Upcoming Performances:
2011-2012 Season will begin rehearsals in September for a holiday show in early December. There will also be a Dance Lab performance in March and an end of season show in June.
About Thrive Ballet:
Thrive Ballet is a small performing company that nurtures emerging ballet students via more frequent performing opportunities with an emphasis on growth, learning, exploration and discovery. Participants have the opportunity to work on choreography created with the whole dancer in mind, specialized for individual strengths and developmental needs. Performances are relatively frequent, and less formal and less costly than full theater productions. Thrive Ballet provides a setting for students who want more chances to perform than end of year recitals but would like to avoid the intensity, cost and/or environment of competition groups. Membership will be precipitated by participation in Thrive Ballet Dance Labs or enrollment in classes with Insightful Motion. Students may participate in all performances or select those that work for them. Contact Thrive Ballet Director, Jill Oliver, for more information: insightfulmotion@gmail.com or 303-647-5730.
Dynamics and energy in dance
Students will explore how different dynamics and use of energy affect dancing. They will investigate ideas through language, dance vocabulary, and movement. During the course of the six weeks, each student will choreograph a dance within a provided framework to showcase their understanding of dynamics and energy. Each week will consist of warm-up/technical instruction and structured exploration. Short homework assignments may be required. After the final session, there will be an in-studio performance for parents, families and friends.
Students 8 years and up and enrolled in standard ballet technique classes are eligible to participate in Thrive Ballet Dance Labs. For more advanced students a separate session time may be arranged. Contact Jill to discuss options for students older than 13 or for scheduling conflicts.
Class size for this session will be limited to 10 students – register now.
Classes will be at Denver Dance Center
2496 W. 2nd Ave., Unit 3
Denver, CO 80223
For more information or to register, contact Jill at 303-647-5730 or thriveballet@gmail.com
What are Dance Labs:
Traditional ballet classes are based on a teacher-centered model in which students obediently follow instructions. There is little room for experimentation and exploration. Dance students need a place to try new things -- a safe environment where they can investigate and discover how different aspects of dance, from movement to expression, feel and work with their own bodies and minds. Dance Labs are learner-centered multi-week sessions where students are guided through their own exploration of concepts important to dance. Some areas of exploration will be artistic – areas for which there is limited time in traditional dance classes and information tends to be presented in a one-size-fits-all manner. Other Dance Lab sessions will be concerned with ballet/dance technique. Dance Labs are ballet-based but beneficial for all types of dance.
Students experiment with energy, dynamics, and expression in movement, exploring important areas of dance that tend to be given short shrift in traditional ballet classes. Dynamics and energy, characterization, emotions, and communication are topics that will be investigated in Dance Lab sessions.
Technical modules:
Every student is different and the way in which individual bodies work within the structure of ballet or dance technique also varies. Technical modules will allow students to explore how concepts like turn out and alignment are integral to dance movements. General movement types, such as turns or traveling will be investigated to see and feel how technique shapes the movements and how dancers use these movements within dance. Students will gain insight into ballet/dance technique from a unique perspective – their own.