Welcome and thank you for your interest in Forest Hill Dance! We serve the needs of over 200 dancers with seven instructors/ choreographers and over seventy (70) classes. We continue to grow and add to our schedule allowing us to teach to all levels of dancers. Forest Hill Dance is run by a Committee of Volunteers. All classes are held at the Forest Hill/Hickory Activities Center located at 2213 Commerce Road in Forest Hill. We have two studios each equipped with sprung dance floors and mirrors with wall mounted Barres.
Classes begin in September and culminates in the spring with a large end of the year production with participation from dancers from Beginning Ballet and up. This is different from some dance programs that run for a session of several weeks and just end with a final class. This requires a significant time commitment towards the end of our season and requires some additional costs to parent (i.e. costumes recital tickets, photos). Our Creative Movement and Pre-Ballet classes end with an in-studio performance for their families.
Great effort is taken by our staff to ensure that dancers are grouped together in classes where all can learn the same techniques and choreography. New dancers are placed based on their age and previous dance experience. After classes begin and our instructors begin working with a new dancer, they may find the need to adjust their class placement.
Dancers are taught the basics of dance which starts with a requirement of all to take a Ballet class. We also offer a variety of levels of Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Modern, Lyrical, Pointe and Hip Hop. The majority of our classes meet between 30 and 45 minutes each week with some meeting one hour or more.
The numbering/naming system we use is simply a way for us to differentiate and organize our classes. The name/number of your dancer’s classes may not have changed from last year. The instructors teach to the capabilities of the dancers in each class-not the number. Trust that our instructors are best suited to determine their class placement. All dancers will be more comfortable and learn more when properly placed according to their ability.
Our younger dancers progress in order from Creative Movement to Pre-Ballet - to Beginner Ballet - to level 1 Ballet/Tap and then to level 2 Ballet/Tap/Jazz.