Our most popular Pre-Junior program for Kindy and Year 1 students has been carefully designed to provide a combination of Ballet/ Jazz/ Tap or Ballet/Jazz dance styles in one 1.5hrs length class.
At the start of the class, we carefully introduce classical ballet foundation, ballet terminology and musicality. The technique is an important part of the program where we pay especial attention to turn out positions of the feet, arm movements, basic steps and jumps. In addition to the focus on building correct ballet technique, students also learn Jazz dance basics, where they learn a fun warm-up that includes variety of jazz steps and later on are included in their jazz dance routine. For a wrap up of the class students put their favourite tap shoes on and with great enthusiasm start to learn some fun and challenging tap steps. Pre-Junior students learn all basic tap steps and terminology, also learning distinctive rules that come along with tap dancing to keep class going smoothly and enjoyable for everyone. We also offer classes excluding tap style for those who only wish to learn ballet and jazz foundation. Pre-Junior combination classes extend beyond dance to develop skills such a teamwork and confidence.
In September or October Pre-Junior students perform their dance at a community festival with their jazz dance routine. The year culminates in a spectacular end-of-year performance at our annual concert in which every child is costumed and groomed beautifully will perform in two items - jazz and tap or ballet and jazz routines .
Students wear their Centre Stage uniforms proudly to class each week. Family members are welcome to watch their child's progress once a year during Open Week, held in Term 2.
Pre-Junior students are introduced to the Centre Stage Merit System in which students may be awarded a certificate for improvement, effort, good behaviour, politeness, remembering their dance, being a good leader, and so on. This system provides postive reinforcement and an incentive for students to become self-disciplined and motivated.
We allow parents to stay in and watch the first part of the trial class so that their child is settled, and we do understand that each child responds differently to the class environmnent and some take longer to settle in than others.