Dance Levels

Dance with Me

Ages 1.5-4

For brand new dancers who are able to walk until they feel comfortable enough to take class without their parent or caregiver.

Intro to Dance

Ages 3-6

For dancers who are working on independence and taking direction from an adult that is not their primary caregiver. Students learn to follow directions, work with other children their age, and develop important motor skills.

Peewee

Ages 5-8

For dancers who have had some dance experience (such as going through our Intro to Dance program) or those who are good at following directions. This level is when students are expected to take more initiative in their classes. The class styles are kept fairly short (generally 30-45 minutes a style) to help keep their interest, while also giving them enough time to start to develop the skills needed to progress in the various styles of dance. A lot of our students take at least two classes per week in the Peewee level, though we encourage them to try all styles of dance so that way they can start to figure out what style they like to dance.

Level 1

Ages 8+

Students at this level are expected to take more initiative in their classes. More emphasis is placed proper technique and expanding the range of skills students learn within each dance style. Students will be given many more corrections in this level then they were in the Peewee level and they will be expected to make the proper changes. Combinations given in class are longer and students are expected to pick up on given choreography much faster.

Level 2

Ages 8+ (audition required)

Students at this level are expected to be focused, self-motivated, and take initiative at furthering their dance training. When students are given corrections they are expected to apply them work on improving their technique in every class. Students are also expected to pick up choreography quickly and, once they have learned choreography, work on making a performance out of the given movements. Each time they step into class they are expected to act professionally and respectfully towards their teachers and their peers.

Class Styles

Ballet

Ballet is a classical dance style that merges artistry and discipline. It is often considered the foundation of a lot of the other dance styles as, through ballet, you not only learn proper body placement and gain core strength to perform a lot of the movements, but a lot of terminology used in other dance styles derives from ballet. Our ballet classes focus on technique and on finding a way to make it not only accessible to every student but fun as well. Students first begin to learn basic terminology and body placement; as they progress they will learn more complicated movements and choreography to link all of the movements together. Ballet derives almost all of their vocabulary from French so students are, in essence, working on learning another language in their dance class as well patience and discipline. If students put in hard work and come to class focused and ready to learn then they will see throughout the season their own personal progress. Ballet is not something that students learn overnight — it takes time and hard work but that means that sense of accomplishment is that much higher.

Acro

Acro is very similar to gymnastics and has a lot of the same elements. Students gain strength in their core, arms, and legs to perform various acrobatic elements such as cartwheels and handstands. Acro dance blends elements of ballet and acrobatics to create a lyrical style of dance that portrays the strength and flexibility of the dancer. Dancers need to have a strong foundation of dance (or are working simultaneously in dance classes) and are consistently conditioning so they are strong enough to perform the higher level skills.

Did you know? We are an Acrobatic Arts Certified studio! That means our staff has undergone national certification to safely and effectively teach acro classes!

Hip Hop

Hip hop is a street style of dance. It focuses on freedom of movement, improvisation, body isolations, and is often dynamic. It tends to be more of a hard-hitting, high paced, aerobic style of dance but it can also be slower and more flowy depending on the choreography given. Hip hop utilizes a lot of tricks and is a much more grounded style of dance.

Jazz

Jazz is generally a high energy class with a lot of focus on leaps and turns. There are a lot of varieties within the style of jazz itself but at our studio we tend to focus on commercial jazz — the type of dancing you will see in shows like So You Think You Can Dance or World of Dance. Jazz combines both sharp and fluid movements and generally incorporates “tricks”. It will often use elements of hip hop, street funk, and ballet. 

Lyrical

Lyrical is often considered to be a balance between ballet and jazz. It relies heavily on the technique used in ballet but is given more room to breath. The movements performed in lyrical often take it’s cue from the actual lyrics of the songs that dancers are performing to. As such dancers are encouraged to show the emotional story of the piece in their movement and facial expressions. It often will incorporate acrobatic elements. You can generally see examples of it in shows like Dance Moms or So You Think You Can Dance.

Tap

Tap is a dance style that requires a specialized shoe and is extremely rhythm based. This class tends to be high energy and fast paced. Students will learn to articulate sounds using different parts of their feet. Musicality and rhythm are a strong focus in our tap classes. Students will learn to count music and use it to lead the different sounds they create. While other styles of dance really focus on working together as a group it is even more important (and obvious!) in tap when students are working together. Since this style is not just visual but also aural, it makes it much easier for people to tell when a move is wrong. If the sounds aren’t together everyone can hear — but that means that when everyone is together, working as a team, it’s obvious just how much work students have put in towards their musicality and using the song to guide the rhythms that they are making.

Dance Tech

Dance Tech is focused on teaching dancers proper body technique and alignment. Students learn to use their core and the proper muscles needed execute different dance moves. In this class you will strengthen all of the muscles needed for dance, creating muscle memory that will transfer over to the classroom.

A number of items used in this class include an exercise ball, therabands, and small "toy" balls. This class is highly specialized and students of many different levels can be in the class together.