Students are expected to arrive for class dressed in proper dance attire.  Students not in proper dress will only be allowed to observe class.

Ballet & Pre-Dance
Males must wear black tights, white fitted T-shirt, white socks, and white or black ballet shoes. Ladies must wear a black leotard and flesh colored matching tights and shoes.  Hair must be pulled back into a bun and/or pinned securely away from the face and neck.  Tights and ballet slippers should match (all flesh colored).

Modern
Same as Ballet with the exception of bare feet (footless or rolled up convertible tights, no shoes, no socks).

Jazz
Please see Ballet with the addition of jazz shoes.

Hip Hop
Loose-fitting clothing with dance sneakers or jazz shoes.  No street shoes permitted.

African
Students should be attired in comfortable, loose fitting clothing and bare feet.

Tap
Loose fitting clothing with tap shoes.

Class Discriptions
African
Classes explore the rich traditions of music and movement from the Sub-Saharan region of Africa. Emphasis is on rhythm, dynamism, improvisation and the relationship between performance, celebration, and ritual.

Ballet
Level placement is at the discretion of DIW’s Artistic Director and faculty. Students are evaluated at each level and must master the current level before enrolling in more advanced classes.

Community Program
An introduction to the movement vocabulary, etiquette, and traditions of classical ballet. Students learn proper placement, begin barre work, and are introduced to center floor combinations.

Pre-Professional

Intermediate/Intermediate Advanced Ballet
For students who have a basic understanding of movement and are ready to learn the technique and skills associated with ballet. Emphasis is on placement, alignment, and agility at the barre and during centre combinations.  This course is a continuation of basic ballet concepts with increased difficulty to prepare students for the more complex combinations of the allegro, and the adagio in the center. At this level students are introduced to turns and the grand allegro.

Hip Hop
Classes focus on building competent, well-rounded, "ambassadors" of Hip Hop Culture. Students will receive history and vocabulary in Hip Hop, Popping, Locking, B-boying, Martial Arts Fusion and all of the influences that have taken Hip Hop from an idea to an urban art form. Students will gain the skill and confidence to “represent” on any dance floor or competition and learn how to create choreography that explodes on stage.

Jazz
Students explore complex isolation sequences, poly-rhythms, improvisation and jazz dance stylization while improving coordination, flexibility and musicality. Class content includes traditional and contemporary jazz dance styles and accompaniment.

Modern
Classes are taught in Horton technique, a classical codified dance technique created by modern dance pioneer Lester Horton. Horton technique emphasizes core development and strength, balance, flexibility, level changes, increased range of motion and dynamism in the execution of clearly defined shapes while moving through space.

Pre-Dance
Classes are structured as active, imaginative adventures that encourage students to explore the elements of dance – space, time, energy. Students are introduced to basic ballet vocabulary, musicality, and creative imagery, while developing body awareness, coordination and flexibility, problem solving skills and discipline.

Tap
Tap is a percussive dance style with sound produced by the feet. Classes blend codified vocabulary and improvisation with emphasis on weight shifts, intricate rhythms, clarity and agility. Students will explore rhythm, Broadway and flash styles of tap dance.