turn.

These little moments are a big part of growing up at Tye Chua Dance.

We care about the dancers our students become - and the way they feel when they walk through our doors. Known. Encouraged. Free to be themselves. Part of something they love.

Whether you’re taking your very first class or finding your way back to ballet, there’s a place for you here.

Come dance with us.
tyechuadance.com

09/07/2026

We're not crying, you're crying! 🥹🥹🥹

Our hearts are full knowing these three are together at Interlochen this year. We know big things are on the horizon for each of them!