
Now accepting NEW registrations for our 5-7 yr old class
and dancers ages 11+!
ALL classes are now taking place at Duende Dance Studio,
5808B West 36th Street, St. Louis Park, MN
** Voted "Best Dance School" in 2017, 2018 and 2019 by Sun Sailor Readers! **

DANCE CURRICULUM
Every class follows a syllabus. A progressive curriculum is in place to allow for continuity in training, as well as consistency among teachers. Our focus is to provide our students with a solid technical base that they can carry with them throughout their dance career.
BALLET
Cechetti technique and terminology is taught in ALL ballet classes from preschool to adults.
Senior Division Ballet Requirement:
Ballet is the foundation for all other dance forms. Ballet teaches the strength, technique and body awareness needed to learn and excel in all other dance techniques. For this reason, we require that ballet be taken in addition to other Sr. Division technique classes.
MODERN/CONTEMPORARY
Our students are exposed to a variety of styles such as those of Lester Horton, Doris Humphrey, Isadora Duncan and improvisation.
TAP
For our younger students, we primarily teach classical tap technique to build a solid tap knowledge and movement vocabulary. While we continue to teach technique to our older students, we also begin to experiment more within the rhythm tap style.
JAZZ
Our jazz curriculum is based on the techniques of Luigi and Giordano. Class time is spent learning jazz basics such as body isolations, pirouettes, and various leaps and turns.
MUSICAL THEATRE
Our musical theatre class is designed to teach basic dance technique while honing acting and performance skills for students interested in theater. Several musicals are talked about throughout the year and dancers work on developing characters that they learn to portray through movement.
PRESCHOOL
Our syllabus is designed to give preschoolers an introduction to basic ballet technique while allowing them to explore their creative side by balancing classical technique with structured creative movement activities.
Classes are typically limited to 15 students. We know that smaller class sizes mean more individualized attention and greater success for our students.
Our primary focus from September - December is to build proper and solid technique. This includes barre work and exercises that builds strength and flexibility. This teaches students the proper way to execute movement to minimize the risk of injury. During this first half of the year, students also learn movement phrase and short dance combinations that put together the steps they have been learning in class. All of this adequately prepares them for the second half of our year when we begin learning choreography and rehearsing pieces for our year-end performance.
Pre Ballet and Tap/Ballet Kindergarten: Students are placed according to age and must be of that age by the first day of class.
All other classes: Students are placed and advanced based on ability and experience. Technical proficiency, an understanding and achievement of steps laid out in the curriculum, rate of progression, and maturity all play a role in where a dancer is placed. Whereas we never want a dancer to be bored in class, we also do not want class to become overwhelming and stressful for the student. Each student's best interests are at the heart of every decision, and we strive to find the best fit for each dancer.
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