Gene Kelly: Singing in the Rain

Rainy weather have you down?  Dancing is sure to elevate any mood.  Watching Gene Kelly is sure to put a smile on your face!  This classic dance video is a slice of famous American dance choreography, and shows that rain doesn't have to make us feel blue if we don't want it to.  Find your own way to "sing in the rain."  We hope this video inspires you!

Poker, Bunco and Silent Auction this Saturday!

Fusion, Dance Arts' talented dance team, will be holding an amazing event this Saturday, Novemeber 19th at Fairwood Country Club.  The event will include Texas Hold'em Poker, a Bunco Tournament, as well as a Silent Auction.  All proceeds go to benefit Fusion Dance Team Boosters. 

The buy in for poker and bunco is $60.00, limited rebuys, $25 for non-players.  There will be cash prizes for the final table!


Mark your calendars for this Saturday, November 19th, 2011 at Fairwood Country Club:
17070 140th Ave SE, Renton, WA 98058

Doors will open at 5:30pm, with dinner served at 6pm.  Dinner is included in the cost of admission.  The tournament starts at 7:00pm.  We hope to see you there, it should be a fabulous event!

Come Watch Miss April Dance in Skeletons

Miss April performs in Skeletons.

We are so fortunate to live in the Pacific Northwest where the dance community and appreciate of the arts is strong.  One of our own instructors, Miss April, will be preforming in Seattle on Friday December 16th.  Tickets are already on sale through Brown Paper Tickets.

Miss April will be performing in Skeletons at Velocity Dance Center.

"Artistic Director, Joseph Schanbeck and AEON Contemporary Dance present an evening of new works. Skeletons is inspired by the idea of a person evolving from bare bones into someone that thinks, feels and has complicated emotions. Skeletons will take you on a journey that spans the entire dance spectrum, from sparse to elaborate."

Come support the arts and watch Miss April perform!  We hope to see you there!

What is Creative Dance?

What is Creative Dance?  And how does it differ from other dance forms?  Most people know what to expect with entering a ballet classroom.  The students dress uniformly, their hair done up in a bun.  Time is devoted to learning specific skills at the barre, and turning, jumps and leaps, as well as slow movements are taught with great specificity.  A jazz class has uptempo music, the students shake their body, learn jazz hands, kicks, turns and more.  Likewise even a non tapper knows what to expect in a tap class, where the students feet will learn to move like percussion instruments.  Yet the open ended world of Creative Dance, may leave you wondering what exactly it is? 

Creative Dance can be as broad as the term itself.  At Dance Arts, we have specific ways we teach our Creative Dance program, so that it is age and brain compatible with your young preschooler.  Preschoolers often can get discouraged if forced into the regimented dance form too young.  Here are just a few examples of how we gear our program to your little one:

Each week students sing a welcome song, then say their name as they practice being comfortable in a group.

Singing the Welcome Song!

Next the students perform a Brain Dance.  The Brain Dance moves students through all the developmental patterns in the order a baby goes through them.  Breath, tactile, core/distal, head/tail, upper/lower, body side, cross lateral, vestibular and eye tracking.

Students work on cross lateral movements, these movements help get the left and right hemisphere's of the brain communicating, which helps boost brain power more than any of the other movements.

Practicing Head/Tail connection.

Working on eye tracking by following their thumbs.  This is an important skill for reading and for being able to see numbers aligned in columns. 

 Another important part of our creative dance class is the obstacle course.  The obstacle course changes every month.  The students move around the room clockwise, practicing various skills at a rapid pace.  They grow skills by getting tons of repetition.

Crawling through the tunnel in the obstacle course.

Practicing tip toes around cones in the obstacle course. 

These are just a few of the highlights for our creative dance class.  If you or a friend has a little one between the ages of 3 to 5, be sure to give us a call for your free trial class!