Ballet for pleasure, Ballet for the more serious-minded. This classical style of expressive movement has something to offer for everyone. Ballet dates back to the 17th century. The conventional steps, grace and fluidity of movement are still found in Ballet today. Choreographers have been influenced by composers through the ages. Ballet has a technique which is the foundation of all dance.

Freestyle/jazz is one of the most popular forms of dance in the UK today. It involves runs, spins, kicks and leaps as well as many other diverse steps and movements with lots of different arm and hand actions. The music can be fast and up beat or slow and sensuous, allowing dancers of all ages to use freedom of expression to enhance their style.

Have you ever seen the hottest pop band’s music video or performance on Top of the Pops or MTV? Then you will already know what Street Dance looks like. Street Dance takes any form of popular music – from pop to hip hop – and choreographs routines to the beats. We have seen that, only too often, the most successful pop acts have made it big by combining Street Dance routines with their tunes and lyrics.

So you wanna be a star? Or maybe you just want to have the moves – and the fun – of the stars. So start with Musical Theatre! A fusion of all modern music and dance styles, Musical Theatre takes you to inspirational heights. Musical Theatre is a fun class combining dancing with singing. The spotlight’s on you!

Modern is fun. You will learn to develop many different movements reaching to a broad choice of varying rhythms and musical styles. Classes are structured to begin to prepare the physical strength and flexibility required to demonstrate emotion through interpretation of any musical genre, one minute you may be dancing to the rhythm of a drum, the next to a funky jazz style. You may explore contrast between expansion and relaxation or learn to isolate in a slick, stylish mood, whatever the atmosphere of the class, it will be a wonderful opportunity to react and interact with other members of the class and really dance to express your feelings. Modern is an extremely important discipline for improving technique, strength and flexibility.

Tap is rhythm – rhythm is tap. It’s origins are many and varied. Americans claim it’s origin dates form the African Jazz age. The Irish stake their claim to the Jigs and Step Dancing. The English relate back to northern Clog Dancers but whichever theory one chooses to believe, Tap is as popular today as it was in the heyday of the great Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly musicals. Evergreen shows, 42nd Street and Crazy For You, and the more recent Stomp and Tap Dogs highlight the great diversities of style and music in tapping. Tap is a rhythmical and enjoyable way to keep fit!

Pom Pom classes are very fun and energetic. It is all about dancing, chants, jumps and stunts! Pom Pom routines require precision and lots od co-ordination. It is a great class for making friends and working in a team. We do an energetic warm up dedicated to strengthening and raising fitness levels. We do not work towards exams in this class, it is a class for enjoyment. However we do perform in shows and the local fetes and events.

Drama is a fun class that develops children’s confidence and performance skills. Children work with scripts to perform plays, as well as doing improvisation, drama games and learning different accents in class. Pupils also get the opportunity to devise their own plays.

The Modern Funk class will be available for pupils from the age of four upwards. The class will be fun, lively and energetic with a mixture of modern dance, jazz and street dance. Pupils will have the opportunity to work towards ISTD modern exams and perform in our dance school show.

Lyrical dance is a dance style that blends ballet and jazz dance. Lyrical is generally smoother and a bit faster than ballet, but not quite as fast as jazz. A lyrical dancer uses movement to express strong emotions such as love, joy and anger. Movements in lyrical dance are characterised by fluidity and grace, with the dancer flowing seamlessly form one move to another, holding finishing steps as long as possible. Leaps are exceptionally high and soaring, and turns are fluid and continuous.

Silhouette Dance and Theatre School provide dance themed birthday parties all over the country. The children will have a warm up and learn a routine of the birthday girl/boys choice. They will then have a break to eat their party food. Once they have finished we offer the choice of mini makeovers (optional). The children then have a rehearsal with the dance party leader and the children then perform to all of the mums and dads. At the very end, the birthday child is presented with a trophy. We guarantee that this will be a party that your child will remember.

Please contact us to discuss party rates. We offer competitive rates and guarantee not to be beaten on price!

Silhouette Dance and Theatre School choreograph dances to make your first dance for your wedding even more special. We provide the dance studio, all you need to do is provide us with that special piece of music and leave the rest to us. We shall have a free consultation with you before the first session to discuss what you want from your dance and then we can give you an estimation of how many lessons you are likely to need. No dance experience is required and the classes are in a fun and friendly environment.

For those you are more daring or maybe have more dance experience, if you wanted to include your bridesmaids and best man etc into your dance, that is not a problem. We can create the popular wedding dances of the moment (Thriller, Dirty Dancing etc), or create something totally unique for your special day.

If you have your own ideas, don’t be shy, we will be happy to accommodate, whatever you wish.

Contact us to make your special day even more memorable.

Silhouette Dance and Theatre School run dance classes for adults with disabilities and their carers. We can come out to care homes if you have a large enough space to work in, or we can hirer a studio or Community Centre for the classes to take place in. The classes are structured to suit each group and each group may take a different format. Some classes might be purely dance based for the whole lesson, others may have dance for a section of the lesson and do other activities and games for the remaining part of the lesson. The adults get a great sense of enjoyment from these classes and is also good for their muscle strength and coordination. Adults is wheelchairs are also welcome to attend the classes as we will adapt exercised for them.

Silhouette Dance and Theatre School are now running dance classes in academic schools. We are currently running breakfast and after school clubs across schools in Kent and are also offering Enrichment Classes to cover teacher PPL time.

As we are a Theatre School, we can offer your students a huge range of unforgettable experiences. In May this year, we took a group of 78 pupils to perform at The Royal Albert Hall, it was an amazing experience that the children will never forget and you could have your pupils performing at extraordinary venues such as this.

We also have links with Disneyland Paris and with cruise ships and in the summer of 2011, we shall be taking a group of performers to dance on a Caribbean Cruise ship.

If your school runs a dance club with Silhouette Dance and Theatre School, we will do all of the organising to prepare for such events. We will co ordinate meetings with the parents of the pupils and you can leave all of the hard work to us.

These events are optional and should you wish to run the clubs without performing in such huge events, that is not a problem. We tailor each project to the specific needs of your school.

It is advised that you call the principal Louise Denton to discuss your schools needs, sooner rather than later, as slots are quickly becoming booked out. Be the first to book in your area – make your school stand out!

Pupils of the dance school are encouraged to take ISTD dance examinations. The ISTD is the leading examining body in the country and is taught at the top dance colleges across the world. Examinations are optional and not compulsory.