Southern Dance Theatre offers dance training for beginning through pre-professional levels; students ages 3 through adult. Students must be 3 by November. Appropriate dress code is required for all classes.
PRE-COMBO: A class for children ages 3-5 combining the elegant movement of basic ballet steps with rudimentary tap skills and rhythmic concepts. Students will enjoy learning basic skills while exploring dance through theme based classes filled with adventure and fun.
BASICS: A class for children ages 6 & 7 where they will discover the beginning steps and movements of ballet, tap, and jazz. Terminology of the dance disciplines will be taught to reinforce understanding of the movements taught in each unit. These fundamentals will ensure a strong base for the next level of dance.
ACRO: Classes for children ages 4-12. Students will gain the basics of beginning to intermediate tumbling skills. Mat work will consist of exercises given sequentially to prepare students for cartwheels, walkovers, and flips.
BALLET: For ages 8-adult. The ballet program is a unified curriculum taking students from beginning steps through advanced movement. Classes consist of barre, center floor variations, and across the floor progressions. Terminology and knowledge of basic anatomy is part of the students’ education. An eclectic approach has been taken in the development of our syllabus, which borrows from the French, Vaganova, and Cecchetti techniques.
POINTE: By instructor recommendation ONLY. Students must be at least 12 years old.
JAZZ: For ages 8-18. The foundation of our program lies in classical jazz. Warm up utilizes basic ballet techniques, jazz based adage, strengthening exercises for the core, and capacity to jump. Both fast and slow combinations are used to develop students’ vocabulary in classic jazz as well as the more contemporary movement and musical theatre. Floor progressions with leaps & turns are focused on once every 5-6 weeks at each level. Terminology is taught to reinforce understanding of jazz and its diversity. Ballet training is strongly encouraged in order to excel in jazz.
MODERN: For students ages 10 & up. Students must have had at least 2 years of ballet training prior to studying modern. This discipline borrows movement and concepts from ballet and jazz. Instructors utilize concepts from Graham, Horton, and Limone techniques to design their curriculum. Students will learn strengthening warm ups with an emphasis on the core and continue through class with progressions and center floor work. The release of free flowing movement and improvisational techniques will engage the student’s imagination and increase their ability to create their own movement.
HIP HOP: For ages 8-18. The newest form of dance combines jazz isolations with the free style movement of street dance, popular dances from videos, and other media. A mixture of hard edged movement complimented by fluid slow steps and acrobatic work develop students’ ability to learn the latest dance craze.
TAP: For ages 8 and up. Tap classes will move students through the skills of timing and rhythmic patterns, both fast and slow. A combination of musical theatre and rhythmic tap will be studied developing a strong base of terminology and an understanding of the mechanics of clarity and dynamics of sound.
BOYS ONLY CLASS: For ages 4 & up. A class designed for young men to focus on athleticism through dance movement. Curriculum is jazz based with emphasis on motor movement for jumping and timing as well as fine motor movement to work on speed, agility, and coordination. A HIGH ENERGY class that can be used as cross-training for any sport.
DANCE MOVEMENT: A class designed for special needs teens and adults using jazz as the core technique.
Students will learn classic and musical theatre jazz. The performance group, “Special Arts Ensemble”, performs and competes in the community. All students in this class are invited to join this group.
ADULT CLASSES: Classes are constructed with adults and their busy schedules in mind. The curriculum is very similar to that offered in the teen classes with a more relaxed approach to dance attire. Class lessons are designed with realistic levels of physical intensity in mind-challenging but not debilitating. Enjoy the workout while expanding your horizons or revisiting a passion for movement. Tap, Jazz, and Ballet classes offered.
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