DANCE GENRES

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Ballet - Ballet is the basic foundation for most forms of dance.  An artistic dance form performed to music using precise and highly formalized set steps and gestures. Classical ballet, which originated in Renaissance Italy and established its present form during the 19th century, is characterized by light, graceful, fluid movements and the use of pointe shoes.

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Progressing Ballet Technique - Progressing Ballet Technique is a program to help students advance in all dance forms by training muscle memory. PBT focuses on core stability, weight placement and alignment.

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Pre-Pointe - Pre-Pointe is a pointe preparation class for serious ballet students interested in dancing en pointe. Pre-Pointe is a 30-minute class that meets weekly, usually before or after the student's ballet class. The class is taken barefoot. A portion of the class is spent doing foot/ankle exercises and stretches on the floor.

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Pointe - Pointe technique is the part of classical ballet technique that concerns pointe work, in which a ballet dancer supports all body weight on the tips of fully extended feet within pointe shoes.  This class requires approval from the Director of Ballet prior to enrollment.

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Jazz - Jazz dance evolved from early African American vernacular dances during the early 1900s. It incorporated unique moves, elaborate footwork, large leaps, rapid turns, and imaginative improvisation to bring an energetic and entertaining experience. Jazz dance requires the foundation of classical ballet to embody balance and agility. Jazz dance is viewed in the spotlight with movies, on stage performances, and in urban areas of the streets and clubs. The transformation of jazz dance into dance theatre and the important role of professional techniques and choreography, created “modern jazz dance”.

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Hip-Hop - Hip hop dance is a range of street dance styles primarily performed to hip hop music or that have evolved as part of hip hop culture. It is influenced by a wide range of styles that were created in the 1970s and made popular by dance crews in the United States.

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Tap - Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely performed in musical theater.

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Ballroom - Ballroom dance is a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world, mostly because of its performance and entertainment aspects. Ballroom dancing is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and television.

 

Contemporary - Contemporary dance is a genre of dance performance that developed during the mid-twentieth century and has since grown to become one of the dominant genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world, with particularly strong popularity in the U.S. and Europe.

 

Lyrical - Lyrical dance is a style that combines ballet and jazz dancing techniques. It is performed to music with lyrics so that it inspires expression of strong emotions the choreographer feels from the lyrics of the song. This style concentrates on an individual approach and expressiveness of such emotions as love, joy, hurt, or anger. It does not concentrate on the dancer’s precision of movement.

 

Hula - Hula is a Hawaiian dance form accompanied by chant or song. It was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Native Hawaiians who originally settled there. The hula dramatizes or portrays the words of the oli or mele in a visual dance form.

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Leaps & Turns - Leaps and Turns is a technique class designed to assist students in focusing on the leaps, jumps and turns that dancers perform in ballet and jazz. Leaps and Turns class is a way to better your technique when executing basic leaps, center leaps, turns, and fouetté. Ballet is required with this class.

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VOICE CLASS / VOCAL COACHING

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Glee Club - a group formed to sing glees, part songs, and short choral compositions.

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Vocal Coaching  - A vocal coach, also known as a voice coach, is a music teacher, usually a piano accompanist, who helps singers prepare for a performance, often also helping them to improve their singing technique and take care of and develop their voice, but is not the same as a singing teacher.

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Musical Theatre Class - Musical theatre classes allow students to view music and the arts as a whole as a career, not just a hobby. A school curriculum dedicated to the arts empowers students through work-based learning, essentially showing them what a career in music or performing would be like.