Balleraena Dance Studio

Company is an audition-only group consisting of 8 – 14 elite dancers (aged 13+) whose dream is to dance professionally. Throughout the year, dancers learn and perform 10 – 13 routines of all styles of dance from choreographers across the country, with the opportunity to perform three of those routines at competitions. Dancers have their own dance company show and dinner theatre in April.

Musical theater combines jazz and lyrical techniques with other varieties to create a Broadway style of dance. Students learn about and practice musical theatre dances through history.

Irish is a unique art form characterized by a controlled upper body, straight arms, and quick, precise movements of the feet. Classes are filled with high energy and lively music and are a great outlet for kids and adults alike.

Modern is a free, expressive style of dance that rejects many of the rules of classical ballet. Modern dance is often the expression of feelings, emotions, and ideas. Today, modern is seen as sophisticated and technical, focusing more on strength, agility, fluidity, and discovery than when it first began in the early 20th century.

This is an audition-only competition team.

This is an audition-only competition team.

This introduces kids to using pom-poms to get them used to very strict technique while competing in a competition group.

These are rehearsals for these special small groups that compete in competitions.

This is mostly for team and company dancers who all dance together in competition numbers throughout the competition season.

Students learn how to do dance tricks, such as aerials and back walkovers, that are used within dance choreography and/or competition dance.

Competition teams are a great opportunity for dancers of any age who want to go beyond recreational classes. Dancers audition for team placements based on age and skill level. They can choose to compete in only the three or four group routines or add other special routines, including tap numbers, solos, duets, trios, or our production number, which consists of all-aged dancers competing together in one routine. In these competition teams, dancers learn lifelong skills of teamwork, perseverance, dedication, and hard work.

In each toddler and combination class, students learn two forms of dance (for example, ballet and tap or ballet and hip-hop) in 45 minutes. Teachers move quickly and energetically to teach kids their first love of dance and keep them moving. Kids start learning the basic skills of dance to prepare them for the more specific skills they’ll learn in level one classes.

Leaps, Jumps, and Turns is a jazz-based technique class based on a level four through six curriculum. This class focuses on strict technique to help dancers achieve their fullest potential. The class includes a warm-up focused on strength conditioning and flexibility. It also focuses on learning new turns, jumps, and leaps, which will be used in other classes as well as competition team pieces.

Contemporary dance is an expressive communication of the mind, body, and spirit through movement. Today, contemporary applies sophisticated techniques to express a broad variety of social issues, usually in a radical and interesting presentation. The essence of contemporary dance is to look forward, not backward. Ballet and contemporary are sometimes fused together, though neither loses its identity in the process. In contemporary, structured, technical exercises condition the body for strength, coordination, and flexibility.

Dancing "en pointe" is the athletic art of ballet dancing on the tips of fully extended toes in specially made shoes. Pointe is the epitome of ballet training and should not be undertaken until the dancer has matured in the study of dance and mastered ballet technique. Pointe work and advancement through levels of training are done at the discretion of the instructor. All pointe students at Balleraena are required to take at least one additional weekly ballet class, and advanced dancers should take two (one may be contemporary).

Lyrical is a fusion of ballet and jazz dance styles. Lyrical dance interprets the musical accompaniment in an emotionally expressive way. Now growing in popularity, lyrical first began as an expression of jazz music. Today, lyrical combines and extends a plethora of traditional dance genres, resulting in styles such as lyrical ballet, lyrical jazz, modern lyrical, contemporary lyrical, and lyrical hip-hop.

Hip-hop is an urban, ethnic dance form that has recently gained popularity. Hip-hop dancing began in the early 1900s, when youth of the Bronx, New York, started dancing on the streets. Featuring impressionistic movements from the soul, hip-hop provides opportunities for dancers to express their creativity and improve their flexibility, body balance, and muscle coordination. This informal and explosive dance style can be learned by anyone interested in dancing; there is no restriction other than the dancer’s physical abilities and creativity.

Tap is an energetic and exciting form of dance where dancers use their feet like drums to create rhythmic patterns and timely beats. Tap is enhanced by special shoes equipped with metal plates that produce a tapping sound when touched on a hard floor or surface. Tap dancers develop a sharp sense of rhythm, coordination, and clarity of sounds, and they characteristically use syncopation to dramatize their rhythm. Another characteristic of tap is improvisation, which can be done either with music that follows the beats provided or without musical accompaniment (known as a cappella dancing).

Jazz is a fun and challenging dance that consists of ballet movements combined with African rhythms and techniques that isolate various parts of the body. Jazz originated from the African-American vernacular dance of the late 1800s to mid-1900s and was commonly referred to as tap dance. Jazz evolved on Broadway into a smooth style known as modern jazz, while tap dance branched off to its own, separate path. Jazz is mutually influenced by and influences other dance styles, such as acro, ballet, contemporary, lyrical, and hip-hop, making it an ever-evolving dance that focuses on modern impressions.

Ballet is a systematic dance based on formalized positions of the arms, feet, and body to create proper technique. It is designed to enable movements that create the greatest possible agility, control, speed, lightness, and grace. Ballet can be studied at any age, although starting early is recommended. Ballet emphasizes strength and stretching to support proper posture throughout the discipline. As dancers progress, barre work becomes an essential tool for learning the steps and positions as well as building strength, agility, and flexibility.