I was thrilled to find out that SDC do classes in Parramatta as well as their usual location, but the Parramatta classes are only in Hip Hop (which doesn't interest me) and Jazz, but only Beginners and an Elementary/Intermediate class. Plus Jazz is on a Saturday and I was hoping to keep Saturdays free for family.

So I looked at the other adult classes they offer (www.sydneydancecompany.com . . .) and now I've got no clue which class to do. There's a theatre jazz class on Fridays during the day that looks awesome, but it's an advanced class and I'm not sure I'd be able to keep up. The only other Broadway jazz is a beginner class, which I'm assuming would be way too easy. Gah! I don't know what to do!

Helen

The advanced classes are near professional standards. In fact all of the classes at SDC are of a much higher quality then most people assume.

They've had to introduce a new level for some classes called 'absolute beginners' because their beginners classes were proving to be too much for actual beginners.
I always think of their levels as being one up from what they say they are.

I dance the beginners broadway class on Thursdays & Sundays.
I've been dancing jazz for the better part of 14 years, and I don't get bored in this class, but then again, I take it for recreation more than anything.

What I'd encourage you to do, is come to either the Thursday or Sunday beginners class at least once - that way you can get a feel for the studios, class, style and teachers. (and you'll have a really fun afternoon. LOL)

Both Zac and Louie are really approachable and professional, so coming to the class will give you an opportunity to approach them, and ask them where they think you should be.
Often, if they see someone in a class that is clearly WAY too easy for them, they'll approach them after class and advise them to move up a level, its happened a few times in my classes.

If you ever want to take class together, let me know. I get out there about 3 times a week these days.

I don't like Louie George's teaching style

The Advanced class, if taught correctly, is a complete killer and the staple of those professional dancers doing classes on the side. Back in the days I went (14-17) I was satisfyingly challenged at Int level, although if I went back now I'd wouldn't want to go any higher than Elem/Int because it'd kill me...

In my opinion, the casual class structure at SDC is best for maintenance. There's not a great deal of personal constructive criticism, largely due to the sometimes insane class sizes. However, there is always scope for the more advanced dancer to push themselves that little bit harder or do more turns where the less advanced dancer might only do one - my friends and I used to do the Beg Jazz or Hiphop class as a warmup for the rest of the day if we felt like it. The only real difference in classes is the pace of the class, the technical difficulty of the routines (the challenging stuff only hits from about Elem/Int upwards), and the people in the class. Back in the days I went, a lot of the people in Beg classes were non-dancers - serious trained dancers (or older recreational dancers who had hardcore training at some point) kept at Elem/Int, Int, or Int/Adv.

I'm also emailing both of you about another dance class I'd like to do So check your emails!!!

PPS - Tig, what classes do you do on saturdays, if any? My saturdays are free now... time to get back into dance!!!

PPS - Tig, what classes do you do on saturdays, if any?

Every other Saturday I do the beginners lyrical class with the wonderful Ramon.
In fact, I am sporting a golf ball sized bruise on my knee from said class right now.

I love it though, I'd happily go every Saturday if you wanted to. There are lots of classes I am interested in that are held on a Saturday, if lyrical doesn't sound like fun.

I'll PM you, anyway.

Oh I'd love to do classes with you guys!

Guess I'm going to have to look into another place to improve my skills though if SDC doesn't do much correction. I think I'll need a LOT of correction because I'm sure I've built up some bad habits in my years away from classes.

Helen

The only teachers I know at SDC that really pushed their dancers were Bill Pengelly and Sue-Ellen Chester (nicknamed the 'Ego-Buster' amongst my friends and I - she's awesome though).

One of the studios I teach at offers private classes for adults (share one?) but it may be too far away for you...? It may be possible to sweet-talk my other SO (the one closer to you and me) to do a shared ballet private though, especially if she knows that we'd both be cool with the occasional cancellations on whatever end. She's a real hoot and a solid teacher, and I'm sure we could both benefit from the classical training. The more I think about it, the more I like it... good training, but also FLEXIBLE!!!