Gotta dance

No matter your age, if you want to take up dance lessons there's a class available in the region. Area dance studios offer a range of classes from classical ballet to contemporary movement for both children and adults.

Dance Xtensions in Jackson offers tap, jazz, ballet, acrobatics, hip-hop and pom pon classes. More than 175 students currently are enrolled in the program.

Ballet is the most popular, though, said Julie Mier, who teaches at the school.

"Ballet is what you do to be the dancer," she said.

But sometimes offering other types of classes can help pull in new students.

When Teresa Scarpaci opened City Studio in Jackson last summer, she wanted to create a place where both boys and girls could learn dance without being self-conscious in a large class.

The idea isn't to rate the students on how good or bad they are but "how much they can learn by trying," said instructor Nancy Welsh.

Welsh teaches classical ballet techniques in all her classes, so that the boys in the contemporary movement learn how to position their feet and stretch as well as how to breakdance.

"We talk about what music is and how it grabs them," Welsh said. She lets the students choreograph some of their moves and gives them individual attention.

Welsh likes to limit her class sizes to eight students at a time so that everyone can learn. "You put their bodies into interesting positions, and they learn to see shapes." Juxtaposing the students against objects gives them ideas for their choreographed movements, she added.

Sometimes the students start their lessons by asking if they can learn a particular move they've seen on TV or in a video. That's OK with Welsh because it gives her an opportunity to teach.

She explains that what the students are seeing is based on ballet and that the training from ballet helps with other styles of dance.

Many of the 210 students enrolled in classes at the Academy of Dance Arts take multiple lessons in ballet, tap and jazz.

Dance "teaches them discipline and rhythm," said Kara Finley, the studio's owner and an instructor.

With younger children who start taking lessons at age 3 or 4, the classes can help them learn to follow directions and to stay focused, which are both skills they'll need later, she said.

Confidence, poise, stage presence

Dance lessons continue to be popular, she said, partly because the arts continue to be popular. But there are other benefits to taking the lessons. "It helps them with confidence and poise and being on stage," Finley said.

Both the jazz and ballet classes are among the most popular at the academy.

City Studio puts an emphasis on classical ballet because that's what Welsh is trained in. It's also the most popular dance class offered at the school.

Scarpaci opened City Studio as a way for her own children to expand their dancing. Her daughter, Paloma, has been dancing for nine years. Both her sons, Nikolas, 9, and Luciano, 6, are enrolled in the young boys class.

But there also are classes for toddlers and adults.

One of the newer classes at Dance Xtensions is the hip-hop class, Mier said, "You can go in there and have lots of fun."

Classes that use modern music and fast, upbeat movements are wildly popular with young teens. At City Studio, the girls' contemporary movement class is the largest.

"They're all 11-year-olds, and girls love to dance at that age," Welsh said. The class does a lot of contemporary movement and improvisation, allowing them to develop their own choreography.

ljohnston@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126

Dance studios

Academy of Dance Arts: 651-4477

City Studio: 243-0200

Classical ballet program for all ages; young men and boys class; Mom and me and Dad and me classes for toddlers; creative movement for ages 3 and 4.

Dance Xtensions: 243-1176

Variety of classes offered from tap to ballet and hip-hop.