Shooting dance is really no different than shooting sports. You need fast (f2.8 or faster) lenses for indoor natural light.

You need to anticipate the moments where the dancers reach the top of their movements because that will give you a second or two to shoot and possibly capture the image without movement.

Also, don't rule out shooting at a slow shutter speed and panning with the dancers to capture movement.

Larry's right that a fast lens is a good thing. Be sure to be sitting down when you price them though. Just for the record, the very best lens for the job is probably the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS. As I said, be sitting down when you price them. One good note is that prices actually vary within about a $500 range so it's possible to get a good deal on a brand new one. Incidentally, don't be tempted by the lower price of either the non-IS version or the f4 version.

There are other options too. The obvious one is to set your Rebel's ISO at 800 or 1600. Another is to use a tripod to eliminate camera shake.

Probably the best option is to simply get a large memory card and shoot LOTS of pictures. Are you more likely to have a few great shots if you take 20 or if you take 400?

In any case, have a great time. I've got some great pictures of the kids doing that sort of thing and I'll cherish them always.

Here's one I captured with the D70. It's my niece that I posed. Though I was using studio lights, it took quite a few shots to capture the perfect position with her balanced on her toes:

Shoot lots of pictures like Chip said.

Thanks I was planning on purchasing this lens soon. Will this lens also help with the ghosting effect when I use a flash?
Shawn

That is a fantastic photo. Is it possible to take that quality of picture during a normal dance routine? And freeze the action?
Thanks
Shawn

Probably not. I used 8 foot white seamless paper and two studio strobes bounced into white umbrellas. I shot with the Nikon D70 with a 20mm f2.8 lens. The lighting was the easiest part of the shoot. The pose and timing was much more difficult.

But you can do something like this at home where you have much more control. I find that will make a much more memorable photo than shooting under terrible lighting conditions at the event.

Hi,
My recommendation would be the 85mm F1.8, or if you are
rich the F1.2. I used to shoot dance with 2 Leicas, one with the 90 F2 and the other with the 50 F2. Most of the time I could have gotten away with just one with the
90 F2 (with eyes). My average exposures were either
F2 or F2.8 @ 1/60th for an entire performance on TriX rated at ISO 400. I normally took exposure readings with an incident meter prior to a performence prior to a rehearsal from the stage.

Thanks for all the information. You have been a great help to me just getting started. I will have to give this a try.
Shawn

One of these days when I get better at this I will try to get a 1.8. Right now I am going to get the canon 70-200 2.8 IS and give it a whirl to see how far I can go with it. Thanks for all your help.
Shawn