Ballet training is the foundation for all styles of dance. It teaches proper placement, alignment, balance, technique and control.

Ballet is an artistic dance form performed to music using precise and highly formalized steps and gestures. Classical ballet is characterized by light, graceful, fluid movements and the use of pointe shoes (when appropriate).

We encourage all dancers to take at least one ballet class per week.

Hip Hop is the style most frequently seen on TV, Tok Tok and in music videos. Movements are fast, bouncy, sharp and FUN! Hip Hop is characterized by swag, attitude, and groove!  Hip Hop often involves body isolations and is a great class for dancers who enjoy a good workout, a stress reliever and a FUN class! 

Dance + Act + Performance Quality  = Music Theatre. Musical Theatre dancing is less of a particular style, and more of a description of dancing that is rooted in the diverse history of Broadway musicals. This class emphasizes learning performance skills such as connecting with the audience and facial expressions.  Music Theatre utilizes a combination of jazz and tap styles to portray a character. 

MUSIC THEATRE PLACEMENT IS BASED ON A DANCERS JAZZ PLACEMENT.

Jazz is a stylized, fast paced form of dance that employs many of the same concepts of ballet with slight technical variations. Jazz is performed to upbeat music and is characterized by bold moves and sharp angles. Jazz students will focus on leaps, turns, strength and flexibility.

Jazz is FUN and we recommend all dancers consider taking jazz as a foundational dance class.

Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Tap is all about rhythm and is an excellent class to help dancers learn musicality and timing. 

Acrobatic Dance, or "Acro" as it is commonly referred to by dancers and dance professionals, is the beautiful fusion of classic dance technique and the precision and athleticism of acrobatic elements. Often defined by unique choreography, acro dancers seamlessly blend musicality, emotional expression, line and extension with acrobatic movements in a dance context. MDM is proud to offer the Acrobatic Arts™ curriculum and all of our Acro classes are taught by an Acrobatic Arts certified instructor.

Contemporary dance is one of the dominant genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world. Although originally informed by and borrowing from classical, modern, and jazz styles, it has since come to incorporate elements from many styles of dance. Due to its technical similarities, it is often perceived to be closely related to modern dance, ballet and other classical concert dance styles.

THIS CLASS IS OPEN TO DANCERS PLACED IN BALLET 3 & ABOVE.

Lyrical is a form of creative expression; a story set in motion. This form merges both ballet and jazz styles and is designed to express the emotion of the song with beautiful movement and style. 

THIS CLASS IS OPEN TO DANCERS PLACED IN JAZZ 4 OR ABOVE.

Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT) is an innovative body-conditioning and strengthening program developed for students to understand the depth of training muscle memory in achieving their personal best. One of the important elements used in the PBT method is muscle memory which helps to improve students' understanding of core stability, weight placement and alignment. Each exercise in the PBT program has been developed with care and guidance by Marie Walton-Mahon along with a team of physiotherapists.

ALL OF THE MDM BALLET INSTRUCTORS HAVE A CERTIFICATION IN PBT.