jazz requirements

I am coming upon two years of teaching in the expansive dance program at my YMCA and have grown as a teacher. I work under the direction of an exceptional woman and dancer, Lynn Wilmot-Stenehjem. This month is all focused on preparing the over 500 students for their recital at Tacoma's Pantages Theater where they will perform their dances for over 1,500 relatives and friends.

Aside from all the 'organized chaos' of the recital, it is the time of year where I decide which students are ready to move on to higher levels. Here is one of my handouts I include for the dancers and parents when they get their next class assignment:

Required Skills to Enter Advanced Jazz Level, 8- 12 years old,

students should master the following:

warm up

working for great flexibility

center work

strong foot technique

upper body and core strength

pirouettes (turns) single mastered-inside & out, working on doubles

across the floor

fan kicks

6ct step

battements (kicks) fwd, sdwys, bkwd (above 45 degrees)

chaines-correctly executed, faster paced

diagonal

pas de bourrees (begin turning)

front, side, back jumps & leaps, tombe pas de bourree prep

complex combination of steps

working on fast directional changes

*demonstrate performance quality

*demonstrate musicality

*ability to master choreography

*ability to apply corrections