Come have some fun in Jazz class! Make new friends and express yourself through dance!
Jazz hands encouraged, but optional!
Jazz dance is a high energy, performance dance technique and style that emerged in America in the early twentieth century. It is often known as the style of dance you see in a Broadway musical and/or in commercial dance. Jazz technique includes a grounded quality, syncopation, rhythm, isolations, precision, and control. Jazz fuses elements of tap, ballet, modern, and social dance to create unlimited possibilities for movement.
“Jazz dance teaches technical precision…productive bound flow, rhythmic dynamics, performance principles...articulate and flexible use of the torso, direct visual focus...” (Davenport, Vaccaro).
Through an introduction of Jazz dance technique and terminology, students will develop an understanding of the mechanics of the body. Class will cover a variety of Jazz dance styles that will focus on alignment, isolation, improvisation, phrasing, and musicality.
Course includes:
- Turning: pirouettes, pencil turns, paddle turns, chainés
- Leaps: battements, grande jeté
- Rhythmic patterns: ball change, cross over ball change, pas de boureé, turning pas de boureé
- Additional Jazz terminology/Steps: Kick ball change, step pivot, Jazz square, Grapevine, etc.
By the end of the quarter you will be able to synthesize more than one Jazz dance concept through increased coordination, strength, body and spatial awareness!
Each class will consist of warm up, across the floor, and an end of class combination.