Classes at DMA

DMA is proud to be Acrobatic Arts Certified, implementing one of the industry's most respected acrobatic training programs. Acro blends dance with athletic movement, teaching students flexibility, strength, balance, limbering, inversions, tumbling, and partner skills through carefully structured progressions. This internationally recognized curriculum has been developed with input from more than 100 experts in dance, gymnastics, sports medicine, and child development. Unlike Leaps, Turns & Tricks, which focuses on dance-specific technical skills, Acro follows a comprehensive acrobatic progression that builds the strength, control, and technique needed to safely perform advanced tumbling and acrobatic elements within dance.

Actors Atelier introduces aspiring performers to the fundamentals of acting for both stage and screen. Students develop acting technique, character development, improvisation, script analysis, audition preparation, and on-camera confidence in a supportive environment. The program also teaches professional self-taping techniques, audition etiquette, and industry fundamentals for students interested in pursuing representation and professional performance opportunities.

Combine the artistry of dance with the strength and athleticism of aerial silks training. Students develop upper-body strength, flexibility, coordination, and confidence while learning climbs, wraps, drops, transitions, and choreography on the silks. As dancers progress, they blend technical skills with artistry, expression, and storytelling to create captivating aerial performances.

Ballet is the foundation of all dance training, developing strength, flexibility, posture, coordination, musicality, discipline, and artistry. DMA's progressive ballet curriculum builds proper technique at every level while nurturing a lifelong appreciation for classical dance.

Through our exclusive partnership with Chicago Repertory Ballet, students benefit from enhanced training opportunities, mentorship from professional artists, and a seamless pathway toward advanced performance and pre-professional experiences.

Designed for the dedicated classical ballet dancer, Ballet Variations focuses on learning iconic solo choreography from the classical ballet repertoire. Dancers refine their artistry, musicality, and technical precision while mastering the unique stylistic and technical demands of these historic works, developing the confidence and performance quality of advanced classical artists.

Designed specifically for preschool-aged dancers, Etude Conservatory introduces children to movement in an environment tailored to their developmental stage. Our research-based curriculum uses dance vocabulary to build gross motor skills, coordination, musicality, creativity, and emotional confidence while establishing the foundations of proper dance technique. Every class encourages imagination, exploration, and joyful learning through movement.

DMA's Hip Hop program, in collaboration with Infinity Collective, provides a progressive training experience from elementary through advanced levels. Students develop rhythm, musicality, coordination, freestyle skills, and performance quality while learning a variety of hip hop styles, including commercial hip hop, popping, locking, and breaking. As dancers advance, they are challenged with increasingly complex choreography and have opportunities to perform, compete, and pursue advanced training.

Jazz combines technical precision with energy, versatility, and performance. DMA's progressive jazz curriculum emphasizes proper alignment, core strength, flexibility, turns, jumps, and dynamic movement while exposing students to a variety of jazz styles, including Broadway Jazz, Classical Jazz, Jazz Funk, and Contemporary Jazz. As dancers advance, both technical expectations and artistic expression continue to grow.

Leaps, Turns & Tricks is a dance technique class designed to strengthen the skills most commonly used across jazz, lyrical, contemporary, poms, and musical theatre. Dancers focus on improving jumps, leaps, turns, flexibility, balance, body alignment, and dance-specific tricks while developing the strength, control, and explosive power needed to execute them safely. This class is ideal for dancers looking to improve technical elements that directly enhance choreography, auditions, competitions, and performances.

Lyrical serves as the bridge between ballet technique and expressive storytelling through movement. Students develop fluidity, musical interpretation, flexibility, balance, and emotional performance while building upon their ballet foundation. As dancers mature, choreography becomes increasingly technical, expressive, and artistically sophisticated.

Item descLyra introduces students to the exciting world of aerial hoop performance. Dancers build strength, flexibility, coordination, and body awareness while learning poses, transitions, spins, and choreography on the aerial apparatus. Through progressive instruction, students develop confidence, artistry, and creativity while safely advancing their aerial skills.ription

Developed in partnership with Trifecta Dance Collective, DMA's Modern & Contemporary program offers a one-of-a-kind curriculum designed specifically for DMA dancers. Students build strength, floor work, movement quality, improvisation, and artistic expression while exploring contemporary movement principles rooted in modern dance technique.

The program extends beyond choreography by incorporating conditioning, injury prevention, dance history, nutrition, and creative artistry—preparing students for concert dance, collegiate study, and professional opportunities.

Designed for dancers interested in school poms teams, this curriculum develops the technical skills required for successful high school auditions and competitive poms performance. Students train in precision, synchronization, flexibility, kick technique, turns, jumps, sharp arm placement, performance quality, and conditioning.

Through DMA's partnership with the Glenbrook South Titans & Resurrection College Prep High School Bandettes, dancers benefit from a progressive training pipeline that prepares them for the expectations of high school poms programs and beyond.

Pre-Pointe prepares ballet dancers for one of the most exciting milestones in their training. Students develop the strength, alignment, balance, and technical foundation necessary to safely begin dancing en pointe through focused exercises that strengthen the feet, ankles, legs, and core.

Pointe is an advanced classical ballet technique in which dancers perform on the tips of specially engineered pointe shoes. Because of the physical demands, dancers must demonstrate the required strength, alignment, maturity, and technical proficiency before advancing. Admission into Pointe is by instructor evaluation to ensure every dancer is prepared to train safely and successfully.

Tap dance develops rhythm, timing, musicality, coordination, and precision through percussive footwork. Students build a strong technical foundation before progressing into more advanced rhythms, combinations, improvisation, and performance techniques. Tap strengthens musical awareness while enhancing coordination and versatility across all styles of dance.