CLASSES
Click below to discover the extensive range of dance &
performance genres within our curriculum at KGD...
We also offer; Stretch, strengthen and body conditioning classes, Ballet Ball classes, Elite Extension classes, Private Singing Lessons, Cecchetti Ballet Exam classes & Competition Teams for groups performances and soloists, via (invitation only).
JAZZ
Think Fame, Mary Poppins, Hairspray, all the current musicals and all other Broadway and musical theatre related dance. Jazz is a dance form developed by African-Americans in the US in the early part of the 20th century. It drew on African rhythms and techniques, which isolated various parts of the body in movement. The name was first used during the First World War, and by the 1920s jazz had been taken up by white society. Its absorption into show business, through exposure in films, on television, and on Broadway, guaranteed it an enormous and enduring audience. Leading jazz choreographers included Katherine Dunham, Bob Fosse and currently leading in Australia today; Kelly Abbey and Jason Coleman.
RECCOMENDATION: Students to study Ballet along with Jazz, in order to gain full value from this class and
higher levels of improvement through further developed technique.
CLASSICAL BALLET
Think Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, a form of theatrical dance that has evolved over the past 300 years from its origins in France. It is highly academic in its training and very technical, differing from other forms of dance in its fundamental turnout, in which the legs rotate in the hip socket to allow greater freedom of movement, thus giving ballet its distinctive line. The style of ballet is precisely structured, based on conventional steps and performed with graceful and flowing movements. The use of Pointe work is also taught at a higher level. Ballet is necessary to study for students who wish to achieve higher levels of dance, with good strong, technical ability and to gain a possible career in dance. At KGD we offer classes in the Cecchetti method of classical ballet. Selected students are trained and prepared to sit their Cecchetti ballet examinations, however these classes are not compulsory.
RECCOMENDATION: All students at KGD to preferably study Ballet for stronger technique to help excel in other dance styles and possible career in dance if desired. N.B: Pointe-work will only be offered to students who partake in 2 ballet classes per week
(general class & Cecchetti exam class) and who meet the required age & technical level.
HIP-HOP
Think American style video clips; Beyonce, Missy Elliott, Timbaland, Chris Brown, etc. Essentially, this form of dance is street dance style, or what we call, urban ethnic dance. Hip Hop dance has evolved as a part of the Hip Hop culture, from where Hip Hop music has also emerged. In this dance style you can find lots of breaking, popping, locking, crumping and free styling. Hip Hop dance contributes to developing great muscle control and coordination and also enables dancers to develop their own style. Funk and Hip Hop are extremely similar, with slight differences being that funk is more influenced by jazz, sometimes the music may be a little more RnB/Top 40 style. Hip Hop involves more isolations and moves are generally closer to the ground, with a very wide stance and bent back and knees a lot of the time.
TAP
Tap dance is a form of dance characterised by using the sound of one’s Tap shoe hitting the floor as a percussive instrument. As such, it is commonly considered to be a form of music. Two major variations of Tap dance exist, as time has evolved over the years; ‘Rhythm Tap’ (think the more laid-back ap-proach of ‘Bootmen’ and ‘Tap Dogs’ style), with more emphasis on creating intricate rhythms and musicality and then ‘Broadway Tap’. Broadway Tap focuses more on the dance aspects, (think Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire) and is widely performed as a part of musical theatre. The sound is made by shoes with a ‘metal tap plate’ on the heel and toe. At KGD we include both these styles in our curricu-lum.
BREAKDANCE
An offset of Hip Hop, breakdance is learning and developing the skills and strengths needed to perform tricks and stunts where the dancer's upperbody and hands takes their full weight, to display upside down and spinning stunts. Students will attempt to learn some of the primary moves; toprock, downrock, powermoves and freezes.
ACROBATICS
Learning basic skills; tumbling, somersalts, cartweels, handstands, then progressing to the more advanced walkovers, handsprings and aerials! Working on developing upperbody strength and flexibility, which also follows over to aid in break dance as well. The use of proper gym crash mats will be incorporated.
RECCOMENDATION: Once again, students are encouraged to partake in at least one ‘technique class’ (Ballet or Jazz), to en-sure they can fully and safely participate correctly in the annual concert dance come December, as this will be a fast-paced ‘Acro-Dance’, thus students are essentially studying ‘Acro-Dance movement’, and putting together choreography along with their Acro-tricks.
CONTEMPORARY/LYRICAL
Arguably the broadest of all dance styles and open to the most interpretation, this style is a fusion of ballet with jazz techniques. Contemporary/Lyrical has it's primary basis in ballet, combining the many technical elements of Classical Ballet with the freedom and airier aspects of Jazz. The style is epressive, simultaneously subtle and dynamic, focused on conveying musicality and emotion through movement.
RECCOMENDATION: Students are encouraged to study Ballet and preferably Jazz along with this genre, to gain the most out of the class, as Contemporary vocabulary and range of movement will be very limited without the use of a basic ‘technique’ class.
MUSICAL THEATRE/SINGING
Combining selected songs, music, spoken dialouge and dance scenes from all current musicals (appropriate to age), working on these vocally, then combining them with choreographed movement to achieve a well-rounded ‘triple threat’ performer! Come and try our fun Glee Club inspired singing & musical theatre class! Private lessons in vocal coaching now available!
RECCOMENDATION: Students to ideally study a ‘technique’ class, such as Ballet or Jazz in conjunction with this class in order to feel confident with accompanying ‘movement’ with singing come concert time in December.
*We also offer Body Conditioning, Ballet Ball, Strength & Strengthen & Elite Extension classes for our more advanced students, whom ideally participate in Ballet & Jazz as their two main genres of study and partake in our Accelerated programme.
*We offer competition work as well for Victorian dance competitions, where selected students are invited to join our KGD competition teams as troupe members and as soloists.
Pre-requsite for comp team: Student must be studying two ballet classes per week (general & Cecchetti exam class, as apart of our Accelerated stream to be eligible).
* Examinations in the Cecchetti method of ballet are available and strongly encouraged from a youngr age (approx 6 years), however not compulsory.