Jazz

About Jazz

Jazz is an incredibly popular dance style that emerged towards the end of the 20th century when African Americans dancers began to blend African movement with European styles of movement (like ballet!)

At LCDC, we teach the Comdance Modern Jazz Syllabus in our jazz classes. This syllabus incorporates a mixture of contemporary jazz and commercial jazz. Contemporary jazz is a modern technical style of jazz popularised through shows like ‘So You ThinkYou Can Dance.’ Commercial jazz is the style that you will most like recognise from music videos, combining aspects of hip hop and contemporary jazz (always staying age appropriate).

Our more senior jazz classes also incorporate precision jazz (think Radio City Rockettes) and other famous styles of jazz from dance pioneers such as Bob Fosse.

A typical jazz class consists of warm up, stretching, short exercises and combinations working on technique and new steps which are then worked into a dance the class works on for a number of weeks. It is recommended that students take at least one ballet class to aid them in their jazz class, however this is not compulsory and students interested in only jazz are more than welcome at LCDC!

Jazz Teachers

Briohny Conway

Camille Cordel-Kamai

Ashleigh Maynard

Alison McEwan

Graded Levels

Grade 3 & 4 Jazz (Year 4 & 5 equivalent)*

Grade 3 & 4 Jazz (each its own class) focusing on age appropriate steps and music to upbeat more traditional pop style jazz, still establishing a repertoire of jazz steps and technique to carry dancers through the next levels.

Grade 5, Intermediate Foundation & Intermediate/Advanced Foundation Jazz (Year 6, 7 & 8 equivalent)*

In Grades 5 -7 Jazz (each its own class) students are introduced to more genres of jazz and begin and develop their education in stylised jazz inspired by eras such as GoGo girls from the 60s or dance movies from the 80’s like Footloose. The Comdance syllabus incorporates training exercises for more complicated turns, jumps and combinations.

Advanced 1 Jazz

The highest levels of the Comdance syllabus, Grade 8 and 9 Jazz include many styles of jazz as well as incorporating lyrical and contemporary into the syllabus – a staple for a student wanting pursue a career in dance outside of ballet. Steps, exercises and dances are complicated and challenging.

Open Jazz

Open Jazz is a non-graded/exam class and is a wonderful class for students who just want to play around with dance. Working with our phenomenal teacher Miss Bree, students are able to take ownership in this class and try lots of different styles of dance, cash in on the latest dance trends and push the boundaries of dance. This class is only available to students in Grade 8 and/or Grade 9 Jazz.

*Please note that these are guidelines only. Teachers will assess students and recommend the appropriate grade class for them on an individual basis, taking into account their maturity, ability to develop the work etc.

Examinations & Assessments

As a Comdance registered school, LCDC is proud to be able to offer examinations for Jazz.

Examinations are available for students in Grade 3 through to Grade 9. It is highly recommended that students wishing to take their jazz exam also attend a ballet or lyrical class to compliment their jazz class. Teachers and the admin team at LCDC will take the time to communicate with you about where your dancer is at this time.

Selected students excelling in Jazz at Grade 5 or Grade 8 may be invited to take their Performance Exam, which consist of a variety of solos to be graded. Performance Exam work is not covered in class time and private lessons for this Exam will be required.

Pricing

An annual enrolment fee of $35 applies to all students. A 10% discount applies to families with multiple students. Costumes, special events and exam classes are payable separately. If vacancies allow, students are welcome to enrol mid-term and pro-rated from week 3 onwards.