Open Enrollment Classes

Welcome to Princeton Ballet School! We have a long history and a strong track record of providing high-quality dance instruction to adult students. Many of our adult students have told us that other ballet schools seem to only offer a couple of classes for adults as an after-thought, with teachers who are not really interested in training adults. But Princeton Ballet School has over 50 classes weekly specifically for adult students, in seven different types of dance, plus Pilates. These classes are led by knowledgeable, charismatic and caring teachers who are here to help you explore new types of dance safely, improve your technique, and have a great time, too.

Who else will you find in your class? People of all ages from 13 to 70 plus. Most of our dancers are adults from all walks of life, who enjoy dance class as their life sport. Some are retired dancers or local dance teachers from other studios and colleges, who take class to keep up their skills and strength. We also have many dancers who are students at Rider University, as we provide the studio classes for the degree in Fine Arts with a dance specialization offered by Rider. We extend a warm welcome to all, and have many different levels of class to accommodate dancers of all skill levels.

Ballet, modern dance and Spanish dance classes are accompanied by one of our staff of a dozen highly-skilled accompanists.

You can participate in these classes in three different ways, depending on the amount of background you have:


1. BEGINNERS in any given type of dance—must register for an eight week session, to help your body get some traction on this new activity. You can try a single class for $16 before signing up, during the First Weeks, which are scheduled four times a year, right before each session begins.
2. INTERMEDIATE AND ADVANCED DANCERS—may purchase single classes for any type of dance at any time.
3. INTERMEDIATE AND ADVANCED DANCERS—may also purchase dance cards to get a reduced rate by buying in bulk. There are also specially priced dance cards for college students, and special rates for professional dancers.

CLICK HERE to download the Fall 2010 Open Enrollment Brochure, which will give you further details regarding schedules, payment, registration procedures, and full faculty biographies.

CLICK HERE for the Fall 2010 Open Enrollment Registration Form

CLICK HERE for maps to our three studios, in Cranbury, New Brunswick and Princeton.

CLICK HERE to read biographies of our faculty.

Beginner Dance Classes:

SPANISH DANCE: We are very lucky to have as a part of our dance community a highly skilled teacher of this complex and dramatic style of dance. Alma Concepcion (see full bio) has been teaching Spanish dance forms for Princeton Ballet School for over 25 years, and brings a wealth of experience, high expectations, and great material to the classroom. By Spanish dance, we are not referring to the Latin dance forms beloved of ballroom dancers, but to the folk, classical, and flamenco forms of Spain. The classes begin with a study of several traditional folk dances, such as the Jota Aragonesa and the Sevillanas.

Unlike ballet or modern dance classes, where each week has new “combinations,” these classes are learning set dances, which are built on and reviewed from week to week. Many members of the intermediate and advanced classes enjoy performing these works together at studio performances here and at community festivals. These classes teach many elements such as castanet playing, heelwork (or zapateados), and handclapping. For those new to this study and not yet sure whether they want to buy castanets, Ms. Concepcion lends them out each week.

Please try the beginner class first, even if you have had experience in other dance forms—intermediate and advanced classes are only for dancers with prior experience in Spanish dance.

INTERMEDIATES: are divided into 201 and 301 levels. These levels loosely relate to the Russian Vaganova syllabus, Levels 2 and 3, and are useful in providing a framework for our teachers to refer to when ensuring that there is progress over the year. The 201 classes assume a basic knowledge of the ballet barre and center work, and introduce the beginning study of pirouettes and other turns. The 301 classes do a faster barre and center, and assume knowledge of all turns. The combinations given will be more complex. Some of our classes function as a combination of these two levels, in order for us to be able to offer you more time options during the week. Placement within these levels is at your discretion—you might want to confer with the teacher to check whether they feel your choice of level is a good one for you.

Ballet

Ballet Intermediate (during the summer, we combine Ballet 201 and 301 into this class). This class assumes basic knowledge of barre and center work, including pirouettes.

ADVANCED CLASSES (Ballet 401): This class is for students with a strong background. The class will assume knowledge of both en dedans and en dehors pirouettes and all petit allegro steps. This is a good class for the active or retired professional dancer, or dance teacher.

