Lizz Pimentel beams broadly whenever a former student walks through the door at In Motion with their child in hand.

She opened the dance studio 26 years ago, so it was bound to happen. But it always takes her by surprise.

The next generation of dancers will take to the stage this week for the school’s annual showcase, The Year In Motion.

“The time has just flown by,” Ms Pimentel said. “It makes me incredibly proud to know that these parents who were former students and former company members trust us with their kid’s dance education and experience.”

What amazes her most is just how much they remind her of their parents.

“They often have the same mannerisms and similar personalities,” she said. “You can definitely see the parent in the dancer.”

Lauren Botelho, 38, enrolled her daughter, Addy, in the Parents and Tots class at In Motion School of Dance when she was 18 months old.

“She is a shy kid, but from the moment we put her on stage, she was shining,” Ms Botelho said. “She seemed to really enjoy it.”

Now that Addy is eight, she is more self-aware.

“She does not like the spotlight as well,” Ms Botelho said. “She likes being on stage, but is not that kid out front making everyone laugh.”

Ms Botelho was one of In Motion’s first students.

“Lizz was my teacher at Jackson’s,” she said. “She is one of those people who want nothing but the best out of their students. When she went out on her own, I took a chance and went with her.”

Ms Botelho was one of 40 students who crowded into a 15ft by 15ft studio on Chancery Lane in Hamilton. Four years later, she was there when In Motion moved into its current multi-storey home at 71 Reid Street.

Addy will be dancing two numbers in The Year In Motion.

“Having this shared experience has been really cool,” said Ms Botelho, a former teacher at In Motion, who now teaches dance and provides mathematics support at BHS.

Trina Seymour also started her daughter, K’ah, in the Parents and Tots class.

“She had the same bubbly energy and was super excited to see my daughter come to the school,” she said of Ms Pimentel. “It was really nice being back.

“K’ah is not into dance as much as I was, but I don’t push her. Where I was really into ballet, modern and jazz, she is more into musical theatre and acrobatics.”

She is thrilled with how her daughter has developed.

“When she first started in the acrobatics class in September she was nervous about doing cartwheels and splits,” she said. “Now she is doing cartwheels every six seconds, and she has improved on her splits.”

Ms Seymour can still remember Ms Pimentel’s advice to her when she was in the class.

“She said to go home and sleep in the splits,” she said. “I would do it up against the wall until I fell asleep.”

The lessons paid off for the 35-year-old, who uses her “dancing and acting skills” with the young people she sees in her job as a behavioural therapist.

Kristina Amaro’s six-year-old daughter, Maribella Sebastiao, started ballet classes nearly three years ago.

“Dance made such a huge impact on my life,” said Ms Amaro, a teacher at Mount St Agnes Academy. “It was a place to escape. I loved music and loved to be able to go somewhere every day after school. I wanted my daughter to have the same experience. I wanted her to form relationships and be a part of something not part of her school.”

It was through her dance classes that Maribella became great friends with Nylah Bassett.

Her mother, Kiara Somner, was Ms Amaro’s dance school “"bestie"” back in the day.

“Who would have thought way back then that one day we would be bringing our daughters back to the same place to dance together,” the 33-year-old said.

“I feel that dance taught me perseverance and self-motivation. It is also about working with a team to create something.”

As part of The Year In Motion, dancers will “make their way through the year in a dance celebration of the big and small events that make each of the 365 days magical”.

Ms Pimentel’s daughter, Lola, 15, is returning home for the show.

“She is currently a scholarship student at Interlochen Centre for the Arts in Michigan, pursuing dance,” the dance teacher said. “She was able to come home this week and is learning one of the dances so she can be in it. She is also helping backstage.”

The Year In Motion opens on Friday and runs until June 10 at Earl Cameron Theatre. Tickets, $45 for general admission and $90 for patrons, are available at ptix.bm. For more information: inmotionbda.com or info@inmotionbda.com