At the dance studio in the Greenwich Arts Center, Greenwich Dance Arts classes are individually adjusted to enhance mind-body learning (helping children gain specific pre-reading and pre-math skills) and physical development.

We understand the relationship between the dance we teach and the development of motor, reading and math skills. Learning takes place in a more advanced way when your child associates a mental concept with a physical action. For example, a student better understands narrative story structure and how each part differs and goes from one to the other, by dancing it each week. Children additionally use more abstract mathematical concepts for movement creation and learning dance technique. For instance, a student learns geometric forms by creating dances and practicing steps that use shape and balance alone and with other students. Sports and pre-sports motor development are encouraged through specific movement exercises in running, foot and leg actions, arms and legs together and in opposition, and body motion while thinking about story ideas or the communication and placement of other children in the room. Children are not always aware they are learning concepts - they know they are having fun!

We are small enough to make an effort to know each child's personality so that we may encourage participation in an individually appropriate way. We try to leave no child sitting on the sidelines. Classes are very active. While discipline and taking turns in small groups is an important part of class, waiting time is minimized. Class has a clear structure, so students learn when to warm up in a circle, when to dance with a step or freely, when to stop, rest, and listen. The Head Teacher uses her point of view as a mother in the community when she teaches and has trained her assistants in that sensitivity to child development as well.

Our classes are unique in highlighting creativity from age 3 into ages 7-14 and in offering several specific dance techniques (ballet, tap, hip hop, modern and jazz) in ONE class. We believe students should be exposed to many different kinds of dance at the 3-14 age range, including tap, while ballet stands as the organizing base. In this way, the student both utilizes her time efficiently with dance among her activities and learns what kinds of dance she might like to study later. Creativity, using specific learned steps and techniques, is a very important concept in mind-body brain development. Making dances reinforces technical learning by asking the child to put steps in a different context, and it enhances learning and independence more powerfully by getting the child to create something by herself that makes sense when she gets up in front of the class, to remember the dance she has made, and to show it to others using techniques the class is studying.

Ages 3-4 Class: Children explore creative dance forms using movement songs and games, including extended short-story forms. Traditional ballet movement and terms are introduced in the center, at the barre and across the floor. Mid-year, we introduce hip hop and tap dance. Children learn to recognize different types of music, composers and rhythms.

Ages 5-8 Class: Children continue to learn a ballet barre and add center floor work as they continue to explore creative dance forms. We develop technical facility with other dance forms including tap, age appropriate hip-hop, jazz, gymnastics, modern dance and Broadway themes and add them to our creative dance making.

Ages 9-14 Class: Children learn specific movement techniques, including ballet, modern dance, tap, hip-hop, jazz, Broadway themes, and gymnastics. A ballet barre and ballet center/floor base is set to instill strength and discipline as other techniques are incorporated in increasing difficulty at each age level. Children use these steps to create their own dances at the end of each class. Modern and jazz dance are encouraged for each child's interest and ability.