Our program offers five levels of dance:
- Dance 1: Beginning; open access
- Dance 2: Intermediate; placement only
- Dance 3: Intermediate/Advanced; placement only
- Dance 4: Advanced; prerequisite- students must complete a full year in Dance 3
- Dance Company: Advanced/Elite; audition only
Incoming freshmen and/or transfer students who are interested in dance are automatically enrolled in Dance 1, unless they attend a placement exam to be considered for Dance 2 or 3. A placement exam is an hour long and includes:
- A ballet barre that assesses ability to use proper spinal alignment and turnout in plies, tendus, dégagés, rond de jambes, and grand battements. Barre also takes into consideration understanding of epaulement, musicality, body coordination, and overall presentation. Barre also looks at student's knowledge of ballet etiquette and grooming.
- Across the floor passes where students are observed for their ability to apply technique in a variety of complex combinations that include but are not limited to six step into pirouettes, chaine turns, pique turns, fan kicks, illusions, chaine jetes, tuck jumps, saut de chat leaps, second turns, and center/second leaps.
- A 4-6 eight count combo in the center that is hip-hop/jazz based with a freestyle section to observe student’s personal style and individuality.
Placement Exams for the 2022/2023 school year:
Tuesday, May 10th, 4-5:30pm
Additional Date(s) TBD
Students who are already enrolled in a dance course may progress to the next course by meeting certain requirements:
To advance to Dance 2, students must...
- Complete a Dance 1 course and maintain a grade of C or higher in both semesters with good citizenship marks (Satisfactory or Outstanding)
To advance to Dance 3, students must...
- Complete a Dance 2 course and maintain a grade of C or higher in both semesters with good citizenship marks (Satisfactory or Outstanding)
To advance to Dance 4, students must...
- Complete a Dance 3 course and maintain a grade of C or higher in both semesters with good citizenship marks (Satisfactory or Outstanding)
To enroll in Dance Company, students must...
- Have at least a 2.0 GPA with good attendance and behavior records
- Submit an application to audition
- General Information / Parent Consent to Audition
- Athletic Clearance (8th graders exempt)
- Be selected through an after-school audition process (see Audition Packet for more information)