Contemporary Dance Classes for Children and Teenagers

This contemporary dance course for children and teenagers combines elements of modern and post-modern dance styles. Classes are continuously adapted according to the needs of the group and its individuals to ensure a steady and often ambitious learning process.

– Why should I enroll my child in this course?

There is no better way to develop discipline, body awareness and harmony within oneself and with others than dance. In the group setting, children and teenagers learn to share a common learning space and to respect each other.

– OK, and what is the difference between ballet and contemporary dance?

The main difference lies within the execution. Ballet presents learners with exact guidelines that have to be followed to achieve the set goals. Emphasis is put on “how” the steps have to be performed.

Contemporary dance allows more freedom in the execution of the “dance steps” and in the way they can be adapted to the performer’s body. The focus is placed more on the interpretation of the movements themselves.

– For the little ones… (up to 10 years of age)

For children up to ten years, our contemporary dance course helps them control their body in varying situations: running, crawling, jumping, turning, fast and slowly, by themselves or together with others. The course content can be adapted according to the current learning phase of the group to allow for more or less freedom during the exercises. These practice sessions are structured in a way so that the children are prompted to repeat the exercises using rhymes, improvisation and interaction with other children. Repetition is crucial for both the learning process and on a pedagogical level: how satisfying is it to learn something and be able to repeat it?

– for those interested (11 years and up)

Each session starts with the participants lying on the floor, eyes closed, to relax and prepare themselves for the upcoming class. A brief improvisation follows this to activate each body part one by one in a personalized way. In this manner, all senses are stimulated so that the attention is directed to the awareness of the body and its environment.

The first exercises on the floor with a post-modern characteristic are all about coordination, orientation, and musicality. The following upright and diagonal movement exercises combine elements of various dance techniques, such as the Joos-Leeder or the Iwanson-Technique. These latter ones help improve the student’s technique, for example by experimenting with the alignment of the center of the body with the head.

Finally, the elements of technique and floor work developed during class are combined in a choreography.

dance instructor Lorenza Berto – biography

Born in Italy, Lorenza, also known as BEEONPOINTE, started dancing ballet at the age of 6 after medical suggestion, in order to adjust her natural over rotation of the feet with the work “on pointe”. What seemed to be a temporary therapy became her forever passion.
After years of academical studies in ballet and contemporary dance at the Scuola di Balletto diretta da Mariolina Giaretta, she graduated in 2011 and received the advanced grade certification from A.I.D.A. (Associazione Insegnanti Danza Accademica Diplomati presso il Teatro alla Scala). Her studies have been enriched with Workshops from Mo. Frederic Olivieri and Franca Roberto (Teatro alla Scala), Pilar Nevado and Christina Maria Meyer (Opernhaus Zurich), and open classes taken in the famous theatres of Teatro alla Scala, Arena di Verona, Teatro Massimo di Palermo, close to some etolies and soloist such as Eleonora Abbagnato (etoile Opera de Paris), Federico Matetic (Bejart, Lausanne), Gilda Gelati (Teatro alla Scala), Mike Zeni (Teatro alla Scala), Beatrice Carbone (Teatro all Scala)… She danced ballet and contemporary also as soloist for Veneto Balletto and Laura Pulin in the prestigious theatres of Italy. As ballet and contemporary dancer she performed in Manhattan NYC with Ajkun Ballet Theatre and Ellen Sinopoli. In her career she performed pieces from choreographers such as Marius Petipa, George Balanchine, Maurice Bejart and Jiri Kyllian.

In 2013 she started the program National Training Curriculum at the American Ballet Theatre (NYC) for the ballet levels Pre-Primary to Level 3 (Cecchetti technique). At the age of 24 she started to study urban dance at Debbie Reynolds Dance Studio in LA and American School of Dance in Zurich, CH. Her studies have been enriched with Workshops from Amari, Sorah Yang, Rob Rich, Phil Wright, Lorenzo Zaggazo, … In Switzerland she performed and choreographed for Andrea Bocelli, SRF, and Energy Star Night as ballet, contemporary and urban professional dancer.
Since 8 years she is teaching ballet, contemporary and hiphop dance in Switzerland. She privately trained students who have been selected in professional schools such as Tanz Akademie Zurich, International Dance Academy Copenhagen and Los Angeles,
TanzWerk 101 Zurich.

“Through dance, I want to share the values of self respect, respect for others, patience and perseverance for goals achievement.”
She is married and mother of three.