Class Descriptions
Ballet:
This is the foundation for many styles of dance including tap, jazz, modern and more. It is very formal with set gestures, steps, and positions. Ballet is a very graceful and fluid dance. This style is generally a little slower, but also the most precise. Taking this class can help with flexibility, balance, focus and many other aspects of dancing.
Tap:
This style is best defined by the style of shoe worn for class due to the metal taps on the sole which make percussive sounds with movement. This style is a fun, fast-paced dance that focuses mostly on the movements of the feet. Tap will help increase a student’s musicality with its rhythm base.
Jazz:
This style encompasses many movements from ballet and then displays them in a new, fun and more energetic way. Jazz follows a slightly more free-form style than ballet and can be slightly more expressive with an increased number of turns, jumps, leaps, and various combinations. Due to ballet roots, jazz will also help with balance, flexibility and strength.
Modern:
This style is very free and expressive, often pushing the limits of what classical ballet allows. Modern is a contemporary style that focuses on interpretation of the dance steps and incorporating the use of the floor into the dance. This style will help a student develop strength, and physical awareness.
Clogging:
This style is very similar to tap except that in clogging the knees are higher and the soles of the shoes have “double-taps.” This style focuses on rhythms made by the feet and creating various sounds while dancing. With numerous originations this dance is fun, fast-paced and very diverse making it fun to dance and learn.
Lyrical:
Lyrical is a combination of many dance styles including: ballet, jazz and modern. Much like jazz and modern it is very expressive, yet this focuses on the way the lyrics prompt you to move and feel. Because this style focuses on feeling many steps are left to interpretation and therefore causes this style to be very free-form. The expressiveness of this style also help students learn to control their facial expressions.
Hip-Hop:
This style is one of the latest to form, but is also one of the best known today due to exposure form movies and music videos. It has some roots that trace back to ballet and jazz, but most is the free-form style originating on the “street.” There are many different parts to hip-hop including: popping, locking, breaking and more.