Ballet is a classical, theatrical dance form originating in the Italian Renaissance that emphasizes graceful, precise, and disciplined movements, often performed to music. It features distinctive elements like body alignment, the outward rotation of the legs ("turn-out"), and graceful, often "gravity-defying" movements such as leaps, jumps, and dancing on the tips of the toes ("en pointe").Ballet has evolved into various styles, including classical, romantic, neoclassical, and contemporary, and its foundational techniques are a basis for many other dance forms worldwide. The characteristics of this style include:

Technical Precision: Ballet demands a high level of technical skill, focus on body alignment, and adherence to specific positions and movements. 

Turn-out: Dancers rotate their legs outward from the hips to allow for a greater range of motion and to achieve the signature ballet aesthetic. 

En Pointe: A hallmark of ballet, where female dancers perform on the very tips of their toes, creating an illusion of weightlessness. 

Grace and Fluidity: The movements are designed to appear effortless and elegant, combining fluidity with precise control. 

Theatricality: Ballet performances are theatrical productions that utilize costumes, scenery, lighting, and often tell a story or express emotions.

Benefits of taking Ballet: Dancers often have long lines, tall posture and poise, exhibit grace and balance easily. They are light on their feet and express themselves visually through their facial expression. They exhibit various levels of control and strength. They are hard-working, can be held accountable, and persevere through adversity.

Pointe dance is a classical Ballet technique that allows a dancer to perform on the tips of their toes, giving the illusion of lightness, and grace.

It is only possible with special, structurally reinforced shoes called Pointe shoes. This style requires years of training to develop the necessary strength, balance, and control, as well as the proper body alignment, to safely support the dancer's weight on their fully vertical feet.

Dancers may take Pointe once they have been invited to do so. This usually occurs when they have many years of Ballet training and exhibit a certain level of ability and understanding of foot and ankle placement as well as execution of proper Ballet technique.

Benefits of taking Pointe: Ballet dancers who advance to Pointe work bring their Ballet training to the next level. They usually exhibit strong leg and ankle strength. Dancers are hard-working and self-motivated. They persevere not only in dance class but in life as well. The amount of work and effort that goes into learning Pointe and practicing this art form is immeasurable.

A dance style in which the dancers wear shoes with metal taps on the soles and heels, striking the floor to create a rhythmic, percussive sound.It is characterized by its syncopated rhythms, improvisational nature, and connection to jazz music, with roots in traditional African American and European folk dances.Tap dance is essentially a form of "musicality of the feet," creating music with the body rather than just performing dance. The characteristics of this class include:

Metal Taps: The defining feature is the metal taps on the shoes, which produce sounds against the floor. 

Rhythmic and Musical: Tap dance is about creating a rhythmic soundscape, turning the dancer's feet into percussion instruments. 

Syncopation and Improvisation: It is known for its complex, off-beat rhythms and the spontaneity of the choreography. 

Weight Placement: Dancers must master weight transfer and placement to control the sounds and execute steps efficiently. 

Benefits of taking Tap: Tap dancers are often great at memorization skills, can multi-task, and are light on their feet. They are expressive, explosive, and improvisational. They work very well under pressure.

Jazz dance is a dance style that has evolved to include various styles performed to contemporary pop, rock, and funk music, and is characterized by a mix of sharp, precise movements and fluid transitions. The characteristics of this class include:

Body Isolations: Dancers focus on isolating and moving individual body parts, such as the head, shoulders, and ribs, independently.

Rhythmic Expression: The dance reflects the syncopated and complex rhythms of jazz music through sharp, precise movements and fluid transitions. 

Grounding and Technique: Dancers often move with bent knees and a grounded style, while also incorporating technical elements like leaps, jumps, and turns. 

Versatility: Jazz dance is highly versatile, blending elements from other dance forms like ballet, modern, and hip-hop to create a wide range of styles, including Jazz Funk and Lyrical Jazz. 

Benefits of taking Jazz: Jazz dancers are often strong, lean, flexible, and rhythmic. They are hard-working and versatile. Jazz Dancers love music of all genres, making them open and empathetic individuals.

Musical Theater dance classes focus on learning proper dance technique while exploring the various styles and music used in Broadway shows. Emphasis will also be placed on learning performance skills such as connecting with the audience and telling a story through dance and facial expressions. The use of props such as: Hats, Canes, and chairs.

Characteristics of this style include:

Storytelling: Dance in musicals is a fundamental tool for communicating with the audience, providing depth to the story and enhancing the characters' emotional journeys. 

Versatility and Fusion: It's not one style but rather a collection of styles that are often combined. A production might use ballet for its technical foundation and strength, jazz for its flair and energy, and tap for its rhythmic complexity. 

Performance-Focused: The emphasis is on creating a compelling performance that serves the show. Performers are actors first, and the dance must convey emotion and character effectively. 

Historical Foundation: While styles evolve, the techniques and vocabulary from ballet, jazz, and tap form the core of what is taught and performed in musical theatre dance. 

Integrated with Dialogue and Song: The choreography is designed to work in concert with the spoken words and musical score, enriching the overall theatrical experience. 

Benefits of taking Musical Theatre: Dancers add to their repertoire of dance styles. They are prepared for stage work. Dancers build confidence in musical theatre which can carry over into theatre work. Dancers who wish to perform in musicals or pursue a career in Musical Theatre thrive once they have taken MusicaI Theatre Dance.

