Minute Masterclass Episode 108

Welcome to your one-minute masterclass. I’m Andrea Trench, founder of DiscoverDance and creator of the Foundations Course for Early Childhood Dance Educators and the DiscoverDance Experience Membership. Today we are talking about DiscoverCOMBO dance classes. If your studio benefits from combining dance styles rather than offering each style individually, then this minute masterclass episode is for you. Whether you combine ballet and tap, jazz and acro or any of the combinations, rest assured that a simple lesson plan framework is all you need to accomplish this goal. 

For today’s example, we are combining ballet and jazz and emphasizing the concept of WEIGHT. We begin with a ballet freeze dance and ritual hello song. Our ballet braindance includes our LIGHT port de bras, LIGHT pliés, STRONG sautés, LIGHT bourreé turns, and STRONG battements (to name a few) intertwined with the developmental patterns of the braindance. 

We have already transitioned to jazz by the time we get to our obstacle course. We walk across the balance beam with STRONG arms in jazz second, chassé with LIGHT WEIGHT, use step claps from spot to spot with STRONG WEIGHT, and perform pivot turns with both LIGHT and STRONG WEIGHT in our exploration station. For our final skill development, we will be working on slides across the floor with STRONG arms and a LIGHT sliding leg. 

We have successfully developed both our ballet and jazz skills, while exploring and discovering the concept of the day! To learn about our complete lesson plan frameworks, enroll in the Foundations Course for Early Childhood Dance Educators at DiscoverDance.com.