Tap dancing is an American art form. It is a step dance tapped out audibly with hard soled shoes. It was born in the 1800’s meshing a wide spectrum of percussive dance styles; African, English, Irish and Scottish. It teaches tempo and rhythm whether you like soft shoe or flash tap, whether you are 3 or 63!
The roots of jazz dance borrow from a melting pot. As we know it today, jazz is a blend of two main movements – folk dance and theatre dance. It teaches strength, power and flexibility and is performed to contemporary music. Jazz dance is lively, fun, and full of rhythm for all ages.
This is a form of jazz dance and is all the rage in music videos. It features dance styles made popular by the top 40 singers of the moment, and is recommended for students with some jazz training ages 11 and up.
For ages 7 and up, Ballet started in ballrooms during the Renaissance where social dance had intricate floor-plans. Today, ballet teaches strength, poise, and balance. Dancers are trained at the barre in order to develop correct posture and to prepare the body for the demands of classical dance.
Students must be at least 12 years of age with 4 years experience in ballet before making the transfer from demi shoes to pointe shoes.
This dance style combines simple gymnastics or acrobatics with jazz dancing for a fast moving sportive class for students ages 6 to 16.
Often performed barefoot, Modern, also known as contemporary, is now more than 100 years old. Although similar to ballet in many ways, it uses movements that are freer and a more natural form of expressive dance. This is a great class for students age 11 and older.