Hip hop dance is a dynamic street dance style born from hip hop cultures in the 1970s New York City, characterized by freestyle movement, improvsational skills, and rhythmic bounces and rocks that express creativity and emotion. Hip hop dance emphasizes freedom, self-expression, and community, often performed in social settings and in response to hip hop music. Characteristics of this style include:

Cultural Roots: Hip hop dance emerged from the Black and Latin communities in New York City, especially the Bronx, in the 1970s as part of the broader hip hop culture. 

Street Dance: It began as a form of street dance, a freestyle, improvisational expression performed by crews in communal spaces. 

A Mix of Styles: Influenced by various dance forms, including African dance, tap, modern jazz, and ballet, hip hop dance developed its own unique flavor. 

Freestyle and Improvisation: A core aspect of hip hop dance is improvisation and freestyle, allowing dancers to express their unique style and personality. 

Musicality: Dancers maintain a conscious connection to the music, responding to its beats, rhythms, and grooves. 

Benefits of taking HIP HOP: Dancers who take Hip Hop are athletic and strong. They exhibit connection to music roots and musicality. Hip Hop dancers express themselves, share stories, and foster connections. 

Lyrical dance is a fusion of Balet and Jazz techniques, emphasizing emotional storytelling and fluid, expressive movements that interpret the lyrics of a song. It is a highly technical and athletic style that requires a strong foundation in ballet, jazz, and modern dance, and it relies on the dancer's ability to convey a story or emotion through their body language and facial expressions.  Characteristics of this class include:

Integration of emotion and technique: Lyrical dance is characterized by its ability to blend precise, classical movements with a dancer's emotional connection to the music and lyrics. 

Fluid and expressive movement: Dancers perform fluid, graceful, and often athletic movements that aim to interpret the meaning of a song's lyrics. 

Storytelling: Lyrical dance pieces are often narrative, with the choreography telling a story or conveying a deep emotion, such as joy, grief, or freedom. 

Strong technical foundation: Mastery of ballet, jazz, and modern dance techniques is essential for lyrical dancers. 

Benefits of taking Lyrical: Lyrical dancers often grow as a dancer once they have began taking this style. Their movement is fluid and precise. They have a great understanding of musicality as well as lyric interpretation.

Contemporary dance is an expressive versatile, and continually evolving dance style that draws from and fuses elements of variuos genres, including modern, ballet, jazz, and even Hip Hop.Emerging in the mid-20th century as an offshoot of modern dance, it allows for a broad range of movement, focusing on themes of the human experience, emotion, and storytelling through fluid, grounded, and improvisational movement. Unlike classical ballet, it is not a codified technique but rather a contemporary philosophy and approach to movement that emphasizes a connection between the mind and body. Characteristics of this style include:

Fusion of Styles: Contemporary dance incorporates techniques and qualities from a wide range of dance styles, including modern dance, ballet, jazz, lyrical, and even street dance. 

Fluidity and Flow: Movements are often fluid, organic, and expressive, with a focus on the connection between different body parts and a sense of continuous motion. 

Expressive Qualities: The primary goal of contemporary dance is to communicate and express emotions, stories, and the complexities of the human experience. 

Improvisation: Spontaneous movement exploration is a significant component, allowing dancers to connect with their bodies and emotions in the moment. 

Floor Work: Unlike the traditional focus on upright movement in ballet, contemporary dance often involves extensive floor work, incorporating the floor as a partner for movement. 

Groundedness: While it can be aerial and light, it also embraces a grounded quality, utilizing gravity and the weight of the body rather than trying to be purely weightless. 

Benefits of taking Contemporary: Dancers have the opportunity to use all of the styles they have learned to bring this style to life. They are able to feel a sense of freedom when choreography making them creative and free. Dancers who take contemporary are more versatile dancers and athletic. They become open to new possibilities and ideas.

Creative movement dance is a form of expressive movement, often used with young children, that focuses on self-expression imagination, spatial awareness, fine & gross motor skills, socialization, and following direction. Participants interpret music, emotions, or stories through their own individual movements, exploring concepts like force, weight, and flow in a free and imaginative way. It builds foundational dance skills, promotes social interaction, and enhances body awareness, confidence, and other cognitive abilities.  

Characteristics of this class include:

Focus on Imagination: Dancers are encouraged to use their creativity to interpret prompts, such as acting like a specific object or embodying an emotion. 

Self-Expression: The emphasis is on individual expression and unique movement rather than perfect execution of pre-set choreography. 

Concept-Driven: Lessons often explore fundamental dance concepts, including:

Force: Using sharp or smooth energy to create different effects. 

Weight: Moving with a strong or light sensation, like an elephant or a feather. 

Flow: Moving in a free or bound manner, similar to dripping water versus a gush. 

Space: Awareness of personal space and the space around them. 

Time: Responding to the tempo and rhythm of music or other cues. 

Improvisation: Participants often improvise, creating movements spontaneously rather than following a set sequence. 

Body Awareness: Dancers learn to use and understand their bodies through movements of various parts, which helps build control and coordination. 

Benefits of Creative Movement:

Cognitive Development: It helps children develop concentration, memory, and problem-solving skills. 

Social Skills: Children learn to understand and respect others' individual differences in movement and interpretation, fostering social skills, acceptance, taking turns, and supporting their friends

Physical Skills: Participants improve body awareness, balance, and coordination, with a focus on fine and gross motor skills.

Emotional Expression: It provides a safe and healthy outlet for children to express emotions and feelings through movement. 

Building Confidence: Success in creative movement exercises builds self-esteem and empowers children.