Lydia Johnson Dance is enrolling students in its fall semester in classes in dance, choreography and ballet. LJD is a professional contemporary company, which performs in New York and New Jersey and holds classes at the Burgdorff Center in Maplewood. All classes have a choreography component, as Ms. Johnson feels young dancers learn best when they use their own creative ideas.
Classes begin September 19, 2013.
LJD is offering Ballet and Choreography (for pre-K though high school) taught by Tammi Shamblin, who also teaches in New York at Elliot Fled’s Ballet Tech Academy. Contemporary technique is taught by LJD Company member Katie Martin on Thursday afternoons (Grades 1-12)
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On Friday mornings, Ballet for the Very Young (with and without a caregiver), for ages 18 months through 4 years, will be taught by Rayna Pomper. Children will experience the incredible, joyous physicality of ballet without the usual focus on a recital.
Saturday classes include Hip Hop and Jazz (Grade 1-high school) with choreography -- an exciting class taught by Sherrell Bush and guest artists from New York. Creative Ballet, a pre-ballet and creative dance class with a focus on musicality for 3-5 year-olds, is also held Saturday.
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Founded in 1999, Lydia Johnson Dance has been consistently praised for its distinctive choreography, which uses components of ballet woven seamlessly into a contemporary dance vocabulary. The company has received an extraordinarily positive level of critical acclaim from The New York Times, The New Yorker and Backstage Magazine for its annual New York season. The company has performed at Alvin Ailey and the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, among other venues.
“For musicality and fine structuring, few people currently choreographing in the New York dance scene can compare with Lydia Johnson. There is thought, passion and tenderness in her work, and a depth of musical resonance that is very satisfying to behold.” -- Philip Gardner, Oberon’s Grove
“’Night of the Flying Horses’ is filled with sublime imagery, moments of the dance I can still see in my mind’s eye. It’s a beautiful and emotional work, a dance that stays with you long after you have seen it…. Ms. Johnson reached in and pulled ‘Night of the Flying Horse’s from her heart.” -- Darrell Wood, NYDanceStuff
During the semester dancers from the Company will perform as guest artists, demonstrating partnering, phrasing and performing excerpts from LJD’s repertory.
Registration and information on the School and the Company is available at www.lydiajohnsondance.org
Lydia Johnson Dance and Lydia Johnson Dance School have Facebook pages as well.
Lydia Johnson Dance is a N.J. not-for-profit 501c3.
Sliding scale and scholarships are available. Please email to request an application.
For information, email info@lydiajohnsondance.org
