AcroFlex

Faculty: Tracy Cottrell & Kristin Summers

Classes Offered: AcroFlex I, AcroFlex II, AcroFlex III

This class focuses on strength, flexibility, and the fundamentals of acrobatics for ages 5 and over. Note: This is not a gymnastics class. Each year, dancers will be placed in an appropriate AcroFlex level (I – III) based on their current command of the acrobatic skills that they possess and will work progressively towards developing more advanced skills in this three-tiered program. Please check the Morgantown Dance website for scheduled AcroFlex placement dates and times. Special topics will include improving arabesque and extensions.

Uniform: Form fitting clothing that does not inhibit movement – no skirts.

Footwear: Bare feet.

Ballet

Faculty: Adair Keener, Courtney Kline, Gerard Holt, Marcy Bowers Mossburg, and Desiree Witt.

Classes Offered: Ballet Intro I, Ballet Intro II, Ballet for Teens and Beginners, Ballet I, Ballet I/II, Ballet II, Ballet II/III, Ballet III +, Pre-Pointe / Beginning Pointe, Intermediate/Advanced Pointe, Adult Ballet

After age seven, students will be placed according to ability and experience rather than age through a yearly placement audition or by class observation by the senior ballet faculty. Many students begin in our Ballet Intro I or II classes. These levels help build the foundation for the more advanced classes Ballet I, Ballet II, and Ballet III (levels are based on the Russian Vaganova syllabus).

Ballet Level Progression (for dancers age 8+):

• Ballet Intro I (for dancers who have just completed the Foundations II program or who have experience), serious students should be taking at least two classes per week.
• Ballet Intro II (for dancers who have completed all the goals set forth in the Ballet Intro I syllabus as determined by the Artistic Directors during a placement class/audition), serious students should be taking at least two classes per week.
• Ballet I (for dancers who have completed all the goals set forth in the Ballet Intro II syllabus as determined by the Artistic Directors during a placement class/audition), serious students should be taking at least two classes per week but three is preferable.
• Ballet II (for dancers who have completed all the goals set forth in the Ballet I syllabus as determined by the Artistic Directors during a placement class/audition), serious students should be taking at least three classes per week.
• Ballet III+ (for dancers who have completed all the goals set forth in the Ballet II syllabus as determined by the Artistic Directors during a placement class/audition), serious students should be taking more than three classes per week.

Uniform: Female Identifying and Nonbinary Students: black leotard, flesh tone tights; Male Identifying and Non-Binary Students: white t-shirt, black shorts, leggings, or tights.

Footwear: Girls/Women/Nonbinary – pink or brown ballet shoes; Boys/Men/Non-binary – black or white ballet shoes.

Irish Dance

Faculty: Hunter Moreland & Grace Dempsey

Classes Offered: Irish, Irish Hardshoe

Irish Step Dancing is one of the most beloved types of heritage dancing, with roots in traditional Irish music and dance. Dancers will learn the steps and forms of Irish soft shoe, the percussive rhythms of hardshoe, and the formations of céilí dances.

Serious students are encouraged to take a ballet class in addition to their Irish classes to help with flexibility, turn out, strength, and technique.

Uniform: Dancers must wear clothing that is tight fitting and does not restrict movement (for example: tights and leotard, exercise pants and shirt).

Footwear: The traditional footwear for Irish Step Dancing is the Irish Ghillie (or soft shoe) and the Irish Hardshoe (both are available online).

Jazz

Faculty: Cambrie Decker & Miranda Gaensbauer

Classes Offered: Jazz I, Jazz II, Jazz III

Jazz is a highly stylized genre of dance that focuses on musicality, flexibility, leaps and turns. While developing parallel to American popular music, Jazz dance styles range from Musical Theatre to Fosse and Luigi techniques. With a low center of gravity and high energy, dancers in the Jazz class will focus on learning proper dance technique such as isolations of the body, improving performance quality and developing complex rhythms and patterns. Students will be exposed to various styles of jazz such as Broadway, Street and Contemporary Jazz. Class curriculum is based on ballet technique layered with traditional jazz movement and includes a proper warm-up, stretches, isolations, across-the-floor progressions, and combinations. As students progress through each level curriculum will become increasingly more complex and intricate.

Uniform: Form fitting clothing such as tights, leggings, leotards, and tank tops. Shorts and clothing that exposes the abdomen are not permitted.

Footwear: Jazz shoes

Modern

Faculty: Ashley Marie Manzo

Classes Offered: Modern I, Modern II, Modern III, Contemporary Modern I, Contemporary Modern II

Modern is an expressive and grounded movement dance genre. With a Ballet base, Modern dance explores levels using the floor, changing the shape and orientation of the body to space and even inverting the body in relationship to the floor. Modern dance ranges widely in styles from release-technique and Limon to Horton and Graham.

Uniform: Form fitting clothing that does not inhibit movement – tank tops, leotards, tights or leggings. Shorts and clothing that exposes the abdomen are not permitted.

Footwear: Bare feet

Tap

Faculty: Debbie Liberatore West

Classes Offered: Tap I, Tap II, Tap III, Open Adult Tap

Tap classes develop rhythm, style, and sound. Students will learn a variety of tap styles from Broadway to Rhythm tap. Exercises focus on building flexibility of the knee and ankles, coordination, and speed of movement.

Both children and adults will work on the basic techniques of tap dancing. Open classes are designed to accommodate multiple levels of experience. Emphasis is on developing proper tap technique, producing clear tap sounds, and having fun.

Uniform: Form fitting clothing that does not inhibit movement – shorts, pants, t-shirts, and tank tops.

Footwear: Tap shoes.

Partners: The Motown Strutters, a partner of Morgantown Dance, is a senior tap-dancing troupe consisting of young senior ladies all from the Morgantown and surrounding area.