Acrobatics
If your child loves flipping through your house and is always upside down, acrobatics is the class for them! Acrobatics uses and develops skills such as strength, balance, flexibility, and gross motor coordination, to perform difficult and intricate tricks. The beginner acrobat would start by learning the basics such as forward rolls, back bends, and cartwheels. As the child continues to progress these skills develop into more difficult skills such as back walkovers and front limbers. Eventually, a child who reaches an advanced level of acrobatics is able to perform tricks such as a back handspring or a side aerial.
Ballet
If your child loves moving to slow or classical music, they would love ballet! Ballet is a classical dance with formalized steps that is characterized by its grace. Ballet uses and develops skills such as strength, flexibility, balance, and gross motor skills. It is also well-known for instilling dancers with proper posture and discipline. The beginning ballet dancer would learn the basics of ballet such as plié, tendú, and bourré, their classes will also heavily emphasize on the seven movements of dance. As the dancer matures they will be introduced to the ballet barre and the proper ways to interact with it. When the dancer progresses they will learn skills that challenge their coordination such as pas de bourrés, balancés, and waltz steps. As they advance the dancer would be able to perform steps such as pirouettes and grande jetés.
Tap
If your child enjoys stamping their feet, clapping their hands, and making their own rhythms, they belong in a tap class! Tap is a style of dance in which a dancer wears shoes with a metal "tap" on the heel and the toe. The dancer uses these taps to strike the ground and make sounds, creating their own percussive rhythms. Tap uses and develops skills such as coordination, balance, discipline, and musicality. The dancer that is new to tap would begin by learning the basics of tap, such as step heels, shuffles, and how to maintain a basic rhythm. Eventually these basic steps are put into sequences to form more difficult steps such as buffalos, irishes, and drawbacks. The dancer who reaches an advanced level will have learned skills such as pullbacks and wings, as well as being able to perform more difficult rhythms.
Jazz
If your child loves jumping around to fast and upbeat music, a jazz class would be the perfect fit! Jazz is a style of dance that uses and develops strength, flexibility, balance, and coordination. It is a codified style that is characterized by the use of isolations, grounded movements, and syncopation. The beginning jazz dancer learns basic flexibility skills such as leg extensions, and basic stylized moves such as how to strut and chassé. As the dancer progresses they will learn more technical elements such as pirouettes and grande jetés.
Hip Hop
If your child likes to move, groove, and have fun, they should take a hip hop class! Hip hop is a style of dance that developed as a street dance that encompasses a lot of styles such as breaking and popping and is typically performed to hip hop music. This style utilizes and develops coordination, musicality, and stamina. The beginning hip hop dancer learns steps that help them with their coordination such as grapevines, as well as basic breaking moves such as shoulder holds. As the dancer progresses they learn to be able to perform more complex choreography.
Lyrical
Lyrical is a style of dance that combines the techniques of ballet and jazz. Ballet technique is critical to a dancer's success in lyrical, which is why all dancers who take lyrical must also be enrolled in a ballet class. Lyrical is performed to music with lyrics, and the lyrics are meant to inspire a strong emotional performance from the dancer.
Musical Theatre
Does your child love musicals and Broadway? Do they want to sing, dance, and act? Then a musical theatre class is just what they're looking for! Musical theatre classes offer many things, from improvisation games that teach kids to think on their feet and hone their acting skills, practice with monolouges, singing in a group setting, and learning Broadway-style choreography.
.png)
Modern
Modern is a style that is meant for the mature and advanced dancer. Modern was created to be the stark contrast of ballet as the early pioneers of modern dance felt limited by ballet. The movements in modern were derived to express the dancer's innermost feelings. There are many different modern techniques such as Graham, Horton, Cunningham, Taylor, and Limón. Each technique varies in training and performance, but the modern student will explore all of the techniques to have the best possible understanding of modern dance.