Class Descriptions
ACRO CLASSES
Acro incorporates strength, flexibility and trick (gymnastics) vocabulary in classes leveled 1-5. Students must continue to build muscle and flexibility in order to master more advanced tricks and tumbling, so body conditioning is always prominent in classes. Students should expect to spend at least two years in each level, but each acrobat will excel at their own rate. Students receive one on one spotting and instruction as they go across the mat so that they can build confidence in their abilities. The Balance Dance Studios acrobatic classes fuse dance technique, contortion, partnering, tumbling and other acrobatic motion. Some classes will work toward an end of year recital performance.
AERIAL SILKS
Aerial Silks is an exciting and empowering class where dancers learn to climb, wrap, twist, and drop using long fabric suspended from above. This class builds full-body strength, flexibility, and control while encouraging creativity and courage in the air. Students will be introduced to the fundamentals of aerial technique, including basic climbs, foot locks, inversions, and poses, progressing at their own pace with a strong emphasis on safety and proper form. Aerial Silks offers a unique blend of athleticism and artistry, helping dancers gain confidence while exploring expressive movement from a whole new perspective. No prior experience necessary, just a willingness to reach new heights!
PRE-BALLET
Pre Ballet is a class designed for our Dancers and Dreamers who are ready to really focus on ballet and begin transitioning into a true ballet structured class ( but still with a little bit of imaginative play and movement). It is also a great class for young students who have never taken a ballet class before to learn the basics of ballet before they venture into a Ballet L1 class. Students should be six years old by the beginning of the semester fall.
BALLET CLASSES
Ballet is a beautiful incredibly athletic art form that has been amazing audiences for centuries. It is a disciplined form of dance that strives for perfection while exuding elegance, grace, and control. Ballet class aids dancers in developing body awareness and alignment to maximize their movements. It is a poised style of dance that incorporates the foundational techniques for many other dance forms and is highly suggested as a base to be taken before and during further dance training. This genre of dance is difficult to master as it requires much practice and dedication but is endlessly beneficial. Dancers will work to improve posture, flexibility, gain strength, and knowledge of ballet technique.
PRE-POINTE CLASSES
This class is geared for dancers who are ready for the transition into pointe shoes. Dancing en pointe should be considered a privilege, the reward for hard work in ballet technique. This is such an exciting time for dancers, but it is essential that we take great care in this transition to avoid injury. Dancers will be approved individually for this class which is structured to strengthen dancers in the first half of the year and allow them to begin working in pointe shoes the second. The first part of the class focuses on gaining strength and knowledge of the feet, legs, and abdominals in order to support the dancer’s body weight en pointe. Dancers will also learn anatomy as well as parts of the pointe shoe all in preparation for attaining their shoes mid-way through the year. Once they have received their shoes dancers will work en pointe at the barre continuing to gain strength in their shoes.
POINTE CLASSES
This is a class that stresses precision and strength while emphasizing the beauty of a traditional art form. Pointe shoes enhance the dancer’s grace, beauty, and lines for an ethereal aesthetic of floating across the stage. Dancers who have completed their pre-pointe class will then be enrolled in a pointe class where they will work year-round in their pointe shoes. Pointe work requires major physical strength and commitment from each dancer. Dancers will work both at the barre and in the center to strive to execute all ballet steps en pointe, from tendus to fouettes.
BALLROOM CLASSES
This class offers a comprehensive education in the art of partner dance, guiding students through styles such as salsa, rumba, waltz, swing, and cha-cha, along with the connection, communication, and technique that define each one. Students work toward specific goals and milestones — from mastering frame and lead/follow connection to refining timing, spatial awareness, and musicality — building a genuine command of partner dance techniques. As students progress, they develop a deeper understanding of body mechanics, partnering technique, and the subtle non-verbal communication that makes strong partner dancing possible — skills that translate across styles and carry into a lifetime of social and competitive dance.
CONDITIONING AND FLEXIBILITY
Conditioning class offers a focused approach to strength and conditioning, formulated to build the specific muscle groups called upon in ballet technique. Students will recognize many of the same movements used in ballet class, but performed in a more repetitive, intense format designed to build strength and stamina.
Classes also integrate exercises and stretches drawn from Pilates and yoga practices. Because of its intentional focus on improving turnout, jump height, depth of plié, height of développé, balance, and flexibility, Conditioning is considered a ballet credit. Class themes are coordinated with concurrent ballet classes to further reinforce technical concepts and practice.
