UPCOMING: URBAN DANCE/ EXTREME MOVEMENT IN-STUDIO PERFORMANCE!
The Rock School is thrilled to announce that the first Urban Dance/ Extreme Movement In-Studio Performance will take place at the end of Parent Observation Week (Jan. 23 - Jan. 28, 2012).
Parents, students, friends, family and interested parties are welcome to join us on Saturday, January 28, 2012 from 12:30-1:30pm in Studio B (4th floor), for an opportunity to observe UDEM class material, see special performances by Rock School students and instructor Vincent Johnson, and a special guest appearance by prominent hip-hop performer, Tyger B.
This performance is an exclusive opportunity to see what happens behind the scenes in The Rock School studios. If you are interested in attending this performance, please RSVP to the Facebook event by clicking here.
MORE ABOUT URBAN DANCE/ EXTREME MOVEMENT
The Rock School for Dance Education is expanding their breadth of programs with The Rock Dance Project. Known for impeccable ballet training, The Rock School is shaking things up with the emergence of new dance classes and concentrations. Directors Bojan Spassoff and Stephanie Wolf Spassoff are working with Philadelphia native and movement expert, Vince Johnson to create a program unlike any other.
Johnson is no stranger to The Rock School. The Philadelphia native began his professional dance career in high school, working his way into principle roles under the guidance of Rennie Harris at The Pure Movement Institute. While earning his B.A. at Villanova University, Johnsons took up instructing hip-hop classes at Rock West. Upon sitting and chatting with Johnson in the ‘R’ Café, it is hard to imagine how someone who has had great success, performed on the stage, danced in corporate and industrial arenas, and even pioneered his own performance company could be so laid back and modest. His kind and down-to-earth nature is contagious and his passion for dance is evident the moment he starts discussing the new Urban Dance/ Extreme Movement class at The Rock School.
“The Urban Dance class is truly unique to our program at Rock. The class is so different and has such potential to create a significant impact because it provides a diverse range of people with a platform to dance,” Johnson boasts.
According to the martial arts, acrobatics, and movement master, hip-hop encompasses many factors that most people never consider. The Urban Dance class is continually evolving and developing as the class grows in popularity and The Rock School directors work with Johnson to develop a curriculum and instate benchmarks for student progress. The class offers students a disciplined but free-spirited platform to experiment with a wide range of movement styles, draw from different sources of inspiration, implement elements of acrobatics and martial arts, as well as work with improvisation and theatrical techniques.
“I want to teach my students more than just how to regurgitate steps. Since the class is really it’s own entity, I can create an atmosphere and lessons to promote free expression with refinement and control. For me, teaching the students in my class how to build physical and mental awareness, improve their perceptions of time and space, and understand movement is most important,” Johnson professes.
In order to create the unique atmosphere in the studio, Johnson draws from his experiences with hip-hop, movement, conceptual art and even ballet. The Urban Dance/ Extreme Movement class is relevant in our setting and provides students with the opportunity for more inventive, confident, atypical performance art. Whether performing, instructing, or reflecting, Johnson follows the philosophy that “dance is like a tool or a piece of fabric that is meant to become part of a much larger body of work, beyond the literal.”
The Urban Dance/ Extreme Movement class offers students a gateway to express themselves healthily and confidently. Since the class covers such a broad repertoire of skills, Johnson hopes that students will be able to gain new abilities and discover deep talents within themselves, self-awareness, and confidence that can be carried into aspects of their lives outside of the studio.
For more information about Vince Johnson and Urban Dance/ Extreme Movement class schedules and programming, please visit the program website or email The Rock School at rdp@therockschool.net.
