ALL ABOUT CLASSES

DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE

At EDS, we take great care to align dancers developmentally with appropriate classes for their age and ability. We also employ a written curriculum and More Than Just Great Dancing membership to ensure consistent, high standards.

Elevation Dance Studio is proud to include the AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE (R) National Training Curriculum, a breakthrough 9 level program that combines high quality artistic training with the basics of dancer health and child development. The ABT(R) National Training Curriculum consists of a comprehensive set of age-appropriate, outcome-based guidelines to provide the highest quality ballet training to dance students of all ages and skill levels. Pre-Primary through level 5 will be taught by EDS Ballet Master, Ms. Stephanie Rabbitt who has successfully completed the ABT Teacher Training of the ABT National Training Curriculum. Ms. Steph also oversees all EDS ballet class curriculum. Both Ms. Steph & Ms. Meg are certified to teach PBT, Progressing Ballet Technique, which focuses on core stability, weight placement and alignment.

CHILDREN’S CLASSES

  • Children’s classes are designed to meet youngster’s needs for wiggles, giggles and fun, all while teaching the building blocks of dance. Classes begin for children as young as age three in Bitty Ballet.

  • KINDERGARTEN

    • Pre Ballet

    • Hippity Hop

    • Tap

  • FIRST AND SECOND GRADE

    • Ballet 1

    • Ballet 2

    • Hip Hop 1/2

    • Tap

  • THIRD AND FOURTH GRADE

    • Ballet 3/4

    • Hip Hop 3/4

    • Jazz 3/4

    • Contemporary 3/4

    • Tap

LEVELS 5 and up

Around age 10 / 5th grade, dancer’s move into our skilled level programming. After the 4th level, we offer 3- 4 levels of ballet, jazz, contemporary and hip hop classes in order to meet dancers where they are. Most children will spend two years in one level before advancing to the next. Advancement in one area is independent of another area, again to meet dancers where they are.

Early each calendar year, we offer conferences by appointment where parents and children can meet with their teachers to gauge classroom progress and areas on which to focus next.

In-class evaluations are in May, where teachers will ask your dancer to demonstrate specific skills and/or choreography. This helps us determine whether a dancer is ready to move to the next level or would be better served by staying at the current level for the next season.

LEVEL RECOMMENDATIONS

Once your child is in skilled levels, you will receive an email with recommendations for classes for the next year that are designed specifically for your individual child.

It’s critical to your child’s physical well-being and safety to place them at the appropriate level. You may find times when your dancer remains at a given level as friends advance or your dancer advances as friends remain at the current level. We encourage all dancers and parents to respect and support each dancer’s individual developmental pace.

Additional sampler sessions and mini-mesters may be offered throughout the year for children who are new to dance or already taking classes. These classes encourage children to explore different kinds of movement, build more friendships and develop artistically, socially and academically.


WHY TECHNIQUE AND LEVELS MATTER:

Dance is often viewed as simply an art form, which it truly is.

But ask any dancer and they will tell you they are athletes just as much as they are artists. Performing their art requires skill, muscle control and endurance. That’s why technique matters and is so fundamentally important throughout their dance experience.

Technique serves three primary functions:

1. It prevents injuries by instilling correct form, positioning and execution of movement.

2. It builds strength, allowing dancers to leap farther, jump higher and endure longer.

3. It increases flexibility, which reveals itself in longer lines and more agile movement.


When you put it all together, dancers find that with solid technique they move more efficiently while also expressing themselves more fully. Proper technique allows dancers to perfectly pair their fierce athleticism with their emotions and creativity to create true art.


What is the best way to develop and maintain good technique?

It all comes back to ballet and the building blocks of movement. Think of the basic “plié”, for example. Virtually every movement— from takeoff to landing—in jazz, lyrical, contemporary and modern dance—begins and ends in that one position. Ballet technique teaches proper alignment of feet, knees, hips and spine and creates muscle memory to ensure beautiful form, extension and lightness.

So the next time, you’re wondering why most dance teachers and studios push ballet in addition to the dance style your child loves most, remember it’s only because they want to keep your dancer injury-free and capable of mastering the movements appropriate for their level. Think of it this way: technique creates the dancer while choreography creates the dance.

SPECIALTY CLASSES

Our diverse teaching team at EDS allows us to provide a number of specialty classes in addition to the foundational classes of ballet, contemporary, hip hop and jazz. Depending on the age and level, dancers may also enroll in:

• Jazz Funk

• Tumbling

• Modern

• Improv

• Lyrical

• Stretching & Conditioning

• Musical Theater

• Partnering

• Leaps & Turns / Progressions

• Pre-Pointe

• PBT (Progressing Ballet Technique)

  • Pointe


PRIVATE LESSONS

Dancers who are looking to refine technique or master new skills may also schedule private lessons. Private lessons begin at $95 per hour and vary by teacher. Please keep in mind that if you must cancel a private lesson, be sure to do so as far in advance as possible. We can only refund in the form of a credit private lessons that are canceled with more than a 24 hour notice.

PARENT OBSERVATION

In an effort to maximize both instructional time and observational time, parent observation will be permitted in studio during class twice a year. Other observation is at the teacher’s discretion. We ask that you observe quietly, that cell phones be turned off and that siblings are monitored and quiet during observation.

ATTENDANCE

Regular attendance is vital to student progress and group choreography, so please make every effort to attend each class. Your dancer may make up missed classes within 30 days of the absence and until February 1. Dancers may make up a class by submitting a request through the online Absence Form. The following types of MAKE UP CLASSES will be available this season:

  1. In a different class in person within 30 days of the absence (class must be age/level appropriate for the dancer and subject to availability)

  2. Class recording (form must be submitted by 2pm the day of the class the dancer will miss in order for us to communicate accordingly to the instructor. Classes are not automatically recorded.)

NEW THIS YEAR...virtual classes will NOT be an option. If your dancer is sick or experiencing symptoms of any kind, please fill out the absence form and do not send your dancer to the studio.

Please note that if your dancer misses more than two of the final eight classes before recital for any other reason beyond illness, your child may be dismissed from participating in the recital routine at the discretion of the teacher. If your dancer will miss a class, please report it through the Absence Reporting link on the EDS website.