Classes labeled exclusively for flexibility will focus solely on this discipline after the initial warmup.
CONTEMPORARY, MODERN, AND LYRICAL CLASSES
- Contemporary: A fusion class with movement rooted in emotion, storytelling, and technique that draws from every kind of movement — strong lyrical lines blended with flares of jazz, ballet, hip hop, salsa, theatrics, mime, pedestrian movement.
- Modern: A foundational dance technique rooted in the pillars of modern dance — explores breath, floor work, and dynamic contrast to build a strong technical base. Students develop control, strength, and expressive range through structured combinations that emphasize the intention behind every movement. Students learn foundational movement from Graham, Limón, and Horton techniques.
- Lyrical: A blend of ballet and jazz technique, with fluid, contemporary-inspired movement quality, used to interpret the emotion and story behind a song. Students focus on musicality and expressive movement quality, learning to connect technical skill to genuine feeling so each combination becomes a personal artistic expression
HIP HOP CLASSES
Hip Hop is unique in that it allows dancers to perform with freedom of movement, adding in their own personalities. Hip hop dance is an ideal way to express one’s creativity, with body movements that follow the beat, rhythm, and energy of hip hop music and culture. This class focuses on Hip Hop’s foundational street dance styles — including breaking, locking, and house — building the vocabulary and technique that hip hop dance is rooted in. Dancers will practice a variety of techniques, steps, and moves with a focus on rhythm, body awareness, and musical interpretation.
JAZZ CLASSES
This style of dance is fun, energetic, and full of entertainment value. The genre has many commercial applications in the dance industry and has been dazzling audiences since the early 1900s. Jazz dance has roots in ballet, modern, acrobatics, African rhythm, salsa, and flamenco. Jazz dance is categorized by clarity, precision, and exuberance. We begin each class with a warm-up exercising muscles and joints to increase strength and mobility. Dancers will work to find balance by using their central core and practice coordination techniques/ isolations. Progressions across the floor are used to hone skills in transitions, footwork, turns, extensions, jumps, leaps, floor work etc. Most jazz classes culminate in a center combination that pushes the dancers to move sharply, swiftly, and with musical interpretation.
JUMPS, TURNS & TECHNIQUE CLASSES
Proper technical execution takes a lot of practice. Technique classes at BDS utilize repetition to build strength and muscle memory for skills and exciting tricks. A full warm-up along with conditioning exercises prepares dancers for the challenging classwork across the floor and in the center. Many of the principles that dancers learn in ballet class are reinforced in a Jumps & Turns or Technique class. Balance instructors enjoy connecting the dots between ballet tradition and jazz/contemporary repertoire. Dancers will gain a deeper understanding of all the integral parts of the body that work together to create beautiful extensions, turns, and leaps. Each teacher may have different themes that they focus on their technique classes, but all of the class material stems from the BDS ballet and jazz syllabi. It’s important for dancers to be fit and well-conditioned while they build their skill set. Enrolling your dancer in a technique class gives them an opportunity to tune their body, prevent injury, and polish their execution.
KPOP
K-Pop is a high-energy, performance-driven dance class inspired by the dynamic choreography and musicality of Korean pop music. This class focuses on rhythm, coordination, musical interpretation, and expressive movement while introducing dancers to age-appropriate K-Pop choreography and style. Classes include an upbeat warm-up, skill-building exercises, and structured combinations that encourage confidence, precision, and performance quality. Dancers will work on timing, transitions, and group formations while developing stage presence and personal style. K-Pop is perfect for dancers who love contemporary music, fast-paced movement, and expressing themselves through bold, exciting choreography.
TAP CLASSES
Tap dance is a style of dance that explores how the body can make rhythm both individually and collectively in a group of peers, primarily utilizing metal taps on the sole of the shoe. Tap classes greatly benefit students interested in theater, percussion, and other dance styles as the classes are designed to develop an understanding of music theory, weight shift and control, and rhythmic coordination through audible articulation of the feet. Students will be challenged in a way that leaves them feeling motivated and inspired. The skills will become more advanced and intricate as the students progress through each level.
ROTATING SPECIALTY CLASSES
We periodically offer specialty classes such as Yoga, Pilates for Dancers, Wildcard, Dancing for the Camera, and other on-trend offerings. Please see Jackrabbit for the most up-to-date class descriptions, or email our admin team at info@balancedancestudios.com for a more detailed breakdown.
