School Age Ballet, Tap, and Tumbling
SDS Ballet, Tap, and Tumbling classes are designed to teach correct, technique-based lessons while facilitating a love of dance and new friendships that hopefully will extend outside our studio walls. Classes have fun, upbeat theme-based warm-ups and reinforcement routines, as well as lesson plans that cover a lot of different styles and techniques so the younger dancers will feel challenged but not overwhelmed! We have listed below some of the skills, progressions, and lesson formats that we will use throughout the dance year. By no means is this a complete listing of all the skills that will be taught and reinforced.
- Ballet Skills: Ballet is considered by some dancers this age to be the “vegetables of dance.” Dancers don’t have to love it but they need to understand that in order to be well-rounded dancers, they need to understand foundational ballet. We use correct ballet terminology and introduce the world-renowned Imperial Classical Ballet Syllabus that SDS utilizes. The age and grade level of the class will determine how much barre work is taught. Simple combinations will be reinforced and added onto to make them more difficult as the dancers progress. All 5 ballet positions of the feet and arms, proper body placement and alignment; turn out, tendu, arabesque, plié, relevé, échappé, bourré, and more!
- Tap Skills: Tap skills are taught on a progression format as well. Students will first learn and master simple tap skills like the shuffle step, shuffle hop step, shuffle ball change, flap, flap heel, flap ball change. These basic tap skills are the fundamentals of harder more complex combinations. Tap is excellent for overall coordination as well as quick memory thinking and rhythm.
- Tumbling, Strength, and Flexibility: Usually the younger dancers are the more flexible they are. That is why as your dancer gets older it is important to continue stretching in dance class and also at home during the week. Dancers will see quicker results if they stretch daily as opposed to once a week in dance class. We will be working on skills to increase strength as well. Tumbling skills are also taught on a progression format to prevent injury and ensure that the student learns correct body placement and execution. Cartwheels, handstands, backbends, forward and backward rolls are all basic skills that will be reinforced and added onto as these skills are mastered.
- Counting: We will be teaching how to count music. Once a dancer understands how steps are put together (most often in 8 counts), they will find it easier to remember combinations and dances.
- Dance Themes: Our curriculum has theme based lesson that follow themes such as friendship week, animals, rock star, etc. The lesson is tailored to the age of the class and will incorporate music and dance skills to reinforce the theme.
School Age Ballet, Tap, Tumbling Dance Attire: Girls-pink ballet shoes, black tap shoes, and any type of dancewear. Boys-black ballet shoes, black tap shoes, and any type of athletic wear. Please bring dance bag to class. Label all shoes with name.