Civic Dance Center is a Bakersfield dance studio with a longstanding role in the city’s cultural life. In 1978, it accepted the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra’s invitation to participate in The Nutcracker Ballet, helping begin an annual Bakersfield Christmas tradition that continues today. In 1998, the Arts Council of Kern awarded the center the Bakersfield Centennial Dance Award for outstanding contributions to the cultural heritage of Bakersfield. The center houses three state-of-the-art studios with wood sprung floors engineered with rubber wedges on wooden frames to help safeguard against injuries, and it emphasizes discipline, imagination, collaboration, professionalism, kindness, and respect.