JAZZ AND HIPHOP CLASSES: ARB’s Princeton Ballet School offers two types of class derived from the jazz dance tradition—theater dance/jazz and hiphop. Each is a fast and lively class, with lots of complicated dancing and, typically, very little personal help given. If you are still fairly new to dance and are looking for lots of personal help and a slow-paced environment, start with the ballet or modern dance classes. The theater dance and hiphop classes are about speed and energy, so the teachers purposely don’t slow down because they need to keep up the pace for the majority of students. In even the beginner classes, it is assumed that this means beginners to this type of dance, not beginners to the study of dance in general.

MODERN DANCE: is, with jazz dance, one of the great American contributions to the art form. Modern dance, sometimes referred to as concert dance, or classic modern dance, is a type of dance centered on personal expression through strength, musicality and coordination. Each different teacher takes the class in different directions, as does each dancer! If you are looking for a class to pop music, you’re thinking of jazz class. If you are looking for a class with both a seated and standing warm-up, followed by combinations done to a variety of musical accompaniment, ranging from Bach to contemporary improvisation, you’re in the right place.

SPANISH DANCE: We are very lucky to have as a part of our dance community a highly skilled teacher of this complex and dramatic style of dance. Alma Concepcion (see full bio) has been teaching Spanish dance forms for Princeton Ballet School for over 25 years, and brings a wealth of experience, high expectations, and great material to the classroom. By Spanish dance, we are not referring to the Latin dance forms beloved of ballroom dancers, but to the folk, classical, and flamenco forms of Spain. The classes begin with a study of several traditional folk dances, such as the Jota Aragonesa and the Sevillanas.

Unlike ballet or modern dance classes, where each week has new “combinations,” these classes are learning set dances, which are built on and reviewed from week to week. Many members of the intermediate and advanced classes enjoy performing these works together at studio performances here and at community festivals. These classes teach many elements such as castanet playing, heelwork (or zapateados), and handclapping. For those new to this study and not yet sure whether they want to buy castanets, Ms. Concepcion lends them out each week.

Please try the beginner class first, even if you have had experience in other dance forms—intermediate and advanced classes are only for dancers with prior experience in Spanish dance.

Spanish Dance Advanced:

Classes continue to teach the rich folk forms of Spain, including the techniques of heelwork, hand clapping and playing the castanets, plus beginning elements of flamenco and classical Spanish dance. Advanced classes continue the emphasis on castanets, heelwork, and acquisition of further repertory in all Spanish dance forms, including escuela bolera.

PILATES—back when we first started offering it, we had to do a lot of explaining about what Pilates was. Now there are Pilates classes everywhere, but the important thing to bear in mind is that this exercise regimen is only as good as the teacher who is in charge, and the mindfulness which they teach you to bring to the performance of the exercise routine, or mat work, as it is called. The efficacy of Pilates has everything to do with understanding the role of the breathing and the deep layers of abdominal muscles in the control and centering of your body. The class is excellent for developing this core strength, for increasing flexibility, strengthening muscles and improving posture while eliminating tension and strain from the joints. A Pilates work-out is not aerobic, so for a complete work-out, you would want to follow this with a dance class. You will find that your barre work never felt so centered or strong!

Since we offer Pilates as an addition to our core mission, we don’t have multiple levels of Pilates classes. We do allow beginners to join in the existing classes. We request that beginners enter only at four times of year, when we have the First Weeks and during the early weeks of the sessions that follow (see calendar in the downloadable Open Enrollment brochure). We suggest patience with your self on the part of new Pilates students, as it takes a while to fully understand the depth and complexity of the work. For on-going Pilates students, we recommend that you take these weeks when newcomers are entering as a good opportunity to continue deepening your understanding and capability in this work by cultivating what is called in zen practice “beginner’s mind”—really listening and hearing the directives as if for the first time, which can frequently lead to new insights. This is the way that professional dancers continue to renew and expand their knowledge of their own bodies as they do the barre exercises daily, year in and year out.