Other Dance Styles Lessons

Young Dancers Rehearsing at Dance House Productions, Biddeford, Maine

Pointe

Admittance to this class is by instructor approval only. Additionally, Pointe students must a minimum of two ballet classes per week. At the instructor’s discretion, students working up to Pointe may take the class “on flat” Pointe classe is intended for students with previous ballet training- for your child’s health and safety, we recommend that students have been taking ballet for multiple consecutive years, ideally since they were children. Students will utilize previously learned ballet technique while working in Pointe shoes. Exercises focused on strengthening the feet and ankles will be done each week. Other classwork includes barre exercises, center work, combinations, variations, and Divertissement.

Dress Code: Pointe shoes. Dancers must wear a leotard (any style) with pink tights. Pink Ballet slippers must be worn on the feet. Hair must be worn in a bun. Ballet skirts, legwarmers and tight fitting sweatshirts are optional.


Tap

Tap class will focus on two areas. The first area is Jazz Tap – an extension of African traditions of dance. Here, comprehension of and ability to execute varied rhythms by use of feet and hands will be taught. Class room activities include clapping out various beat patterns, performing drills to improve foot dexterity. The second area is of study is Theatrical Tap, where dancers develop the coordination to integrate the movements of the feet with the rest of the body. In this way the dancer is able to tap out and sustain rhythms while using their head, arms and torso to dance.

Dress Code: Instead of tap shoes a pair of clean sneakers are worn in class. Tap shoes will be worn during the Recital.


Lyrical

There are three basic parts to any song – the rhythm, the melody and the harmony. Lyrical is a style of Jazz Dance that features combinations of movement that emphasize the lyrical or melodic aspects of a song as opposed to percussive rhythms found in Jazz. This change in musical focus results in movement that has a smooth, flowing quality. This style of dance is often used to tell a story with strong emotional content. Classwork incorporates sequences that will, over time, improve strength, balance, co-ordination and flexibility. Arrangements and progressions featuring jumps, leaps and turns will be integrated in phrases that travel across the floor.

Dress Code: Please come to class wearing tight fitting clothing that does not restrict movement. Dance Paws are required to be worn in class.


Breakdance

A chimera of the dance world and one of the pillars of hip hop dance, breakdancing combines elements of martial arts, gymnastics and ethnic and folk dances from Africa, Latinate subcultures (e.g. Puerto Rican) Central and Eastern Europe. Like Jazz Dance before it, breakdancing it has evolved from a social dance to a codified style with distinct regional variations both inside and outside of the United States. Through classwork exercises young learners will develop the considerable strength, flexibility and co-ordination necessary to properly execute the alphabet of the form. Choreography will teach students the concept of connecting the individual movements or “characters” of the style into more complex arrangements. Cyphers or “Open Circles” will allow students to develop improvisational ability, a hallmark of the style.

Dress Code: Students must have a clean pair of sneakers dedicated for studio use. No shorts or loose shirts. Students are advised to wear a couple of layers of clothing such as a t-shirt and sweatshirt to act as padding.


Contemporary

Contemporary dance isn’t ballet, jazz, modern, lyrical or hip-hop.

Contemporary dance doesn’t have an enshrined technical canon.

In general, contemporary dances are athletic and dynamic, featuring many direction and level changes as well as a dense movement per beat ratio.

Contemporary dance is unique to each choreographer. When creating a dance, the choreographer can choose his/her vocabulary from any existing movement system.

At the core will usually be elements of ballet, modern, jazz, and hip-hop. The degree to which these disciplines are used, if at all, determines the character and tone of the piece.

To take things a step further, a creator can import some, all, or none of the rules of a discipline which they borrowed movements from. For example, hip-hop vocabulary can be performed fluidly, matching the melody of a song- in contrast with its usual staccato performance.

The choreographer can next add accent elements from world dance (e.g. Bollywood), acrobatic elements (gymnastics or tricking), martial arts (ground movements from Sambo) or traditional/folk dances (steps from Native American dances).

Finally, the dance maker can elect to add an element of mundane or pedestrian movement.

The final product should be a unique iteration of contemporary dance, not another clone of the same typical ten pieces present at every competition that lazy choreographers simply grafted from So You Think You Can Dance.

Dress Code: Please come to class wearing tight fitting clothing that does not restrict movement. Dance Paws are optional.


Parent/Child Class

Our Parent/Child class is the starting point for our young dancers aged twenty four to thirty six months. Parents are asked to stay in the classroom to facilitate their son’s or daughter’s learning. Students will learn about topics such as locomotive (traveling) and axial (stationary) movement, spatial awareness and rhythm. This class will not only be an introduction to dance – your child will begin or continue to develop competence in small and large group interaction, gross motor skills and classroom socialization (i.e. listening, comprehension, following rules).

Dress Code: Please come to class wearing clothing that does not restrict movement.

Get Started

If you are interested in dance lessons here at Dance House productions, call us now at (207) 282-6769, or complete the form below and one of our instructors will be in touch right away!

 

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