The Cast Behind the Class: PAA’s Dance Experts

Dance classes at PAA are more than perfecting a pirouette and nailing your jazz square – From beginner to advanced, each dance class offers a comprehensive experience rooted in professional training, expert instruction, advanced dance degrees, real-world performance experience, and the latest research in the art of dance.

In PAA Dance Classes,  students will:

-Learn dance vocabulary 

-Enhance dance  techniques

-Strengthen performance skills

PAA’s teaching experts bring a deep understanding of proper dance technique, focusing each class on building strength and flexibility. Poor training can result in overstretching and pushing the body beyond its limits — risks that can lead to serious injury.

Television shows like So You Think You Can Dance and the internet have led kids to emulate extreme moves without the proper instruction and technique behind them.

Dance classes at PAA, from ballet to Broadway, begin by teaching technical dance habits that can lead to achieving high-level dance moves WITHOUT injury. 

 For example, a plié is arguably one of the most important basic ballet techniques for a dancer to master. It is the beginning and end of almost every intermediate to advanced dance move, and it greatly improves all jumps and turns. 

Rather than just demonstrating what a plié is, PAA instructors focus on form.  

When approaching your first plié, it is essential to discuss the muscles students should engage, how to turn out properly without forcing their feet too wide, how to carry their upper body so that the correct muscles are activated, and other considerations. 

Listening and understanding are the first steps to great technique. PAA teaching experts utilize different methods to accomplish this, such as asking students to teach back techniques they just learned. 

Once students master proper dance form, it’s all about practice. Practice makes perfect, especially in dance class!

Students can continue their dance education outside of the dance room. PAA’s teaching experts lean into resources such as Dance Magazine and  The International Association of Dance Medicine and Science for continued dance education. 

 Along with singing and acting, PAA educates dancers and prepares them for real-world experiences while keeping them healthy. Regardless of what students choose to do with their dance education, PAA teaches joint and muscle awareness to improve their health and athleticism into adulthood.

Check out the lineup of PAA dance classes for our Fall Semester. You can read about our dance class descriptions and levels on the dance class page.

Contributing Author: Kate Vallee