irginia ational allet Class Descriptions 2020-21

Little Dancers (2.5-3 year olds) Discover the joy of dance in this beginner class for 2.5-3 year olds! Students will work on gross motor skills, creative movement, stretching, and basic dance movements to fun, age appropriate music.

Pre Tap (3-4 year olds) A fun beginner tap class for 3-4 year olds! Students learn basic tap movements, musicality and rhythm, and work on gross motor skills, to upbeat, age appropriate music. Tap shoes required!

Pre school Dance & Tumble (3-6 year olds) This weekday morning class is an hour of creative fun! Students will dance in various styles, use imaginative props, and learn basic tumbling and acrobatic movements, to energetic, age appropriate music.

Pre Ballet 1 (4-5 year olds) Pre Ballet 1 is a fun, educational dance class for 4-5 year olds which incorporates strengthening gross motor skills, basic ballet and creative movement, gracefulness, musicality, coordination, ballet games, class etiquette, and working together in a group, to age-appropriate music.

Pre Ballet 2 (5-6 year olds) Pre Ballet 2 is a fun, educational dance class for 5 - 6 year olds which incorporates strengthening gross motor skills, basic ballet and creative movement, gracefulness, musicality, coordination, ballet games, class etiquette, and working together in a group, to age-appropriate music.

Pre Ballet/Tap (4-6 year olds) A fun beginner combination class with both ballet and tap for 4-6 year olds who would like to learn both dance forms.

Ballet/Jazz Combo (4-6 year olds) An upbeat class for 4-6 year olds, where they will learn both beginning ballet and age appropriate jazz, to inspiring music. No change of clothes or shoes required for the jazz section.

Hip Hop Mini (4-6 year olds) For your wild child who wants to bust a move!

Acro 1 (7-10 year olds) Learn tumbling and acrobatic movements. Increase flexibility, strength, balance, coordination, endurance, timing, body awareness, self-discipline, and confidence. For beginner students ages 7-10

Acro 2 (10 and up) Learn tumbling and acrobatic movements. Increase flexibility, strength, balance, coordination, endurance, timing, body awareness, self-discipline, and confidence. For students who completed Acro 1, ages 10 and up.

Acro/Hip Hop/Jazz (6-9 year olds) This energetic weekday morning combination class will introduce students to all three styles of dance.

Adult Ballet (17 and up): Ballet for adults with previous experience, can also be suitable for beginners. Adult/Teen Ballet (13 and up): A weekday morning class for adults and teens, suitable for beginners/advanced beginners.

Ballet Levels 1 through 7 follow the Vaganova syllabus. Level 1 is the first year of formal ballet training, with barre, center, and across the floor exercises. Students will learn proper alignment, turn-out, posture, basic technique, beginning ballet movements, gracefulness, flexibility, French ballet terminology, and more. Level5 and 6 students can also take CHARACTER dance (see below.) POINTE WORK will begin in Level 5, incorporated into the last 15 minutes of class once weekly. Pointe work increases duration and frequency in Levels 6 and 7.

Ballet Level 1 (6-10 year olds) The first level of formal ballet training. Students the rudiments of proper technique and beginning terminology and combinations. Students can also enroll in jazz/tap, acro, or other classes.

Ballet Level 2 (7 – 10 year olds) Ballet Level 2 students expand on what they learned in the previous level, and concentrate on body alignment, muscle awareness and ballet terms/vocabulary, flexibility and strength. Minimum twice weekly. Ages 7 and up with at least one year of previous ballet training. Students can also enroll in Acro, Jazz/Tap, etc.

Ballet Level 3 (8 – 12 year olds) Third level of formal ballet training. Continuing what students learned in Level 2, students will work on correct posture, placement, turnout, strength, use of arms, flexibility, balance, ballet terminology, gracefulness, and more. Minimum twice weekly. Ages 8-11 with at least two years of previous ballet training. Students can also enroll in Beginner Lyrical, Acro, Jazz/Tap, etc.

Ballet Level 4 (9-12 year olds) Fourth Level of formal ballet training. Continuing on what students learned in Level 3, students will learn more advanced barre and center work and port de bras. Pre Pointe may be introduced in this level. Minimum three days per week, students should also enroll in contemporary and other additional classes. Ages 9-14 with at least three years of previous ballet training. Minimum three times weekly. Supplemental classes encouraged: Jazz, Contemporary, Acro, or Hip Hop.

