Ballet

  Ballet is a classical dance form and the foundation of all dance. Ballet classes will help dancers with posture, flexibility, balance, self-discipline, and self-confidence. The focus of the class will be to learn terminology and technique, correct body alignment, improving their turn out and developing grace and poise.

Tap class is all about making music with your feet! Our tap classes stress the basics of tap while also teaching musicality and rhythm. Dancers will develop strength of the knees and ankles, coordination, and proper tap technique. 

 Jazz class is an upbeat and fun style of dance! Jazz is based on ballet technique layered with traditional jazz movement. Dancers will develop flexibility, strength, and proper jazz technique while dancing to fun and upbeat music. 

   Acrobatics is a tumbling based class that focuses on tricks on the mat. Dancers will develop flexibility, strength, balance, coordination, body-awareness, and self-discipline.  

Acro class focuses on teaching proper and safe technique of skills such as backbends, cartwheels, front and back walkover, well as many other tricks and skills.

 Int/Adv Acro class is for dancers that have mastered the following skills and have proper experience and teachers approval to be in these classes.  We encourage all dancers to begin in our open acro classes and once technically mastered the required skills by our qualified instructors we will notify you to move into the next level of class:.

The following skills are to be mastered in order to be considered for the Int/Adv classes

• Standing backbend (down and up)
• Strong cartwheels and roundoff
• Limbers and Walkovers (front and back)

 Hip hop is a class that infuses many styles of street dancing, breaking, popping, and locking. 

Dancers will work on developing strength, stamina, balance and coordination to successfully perform moves and skills.  

At Eastside we believe in the fundamentals of hip-hop using age-appropriate movements. 

 Theater dance also known as Musical Theatre class focuses on Broadway style dance while singing to a track. Dancers will dive into their singing, dancing, and acting skills while learning about different Broadway Musicals. Dancers will develop self-confidence, performance quality, and dance technique. 

*Please note this class is not designed to singing lessons and we encourage all interested in signing lessons to visit  joistar.com  

 Irish dance is a group of traditional dances originating from Ireland. Irish class is taken in soft shoes called Gillies.  In this class dancers build strength and are educated on traditional Irish music.  This class will focus on foot placement, body alignment, strength, stamina and traditional Irish steps and sequences. 

 Irish Hard Shoe is offered for our older students  It is an exciting traditional Irish dance class done in a special shoe that makes sounds similar to tap shoes.  Dancers learn the proper way to strike the floor to create specific sounds and rhythms while executing traditional Irish steps.  Irish Hard Shoe class focuses on continuing to build dancers understanding of Irish dance,  body alignment, strength and stamina, while teaching the proper technique of hardshoe.  

  Lyrical is a fusion of ballet and jazz dance techniques. Dancers will learn how to interpret the lyrics of the song through movement. Lyrical classes will focus on proper technique, flexibility, and expression.  In order to be enrolled in lyrical dancers must also take ballet.  

 Contemporary merges elements of ballet, jazz, lyrical, and modern into a very grounded, unique style of dance. Although the movement is often very fluid, it is also characterized by quirky off balance moves with lots of floor work. Contemporary classes develop body-awareness, and expression of movement while dancers will get to explore their own movement through improvisation.  

  Introduction to Demi-Pointe

 Introduction to Demi-Pointe is the preparation for Pre-Pointe / Dem-Pointe.  This is an educational based class, there will be no recital dance. 

In this class, dancers will focus on foot and ankle placement, body alignment, holding their turn out, and engaging the core.  

The introduction to demi-pointe class will be the entire year and will be taken in ballet shoes.

*The Introduction to Demi-Pointe class is a 30 minute class that meets once a week and does not have a recital dance*

Demi-Pointe / Pre-Pointe 

Demi-Pointe also known as Pre-Pointe is a pointe preparation class for serious ballet students interested in dancing en pointe.  This class contains repetition and articulate movements.   The focus is on proper technique while training and strengthening the muscles needed before being considered to transition.

Dancers must be invited into this class and students must meet specific criteria to participate.

Demi-Pointe is taken twice a week following ballet / ballet technique class.

Students wear Demi-Pointe shoe and do participate in Recital for Demi-Pointe.

 Pointe

Pointe is an extension of ballet for an advanced dancer. Dancers will wear pre-pointe or pointe shoes and will learn the correct and safe way to dance en pointe / on their toes. 

Students are recommended for this class based on muscular and skeletal development as well as their understanding of ballet.  

 Throughout the year, dancers will be evaluated for their readiness to transition to go en Pointe and not all dancers will transition to Pointe at the same time as all dancers develop at different rates. 

If your child is in this class, they will receive a letter when it is safe and they are ready to transition to pointe. 

This class is taken in demi-pointe shoes or pointe shoes will participate in Recital.