At its essence, contemporary dance is a blend of modern dance and ballet technique, as made popularized on So You Think You Can Dance, World of Dance, and other televised dance shows. Contemporary dance highlights the codified technique of ballet while also embracing much of the openness, expressivity, and choreographic artistry that modern dance has to offer. Students in this course can expect to:
- Advance ballet technique
- Refine and progress modern dance floorwork
- Learn basic acrobatic movements
- Study traditional modern dance
- Create original choreography
Students in this course learn the fundamentals of traditional modern dance through movement informed by Limon technique and learn combinations based on post modern dance styles. In addition to their performance technique, students will regularly practice choreographing and how to think critically about artistic movement. As students advance into middle school and high school, they are introduced to skills such as basic dance pedagogy (how to teach dance to others), dance history, and basic set and costume design for the working dance artist. Students will leave this course understanding that time, space, and energy are the three fundamentals of dance.
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