Dance Styles Defined

S&S School of Dance believes that ballet is what builds a strong technical foundation for all forms of dance. Each classical ballet class will begin with barre work, to refine muscular and technical skill. After a 45-minute barre, the class will spend 45 minutes working on skills in the center of the room. The center work will begin with adagio, progress to turns across the floor, and end with petit and grand allegro. 

Creative Movement allows children to explore movement through the inner nature of a child. We encourage children to explore movement using music and imagination to develop physical, social, and mental skills. 

All levels of contemporary will build up the basic technique of both ballet and jazz. Contemporary challenges dancers’ bodies by expanding their center of movement through movements such as release and recovery. Dancers will use strong and controlled leg work found in ballet and place it with a different quality of movement. Improvisation will be used during this class. It is encouraged that dancers also enroll in ballet and/or jazz. 

All levels of hip hop/jazz funk will build up basic jazz technique in order to develop specialized and refined movements. These classes will build up different styles of hip hop, including popping, locking, and breaking. Not only will dancers learn the fundamentals of hip hop/jazz funk, but they will also learn how to assimilate quickly and transition from one genre to the next. Hip hop is considered a branch of jazz, therefore dancers enrolled in this genre will be encouraged to also enroll in jazz. 

All levels of jazz focus on basic technique fundamentals as well as different styles of jazz. Each class will build upon isolations, leaps, and turns using variations across the floor as well as center combinations. Every class will begin with Center Technique Development, which will gradually warm-up and strengthen each major muscle group as well as fine tune each dancer’s technical abilities. Throughout each level, we will introduce different styles and different pieces of choreography to help develop each dancer’s ability to assimilate choreography and apply style to his or her own style of movement. It is recommended that dancers enrolled in jazz also enroll in ballet to help enhance their technique. 

Lyrical dance uses a combination of both jazz and ballet to create movement that conveys emotion and tells a story. This class trains dancers to use their technical skills to connect movement with meaning. 

All levels of tap focus on articulation of the feet in order to make crisp, clear sounds. Dancers will begin by learning basic tap steps, which they will gradually build upon as they advance in levels. Each tap class will begin with a warm-up that will also strength dancers’ feet, ankles, and shins. Following the warm-up will be across the floor exercises which will get each dancer moving in order to build his or her technical level. Across the floor variations can be simple or intricate depending upon the lesson the instructor is teaching. Dancer’s will be challenged through different pieces of choreography to improve assimilation as well as develop special trick steps such as wings, pull-packs, and over-the-tops.