Ballet Technique - (ballet) emerged in the late fifteenth-century Renaissance court culture of Italy, and further developed in the French court from the time of Louis XIV in the 17th century and the great reforms of Jean-Georges Noverre in the eighteenth century. There are eight styles of training in classical ballet, the most common being Bournonville method (Danish), Vaganova method (Russian), Cecchetti method (Italian),Royal Ballet School and Royal Academy of Dance methods based on the Cecchetti (English), Alicia Alonso Method (Cuban) and Balanchine method (American). The techniques found in classical ballet are the building blocks for many other styles of dance, including modern, jazz, and contemporary ballet.
Jazz Technique - Today's Jazz Dance is a form of dance which is heavily influenced by the rhythms, sounds, and interaction with popular music. Like the origins of jazz music, Jazz Dance is highly individualized, with an emphasis on showcasing established sequences of movement and individual skills. This form of dance does not have to be performed to jazz music and often integrates skills from other fields of dance. The original jazz dance, in fact, was tap dance, with dancers branching out into other styles only in the early 1900s. Jazz Dance is known for being heavily syncopated and unpredictable, thanks to its African influences. Accomplished jazz dancers are skilled at improvisation and working with other dancers to achieve a choreographers look or feel. Many regions of the world offer jazz dance classes which are now based in vocabularies explored by Katherine Dunham, Gus Giordano, Luigi, Bob Fosse, Frank Hachett and many many more.
Modern Technique - (Not to be confused with today’s social dancing) Modern dance is a dance form developed in the early 20th century. Modern dance as a term usually refers to 20th century concert dance or contemporary dance as it is called in some cases today. Early 1900s European and American dancers started to rebel against the rigid constraints of Classical Ballet. Modern dance pioneers focused on creative expression rather than on technical virtuosity. Originally, Modern dance is a less rigid, free style of dance in where choreographers use emotions and moods to design steps, in contrast to ballet's structured code of steps. Use of gravity is deliberate as is interaction with rhymes, gesture, use of stories and embracing the abstract. In the United States people such as Isadora Duncan, Ruth St Denis, Doris Humphrey, Katherine Dunham, Pearl Primus, Martha Graham, and Alvin Ailey developed schools and styled foundations for American modern dance. Today Modern dance is found in nearly every local and small dance school in the country, although a consistent certification or teaching order of steps is still hard to find.
Tap - An exciting form of dance that has driven Broadway into rhythmic amazement. This musical and visual style of dance can be big and commanding, or slow and soothing. Fun and enjoyment is the end result!
Partnering - the study of dance as it relates to more than individuals. Men will learn the proper and safe way to work with their female counterparts. This class includes turns, jumps, assisted falls and proper conditioning for supported lifts (this class is offered to ladies on pointe first, followed by others as space allows).
