Advanced Division – Ages 12-20

Please read our 2021-2021 Season Health and Safety Protocols  and complete our 2021-2022 Season Health & Safety Waiver and turn in before taking any classes in-person beginning August 1, 2021.

In Advanced 1 Division Pre-Pointe, students heighten their strength, control speed and mental acuity through the introduction of more complex combinations, turns, jumps and balances. Students in this level begin preparing for future pointe work by taking a specialized Pre-Pointe class, which focuses on strength and kinesthetic awareness.

In Advanced 2 Division Beginning Pointe, students begin to transition to our more advanced syllabus, taking on more complex combinations, multiple turns, and big jumps, while refining their movements and building stamina. Female students at this level may study Beginning Pointe, if approved by Lead Faculty.

For students in Advanced 3, their attention turns to “the whole picture” as they gain a comprehensive understanding of how their upper body and lower bodies work together. They learn complex combinations quickly and focus their energies on strength, refinement, confidence and risk taking.

In Advanced 4, this challenging level offers students the opportunity to push themselves with advanced technique. 

Advanced 5 is an alternative to our Pre-Professional Program for dancers who are dancing at a high, pre-professional level but want less of a commitment.

Students are highly recommended to take 3 to 4 ballet classes in addition to 2 pre pointe or 3 beginning pointe classes per week. We also recommend our students to participate in Jazz, Modern, Contemporary or even Composition* class. Students may spend between 1 to 2 years in each level depending on their strength and mastery of ballet technique.

2021-2022 Class Descriptions:

Advanced Power, Flight & Turn is a class for advanced dancers to gain full-body strength (to keep them safe when lifting other dancers) while perfecting the technical requirements necessary when performing jumps and turns. Dancers will learn variations and other excerpts from classical repertoire typically attributed to male danseurs.

Jazz Technique & Anthropology – Learning Jazz Technique is a great opportunity for dancers to explore explosive performative qualities in their movement. In this class, dancers will not only explore the various styles of Jazz Technique – including Luigi, Fosse, Giordano, and more – but they will learn the deep history and Social Dance roots of this art form. Dancers will explore the cultures and people who built the foundation of Jazz and understand the why behind every move they make. This class will also have a strong emphasis on musicality and rhythm.

Modern Technique is a very general term which encompasses a vast wealth of history. At CCD, we believe in teaching our dancers the history behind the dance styles they learn. As such, our Modern Dance program will take dancers through each individual syllabus – including Graham, Cunningham, Horton, Humphrey, and more. Younger Modern dancers will gain a generalized foundation for the important over-arching principles associated with Modern Dance. As the dancers progress through CCD’s program, they will learn the history and cultural implications of each style, become fluent in each form, and begin to think about the role they play in its evolution.

Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT) is an innovative body-conditioning and strengthening program developed by Marie Walton-Mahon for students to understand the depth of training muscle memory in achieving their personal best. The program uses various sizes of Fit Balls and flex bands to simulate ballet/dance technique, thus the muscle memory applied to class work. 

• Highly appreciated by physical therapists around the world, the system is well organized by age, level and challenges. CCD students studying online will need to have their own equipment: 
• Fusion Ball (sometimes called a Pilates ball) 
• Fit Ball 
• Flex band (9 feet long). 
• Please reach out to our administrative staff for more information before making any purchases

Variations/Gala – Dancers enrolled in Variations will learn solo and small ensemble works from existing standard classical repertoire. Each class will learn three to four variations per year, allowing the faculty member to focus on refinement and the details of each variation. For those who choose to perform in our annual production of Gala, dancers will perform one or two of these variations as a small group based on the artistic vision of each individual faculty member.