The Difference Between ISTD Ballet And Modern
There are plenty of amazing ballet classes in Vancouver and many forms of dance that are practiced today. Over the course of time, the art of dancing has continually evolved. Today, the most popular schools of dance are ballet, hip hop, jazz, and tap. Within these four schools, there is a stringent division between traditional and modern technique. Ballet is one of the oldest and most practiced schools of dance and falls under the traditional category. Modern dance and traditional both use form and emotion to convey the purpose of the dance, but there is a huge difference between them.
In 1904, the ISTD or Imperial Society Of Teachers Dancing was founded as a way to maintain, share, and ultimately spread the joy of dancing through a grading system that includes dancing examinations. Within this system, students of dance are able to rise through the grades after passing examinations to make sure each building block is present in the dancer’s technique. Each grade reflects the dancer’s skill and ability to perform. This way, dance studios everywhere can continually improve their curriculum and spread the joy of dancing to prospective students.
The ISTD ballet preserves a traditional approach to dance and the manner in which it is instructed. As a comparison, the school of modern dance employs a less traditional approach. Modern dance encompasses more of a freestyle approach including high kicks, traveling steps, leaps, and is more individually expressive. Famous 20th Century dancers such as Martha Graham, Katherine Dunham, Merce Cunningham, and Isadora Duncan are just some of the modern dancers who shaped their own techniques. ISTD for modern dance is graded by a similar system and students advanced grades in the same manner.
Landing Dance Centre is Vancouver's number one dance studio that fosters passion and talent. All of our instructors are ISTD certified and are guaranteed to improve your dancing at any skill level. We believe that training the whole person starts with acknowledging where each individual is in their development, and through this identification, discovering a path forward to uncover their full potential. It is our mission to support our students through and recognize their potential as an artist and a dancer. We are eager to work with you! Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us and learn more about our offered classes.
