DANCE HISTORY: The inward connections that are a result of dance training are balanced at Halestone with an outward focus on the larger world of dance beyond our little cottage on Randolph Street.  Dance history is taught as part of the regular curriculum in the creative movement, modern, and ballet classes.  For six months from September through February (March, April and May are focused on recital preparation), time is set aside during the last class of each month for a story lecture.  Books, photographs, and video are used teaching about the work of historically important dancers and choreographers as well as influential contemporary artists.  Subjects cover a wide range of styles and personalities: from the revolutionary "new dance" of Isadora Duncan to Fred Astaire and American musical theatre; from grand opera to neo-classical ballet

2010-2011 Course Offerings

CREATIVE MOVEMENT: These playful classes for children ages 4-6 form the foundation for the work we do at Halestone.  Using somatic principles and developmental technique to enhance neurological connections, children are introduced to movement as a medium for expression and begin the first aspects of training for the athletically demanding art of dance.  Through experiential exploration of dance as energy in time and space, students learn to differntiate qualities of movement (energy) within the context of a measured pulse (time) while developing a dimensional and directional awareness of space.

DANCE LAB: These classes are the heart of Halestone's integrated program and are designed with exercises that build a technique balanced by correct alignment, strength, flexibility, coordination, and musicality.  Improvisational skills are nurtured using scores that explore the inner connections (breath, core to distal, head to tail, top to bottom, homolateral, cross-lateral) that are necessary for freedom and ease in creative, outward expression.  Through playful interaction with gravity, dancers study the dynamics of energy (yielding, pushing, reaching, grasping, and pulling) that are the support and motivation for all movement.  Creativity is encouraged in dancers on every level.  Class time is devoted each month to the applied study of dance theory and composition and dancers are regularly given the opportunity to maike their own choreography.

BALLET: The study of ballet at Halestone is an important aspect of dance training.  Unlike Halestone's modern classes that balance technical dance education with applied theory and creative movement, our ballet classes are dedicated to the exclusive study of dance technique alone.  It takes many hours over an extended period of time to safely develop the muscular memory required of a dancer.  Serious dance students should begin their technique training early and be faithful in their practice.  In both modern and jazz dance, elements of the concepts and vocabulary of ballet are used but transposed upside down, inside out, or falling off balance.  Students will be thankful that a solid knowledge of steps was methodically established with one hand on the ballet barre.  Ballet classes at Halestone are tailored to the needs of modern dancers but follow a traditional outline.  Exercises begin at the barre (or with an innovative floor barre) followed by center work and movement sequences across the floor; all with a strong focus on the basics of correct skeletal alignment and muscular execution.

JAZZ AND TAP: Dancers who are seeking to broaden their dance experience at Halestone can choose to study either jazz or tap.  Like the musical form for which it is named, jazz dance uses the complexities of rhyhmic syncopation and translates it into isolated movement of the torso and limbs.  Tap dance accomplishes the same but primarily through the use of the feet.  Both dance forms are a product of a rich cultural heritage and classes incorporate styles from traditional as well as contemporary techniques including African dance, rhythm and blues, social dance, American musical theatre, and hip hop.