The Dance Academy Curriculum

Ballet
This course is designed to introduce students to the technique, vocabulary, and historical development of classical ballet. Students will gain strength, balance, flexibility, coordination, endurance, and agility through barre exercises, center floor and across the floor combinations. Emphasis will be placed on correct anatomical alignment, turn out, control, elevation, and sensitivity to line. The historical development of ballet from the Renaissance period to the late 20th century will be studied including major ballets, choreographers, dancers, and ballet companies. Students are placed in the appropriate ballet class according to ability level (i.e. Beginning, Intermediate/Advanced). 

Modern Dance
This course introduces modern dance technique and vocabulary. Students receive instruction in basic modern technique designed to develop balance, coordination, flexibility, strength and endurance in the various styles of modern dance, i.e., Graham, Humphrey/Weidman, Limon, Cunningham, etc. Special emphasis will be placed on dynamic alignment, sensing and activating weight in the body, body awareness, increasing the student's ease and range of motion, and personal expression. Technique and vocabulary will be applied to movement explorations in sequences and phrases that are both non-locomotor and locomotor. Students are placed in the appropriate modern dance class according to ability level (i.e. Beginning, Intermediate/Advanced). 

Choreographic Process
The focus of this course is to explore and refine the creative process in dance through the spontaneous experiences of improvisation and movement exploration, as well as, the structured skills and tools of composition and choreography.  Students will engage in problem solving experiences that involve individual and group work. Students will develop an in-depth understanding of production and choreographic principles, and implement those skills to create dances based on a theme, significant event, something of personal significance or an abstraction of some idea or pedestrian activity.  Student work will be showcased in various venues, such as studio performances and the concert stage.

Movement and Media
This course provides opportunities for students to merge dance and media arts into one expressive art form. Through improvisation and short studies, students will transcend the commonplace use of recording devises and transform their use into the unusual and unexpected possibilities of creating dance.  This rapidly emerging “niche” of dance media arts in artistic expression is a medium in which incredible flexibility can be given to story line, visual representation and the use of the human body through various media techniques.  Students will be able to explain a thought, feeling, experience,  or anything significant to the viewer while remaining centrally dependent on dance or movement to make a statement. 

Contemporary/Jazz
The purpose of this course is to develop the technical skills and vocabulary of contemporary jazz dance, to identify and demonstrate the styles of the various contemporary choreographers, and to develop an understanding of the origins, history and development of contemporary jazz dance as an art form.  Through daily warm-ups and exercises students gain strength, flexibility, endurance, balance, and coordination.  Musicality and performance skills are taught through a series of progressions, dance combinations and performances.  

Musical Theater Dance Styles
This course covers a variety of dance styles used in musical theatre, including jazz, ballet, tap, ballroom, street dance, and folk dance forms; the development of musical theatre from “The Black Crook” to current trends and practices, such as the rock musical; the styles and contributions of major musical theatre choreographers; the elements of technical theatre; and careers in and related to musical theatre.

Tap Dance
This course is designed to introduce students to the technique, vocabulary, and historical/ cultural development of tap dance.  Emphasis will be placed on rhythm, syncopation, timing, coordination and listening skills through warm up exercises and tap combinations.  Students will research and study legendary figures that have influenced the development of tap from its African/Irish/American roots to the late 1900’s.  Music terminology and musical genres that have influenced tap will also be covered. Students are placed in the appropriate tap dance class according to ability level (i.e. Beginning, Intermediate/Advanced). 

 (revised: 02/23/2012)