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Training Tips
A well-rounded dancer definitely requires balanced training. Experience in a variety of dance styles is important for creating versatile dancers and is a necessity for aspiring pros. Starting at a young age is a total advantage.
When parents see a class that includes ballet, tap, and jazz in a single hour they may think, "BARGAIN! This is three for the price of one!" The child in this situation has less time to develop in any one of these areas and in terms of training, often ends up shortchanged. “Combo” classes, or classes that combine two dance forms are a great intro for the young rec dancer. Students may benefit from experiencing more than one dance style before deciding what they love. However, if, later on, their in-class effort and focus on technique is still only 20 minutes because their hour is focusing on learning choreography and preparing for performances, the value of their experience is extremely low. One sign your balance is off in your training: preparing a single dance routine requires months of preparation. The choreography is a small percentage of the requirements to have all the right tools. An example would be if you train in ballet but skip improv or if you travel every week to low level competitions but have never seen a professional, live performance. This is considered tunnel-vision training.
Uninterrupted technique classes are the backbone of your training, while it is also also important to be taking a variety of performance styles and choreography for the proper balance.