Ballet technique provides a solid foundation for the study of many different styles of dance. The dancer learns to properly hold the spine, work the appropriate muscle groups and external rotation, and absorb the French terminology associated with dance. Basic fundamentals will be emphasized with focus on correct placement, clarity, detail of movement, and development of musicality and grace. Ballet shoes are recommended.

Both modern and jazz styles of dance focus on the use of the body’s weight and spatial relationship to the floor, all while emphasizing the communication of emotional content. Dancers will become familiar with the way movement communicates meaning, and how the emotions we experience can inspire connection with others. Goals of the class are to encourage new vocabulary, risk taking, suspension, technical placement, and fulfilling range of motion. Dancers will come to understand the forces that act on the body as well as how to work with those forces as they practice turns, leaps, extensions, and transitions.

Born on the streets, hip ­hop is grounded, unapologetic, precise, and dynamic. Dancers will learn about the energy and effort of specific hip hop vocabulary as well as how to concentrate on the isolation of body parts to create distinct imagery. Popping, locking, and other basic techniques will be introduced. Sneakers are required for this class.

We have a heart beat. Our pulse marks time and reminds us we are alive. Our days may have a familiar pattern. Life surrounds us with rhythms and cycles to which we can’t help but respond. As dancers, we know we can become the dance ­ but with Tap, the study of rhythm also allows us to become the music. In this class, students will be introduced to tap technique and vocabulary, and then be invited to play with rhythm, syncopation, accent, compound steps, and polyrhythms. Sticks and Stomp, a complement to the tap studies, will be a portion of the class in which students study similar concepts, but will create the soundscape of the dance using drum sticks and parts of their bodies to create the score. Dances will be built collaboratively using the material developed in classes. Clarity of sound and mastery of the interplay between various “voices” will be emphasized.

All artists have inspired ideas, and we all need time and space to flex our creative muscles. This class is an opportunity for emerging choreographers to explore and develop their individual choreographic voices. Working with the tools of improvisation, weight bearing, partnering, and various compositional elements, dancers will study and design movement to collaboratively create dances that may be shown in the Informal performance at the end of the week. No previous choreography experience is necessary to participate.

Part of our work as we grow is to make sense of the world around us. The more we learn about the planet we live on, the people who inhabit it, and the communities to which we belong, the more prepared we are to make our contribution to it. But what about learning about our the world inside us? How do we know who we are and what is important to us? How can we be more authentically ourselves? This class offers the time and space for students to ask important questions of themselves, to express their truths, and make their statements about themselves and the world in safety. Spoken word poetry combines our truths with the artistic elements of rhythm, dynamics, contrast, and voice to uncover the hidden pieces of ourselves that allow us to be connected to and understood by others.

In preparation for the Informal Performance at the end of the Intensive session (Saturday morning) dancers will work in collaboration with the choreographer to create a longer dance to be performed. They will come to understand the social aspects of creating dances and refine their performance skills with their peers. They will use one another’s body weight, experience inversion, learn to use their peripheral vision, and learn to project or convey messages through their movement.

Signifying “union,” yoga is an excellent way to build physical strength, balance, and increase flexibility in the body. It’s the perfect companion to the study of dance technique and offers and broad range of wellness benefits. This abbreviated yoga class will conclude each class day and function to gently release and relax tired, tight muscles. Dancers will return home feeling peaceful and refreshed within. Emphasis will be placed on proper form, integration of the breath, building strength, and increasing flexibility in the whole body.