Welcome to Menagerie Dance Program!

The Wauconda Park District is committed to providing high-quality dance classes to enhance the overall development of the child.
We provide a safe and child-centered environment to encourage our students to explore dance with qualified, nurturing teachers.

We believe that dance training encourages young people to develop a positive self-image as they increase awareness of their physical being.
Along with improving coordination skills and developing muscular awareness, dance classes give children the freedom to express themselves through movement.

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Class Descriptions

Creative Dance

Creative Dance blends movement, music, improvisation, and basic dance steps while providing an excellent introduction for the future study of all dance techniques. Students learn dance fundamentals while improving large motor skills, self-expression, confidence, imagination and social development. Dancers must be fully potty trained, no pull-ups. This is a drop off class.

Preschool Level Classes (Pre-Ballet/Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop)

Our Preschool Level dance classes take the basics of dance technique combined with props and imagination to give children a fun and educational class. These classes will work on basic dance technique, large motor skills, balance, coordination, spatial awareness, musicality and self-expression. These are drop off classes.

Ballet

As students grow, they naturally begin to dance as a form of expression and imagination. We capture this enthusiasm and incorporate it into our ballet program – emphasizing proper ballet technique with a focus on developing strength, alignment, musicality, and the grace that is inherent in the form.

Jazz

Jazz dance is an upbeat and performative style that is often seen in Broadway productions. Students will focus on principles such as syncopated rhythms, body isolations, precise technical skills, and choreography. Students will be exposed to various styles of jazz such as Broadway, Street and Contemporary to help develop a well-rounded dancer.

Tap

Tap focuses on developing coordination, precision, rhythmic skills, and musicality within both the Broadway and contemporary Rhythm-Tap styles. As students progress, they further develop skills and focus on clarity of sounds and increasing speed as well as dynamics and musicality.

Lyrical

Lyrical is a fusion of ballet and jazz dance techniques. Lyrical dance challenges dancers to use movement to interpret music and express emotion telling a story through every movement made.

Modern/Contemporary

Modern/Contemporary dance develops strong creative dancers through the study of technique and improvisation with a focus on musicality, dynamics, floor-work and artistic expression. Partnering and basic lifts are also introduced.

Hip Hop

Hip Hop evolved out of street and break dancing and is characterized by its athletic and bouncy style. Set to a strong, contemporary beat, Hip Hop builds stamina, emphasizes body isolations, coordination, rhythm, and freestyle movement.

Musical Theatre

This class will focus on the execution of dance as a method of storytelling. In musical theatre, characters sing when emotion becomes too strong to speak, and they dance when they are even further transported. This class will focus on Broadway style jazz. Students will enjoy music and choreography inspired by various musical productions and will be encouraged to sing along!