For seventeen years Dance Teq has offered open dance classes to adults in Toronto. Until last summer, classes were hosted in the National Ballet of Canada’s beautiful Walter Carsen Centre. This summer, Dance Teq moved to a new home at 226 Queen Street West. The new Dance Teq Centre includes three studios — two are equipped with sprung floors — as well as two wellness rooms, where physical therapists will offer their services. The new space officially launches mid-September but Dance Teq is offering pop-up dance classes on the premises in the meantime.
Also in the heart of the Queen West district, another new dance space has opened for drop-in classes — The Underground Dance Studio located at 220 Richmond Street. The Underground offers drop-in classes in jazz, jazz fusion, jazz funk, hip hop and contemporary, and has two studios available for rent. Teachers range from local talent — Hollywood Jade, Shawn Bracke, Vanessa Li — to visiting guest artists such as So You Think You Can Dance Canada’s Kevin Howe and L.A.’s Tatiana Parker. Facebook is the best way to learn about who is teaching which classes and when they are happening.
On the east side of town, The Cornerstone Studio just opened their brand new space at 1519 Gerrard Street, at the corner of Coxwell Avenue. “[My] original intention was to create a permanent home for Alias Dance Project (ADP) where we could train together, rehearse together and do small studio showings. This space is my attempt at making ADP self-sustainable, creating an artistic hub in the vibrant east side of Toronto and working with our geographical community to build an informed and sustainable dance audience,” says Lauren Cook, co-founder of The Cornerstone Studio and ADP, an urban/contemporary dance company. This new east-end studio offers classes in dance — acrobatics, Afro-Caribbean, ballet, Bollywood, breaking, contemporary, house, jazz, popping, boogaloo and street dance — fitness and theatre. Classes cater to kids ages six and up, as well as adult classes from beginner to professional skill levels. Founded with partner Dan Cook, The Cornerstone Studio aims to provide affordable rental space and hopes to eventually accommodate a small studio theatre.
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Tagged: Ballet, Contemporary, Hip Hop, Jazz, Private Studios, The Underground Dance Centre, Uncategorized, ON , Toronto