Ballet Level 5 (10-16 year olds) Ballet Level 5 training becomes more detailed and serious. Classes will include pointe work, pirouettes, epaulement, petit allegro and grand allegro. Ages 11-16 with at least four years of previous training. Minimum 3 times per week, 4 is strongly encouraged. Students are required to take Contemporary, and encouraged to take other supplemental classes: Jazz, Character, Acro, or Hip Hop.

Ballet Level 6 (11-16 year olds) Level 6 is more rigorous. Classes will include pointe work, multiple pirouettes, fouettes, expanded petit and grand allegro. Ages 12-17 with at least five years of previous training. Minimum four days per week, five is recommended. All Level 6 students must also enroll in Contemporary (High Intermediate), and other classes are highly encouraged: Variations, Jazz, Acro, or Hip Hop.

Ballet Level 7 (14-18 year olds) Ballet Level 7 is the highest level of pre-professional training for students 14 and older. Pointework is included in each class, combinations are more intricate and longer, and the level of difficulty prepares students for college or professional auditions. Students in this level should enroll in Unlimited Classes, and take ballet 5 days per week in addition to all supplemental classes (contemporary, jazz, pas de deux, variations, acro, etc.)

Junior Company (Invite Only) This class is by invitation only. Junior Company students should be enrolled in Unlimited Classes, taking Ballet level 7 and all supplemental classes, including Junior Company, which participates in all professional company performances.

Character (for Level 5 and 6 ballet students) Character dance is an important part of many famous classical ballets. Dancers wear character shoes and skirts, and learn traditional folk dances that appear in ballets such as Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, etc.

Choreography Class (For Levels 4 – 7) Are you creative with a desire to learn how to choreograph? This is a great class to learn and explore the art of choreography and improvisation, guided by VNB staff. Students will learn choreography skills, and create dances on the other students. Lyrical/Contemporary is ballet-based with elements of jazz and acro, with fluid, expressive movements to songs with lyrics.

Beginner Lyrical A beginning Lyrical class for young students who should also be enrolled in ballet.

Contemporary (levels 4-7 with corresponding ballet levels – required for levels 5-7) Contemporary dance is a style of expressive dance that combines elements of several dance genres including modern, jazz, lyrical and classical ballet. Dancers focus on connecting their mind and body through fluid dance moves. This allows dancers to explore emotions, and use their natural energy to portray personal expression in their dance techniques.

Jazz (Beginner and Levels 4-7 with corresponding ballet levels) has evolved over the years, with many styles. It incorporates movements from ballet-modern- lyrical, and wraps it into a style that is both fun and expressive! Movements include isolations, grounded movement, syncopation, contractions, etc.

Jazz/Tap 1 (6-9 year olds) Enjoy 30 minutes of jazz and 30 minutes of tap in this fun combination class for students 6-9 years old, no previous experience required. Students will start with jazz (wearing jazz shoes), then switch to tap shoes.

Jazz/Tap 2 (7-10 year olds) A combination class with 30 minutes each of jazz and tap, for students with at least 1 year of previous experience in both genres.

A high-energy hip hop class to upbeat music for students around their tween years. Learn urban dance styles such as poppin', locking, breaking as well as freestyle movement to give students the opportunity to develop their own sense of style. Our Hip Hop classes teach rhythm, coordination, musicality and choreography without suggestive music or movements. Level 1: Ages 6-9 beginners Level 2: Ages 9-13 with 1 year of previous experience Level 3: Ages 11-18 with at least 1 year of previous experience

(11-18 year olds) Join our certified instructor for PBT, an innovative program developed by Marie Walton-Mahon for students to understand the depth of training muscle memory in achieving their personal best in classical ballet. It focuses on core stability, weight placement and alignment with the use of exercise balls and therabands.

Ballet Arts & Crafts (up to 10 years old) In this weekday morning class, students will learn how to draw and color ballerinas in costume and other ballet-related scenes; and create and embellish costumes and props (tutus, tiaras, wands, etc.)

Individual private lessons in voice and/or piano. Please call to schedule! Music students have the chance to perform at the end of year School Recital at the Hylton Performing Arts Center. Please visit the Music Lessons page on our website for more information!