BALLET

Ballet is a graceful and formal style of dance. Dancers will grow in discipline, strength and fluidity. Ballet classes typically follow a syllabus week-to-week. We highly recommend this class to all of our dancers regardless of age/experience as it builds strength and musicality. We find that beginners and soft-spoken dancers particularly enjoy this class.

JAZZ

Jazz builds on African American Jazz styles of dancing that emerged with jazz music in the 1800’s. We teach what is called Commercial or Modern Jazz, which incorporates spins, leaps, and kicks into fun and upbeat routines. It is often found to have similar aesthetic values to ballet, however, the class is high-energy and slightly less formal in structure than ballet. It is another great choice for beginners, as well as dancers who love big and fast movement.

ACRO

Acro is best described as a mix between dance and gymnastics. Dancers will learn tumbling, partner tricks and lifts, flexibility, and balance. This class focuses greatly on repetition and discipline in order to safely progress through age/level appropriate stunts. Safety is of high priority in acro, and patience and focus are crucial in this class. A fantastic choice for dancers wanting to challenge themselves to gain strength and learn new things.

LYRICAL

A style of dance that focuses on telling a story or showing emotion to the audience. It is very expressive and powerful. Often in lyrical, we will teach dancers how to express themselves by creating their own movement to songs. Dancers who are expressive and charismatic find a lot of opportunity to embrace those qualities in lyrical. Because lyrical focuses more on individuality and artistry, it is highly recommended that a dancer takes either ballet or jazz to build skills and strength to better express themselves in this class.

CONTEMPORARY

Contemporary dance simply means “something new”. Contemporary classes are interpretive and can often be mixed with other art forms. Contemporary dance is often emotional and expressive. It often builds upon ballet vocabulary* and movement, and oftentimes instrumental music is used. Contemporary dance is all about exploring and experimenting with movement, and takes vulnerability and an openness to trying new things.

*It is highly recommended that dancers take either ballet or jazz to build their dance vocabulary for contemporary.

HIP HOP

Hip hop dance originated out of a larger cultural movement in the Bronx in the 70’s. At that time, it was created as a way to build community and create art within marginalized Black communities. Hip hop dance classes in our studio settings reflect the same value of building community and camaraderie. It is an incredibly valuable class to take as dancers build musicality, rhythm, strength and coordination.

MUSICAL THEATRE & DRAMA

Students will study acting through fun games and creative script-reading, and learn about what it takes to bring a drama performance together. This class encourages creativity and confidence, in writing scripts and bringing them to life. Drama involves minimal to no dancing and no experience is required. Musical theatre is a very theatrical dance style, sometimes performed while lip-synching or singing.