The University of Utah Tanner Dance Program is now accepting new students for the spring 2017 semester. The program offers creative dance, ballet, hip-hop and visual arts classes in the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts and Education Complex. Creative dance classes are also held for elementary school-age students at off-campus sites in Bountiful, Brigham City, Park City, Ogden, Sandy and South Jordan thanks to partnerships with community centers, schools and U satellite campuses. University employees receive 15 percent off class tuition with their UCard by registering over the phone or in person.
Tanner Dance classes focus on the development of the whole child. Dancers develop creative dance technique through traditional modern and ballet exercises. In addition, they exercise their creativity and imagination as they explore the elements of dance through age appropriate movement. Dancers are given opportunities to improvise, engage in creative problem-solving and grow in cognitive, social and emotional ways as they interact in each class.
“Tanner Dance honors the longstanding commitment to teaching dance as well as creating imaginative, worthwhile human beings,” said Joni Wilson, studio program director. “Dancers explore many aspects including the technical elements of dance alongside creative and aesthetic training.”
Ballet and hip-hop classes give dancers further technical training while helping them maintain a love of dance. All creative dance classes have live accompaniment by experienced and engaging musicians to expose dancers to a variety of musical genres. Kindergarten and older classes participate in a performance in May at Kingsbury Hall as part of the annual spring Tanner Dance Studio Show.
Tanner Dance also offers a series of Dancers with Disabilities classes for students ages three and up who have physical and/or cognitive disabilities. The tuition for these classes is subsidized by various private and government funding sources and students can also pay for tuition through the Department of Services for People with Disabilities funding allocations. These classes include appropriate technique exercises for the whole body and dancers explore shape, space, rhythm and movement quality among a supportive community of teachers, volunteers and friends.
Adults may take a beginning/intermediate modern dance class set to live music on Tuesday nights and gain a WellU credit. This class is taught by a former professional dancer and provides energizing cardio movement appropriate for a variety of ages and ability levels. All classes begin on Tuesday, Jan. 3 and run until Saturday, April 28, with a week off at the end of March. Students can learn more about classes and register online at tannerdance.utah.edu, by calling 801-581-7374 or by visiting the Tanner Dance side of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts and Education Complex,1721 Campus Center Drive.