Hartland Consolidated Schools

This class offers a new and creative way to learn how to dance! This class utilizes age appropriate music to spark dancers' imagination and creativity to start their journey in dance. These classes focus on the very beginnings of ballet, as well as large motor skills and fun.

 

This classical style is taught at all levels and is a great beginning place for any dancer. Ballet is graceful, structured form of dance where the steps are built upon year after year. The students learn the proper French names for movements as well as what they translate into English as. Ballet gives a dancer strength, flexibility, focus, coordination, and is the foundation of the dance world. 

 

The world of tap is full of magical rhythm and sounds. Tap dancing focuses more on the feet and what they can do instead of using the whole body to tell the story. Tap compliments ballet nicely for students because tap works on the fine motor skills of the feet. Tap is also a progressive style of dance where you continue to build on what you have learned. Listening to the sounds one makes with their feet as well as the rhythm in the music, encourages the growth of rhythm, patterns, and imagination as the student takes off on their own.

 

Jazz is a mroe energetic, free flowing style of dance. Students can begin jazz at the age of seven years ols and may find some similarities between it and ballet. Not as slow moving as ballet, jazz takes the same steps from ballet and incorporates them into its own style. Jazz has steps that students learn and build upon, but it is also slightly more complex in the teaching of the style and that is why we begin with students at the age of seven. Jazz is a fun, upbeat, fast pace form of dance.

Hip Hop began in the 1970s with breakdancing and from there it has evolved into a classification of its own. Within Hip Hop there are many different styles that are made up by the individual choreographer, who then gives it a name. Hip Hop is taught in conjuction with Jazz beginning at the age of 8 or 9. The styles are different but they support each other and the growth of the dancer. Hip Hop is based on sounds rather than counts and requires the dancer to look at it differently than any other style of dance. Please note that what you may see in music videos is considered Hip Hop, but that is not what we teach here. We "keep it clean" and realize that these are young, impressionable children and when they dance they should be seen as young ladies.

 

Lyrical is said to be jazz, but slower. Lyrical uses the same moves from jazz but tends to be slower paced, melodic, flowing and using the words of a song to tell the story rather than the music. Lyrical is taught to those students who have taken jazz for three or more years and the two styles pair nicely together. At this point in a student's journey, jazz and lyrical are put together and Hip Hop is its own class. Lyrical could be said to include the grace of ballet with the movements of jazz.

 

This class is for students who are new to one or both styles of dance. These classes will share their time split between the two styles of dance during the class period. Students will need both styles of shoes and will do 1 dance recital.

 

This class is for anyone 18+ years young who would like to get back or into dancing. Experience is not necessary, just a great attitude! Class will be a mix of ballet, tap, and jazz and then tailored to the students within it and the styles they like best.