Dance

New dancers develop kinesthetic awareness, ideal individual body alignment, physical strength, flexibility, endurance, and care of the body while exploring various dance genres (modern, jazz, ballet, tap and folkloric/world dance). Beyond developing a basic understanding of techniques and styles, students will participate in improvisation and dance making exercises. This class will focus on technical principles appropriate to class level. Further studies will include information on dance history and terminology; music/rhythm and dance relationships; careers in dance; as well as nutrition and self-care.

This course focuses on classical ballet, modern, and jazz techniques. Students continue to develop kinesthetic awareness, individual body alignment, physical strength, flexibility, endurance and care of the body. Dancers will participate in minimal improvisation, dance making and student led exercises to show understanding of classical techniques.

Dancers learn movement vocabulary and terminology appropriate for their tap level.  Students learn to isolate the ankle, knee and hip joints to execute movement efficiently. There is an emphasis on clarity of sound, shading, and dynamics of sounds, rhythm sequences, and syncopations. This course also introduces the history of tap dance, as well as important choreographers and performers in the industry.

This class is often taken in conjunction with Technique I or II. As a performance course, students focus on style, artistry, efficiency of movement, recall and learning choreography within the genres of ballet, modern, contemporary and jazz for seasonal concert opportunities.

This course is available for the dedicated dance major who demonstrates advanced technical and artistic skills. As a performance course, students will focus on style, artistry, efficiency of movement recall, and learning choreography within the genres of ballet, modern, contemporary and jazz for seasonal concert opportunities. In addition students have the opportunity to set student choreography as a solo, duet/trio, small or whole ensemble. Students are active in development of the program and production processes. Company members participate in community outreach activities and participate in multiple external performances in the community.

This class is for dance majors who are interested in choreography and instruction. This course introduces students to the art of making and crafting dance. Students study the basic elements of dance- Space, Time, Energy, Form, Body, Force, Movement Quality, and the “sub-elements” of each as they apply to choreography. Students view dances choreographed by various artists, participate in class discussions and complete written reflective assignments of the works. Students participate in experimental/lab projects that include informal showings throughout the course. Students read articles, discourse, and critiques of choreography.

This course is available for dance majors and non-dance majors who are interested in physical and mental fitness through movement.  This class fuses Pilates, Yoga, Functional Conditioning & Training methods to build mind-body connection, breath,  balance, coordination, strength, flexibility, agility, endurance and activation of superficial and deep muscles to support healthy everyday living. Most exercises will be high energy but low impact avoiding putting major stress on joints. Small props/equipment such as light weights, resistance bands, yoga balls and yoga blocks may be used but we will focus heavily on using our own body weight and resistance. No experience is necessary.