Each year, a healthy lifestyle gains more and more adherents. Not long ago, a real fitness boom hit Kyiv sports complexes offering all kinds of services, from aerobics classes to swimming pools, cropped up like greens in a spring garden.
This year, yoga and vegetarianism are at the peak of popularity. It seems that everybody has gone crazy with Eastern philosophies of living and pilgrimage to Goa or Nepal one after the other. At the same time, the dancing pandemic which flashed on in 2006 after the TV show “Tantsi z Zirkamy” (“Dancing with the Stars”) has not ceased. I would even say that the growing popularity of the Kyiv Modern Ballet, with their alternative choreography, has added fuel to the fire. Since the ballet enrolls capable dancers, regardless of whether they have a diploma or not, people believe that effort is a magic wand, bringing to life their childhood dreams of performing on stage. “Choreomaniacs,” who had at one time been only spectators, rushed to various dancing studios. The latter met the demand and supplied us with dancing classes for each taste.
Grand Pas
The studio offers only ballet choreography and modern dance based on classics, so if “modern” corresponds, in your mind, to hiphop or R’n’B – this club is not for you. When I was on a classic choreography kick, I used to take classes at Grand Pas. The firstclass teachers from dance colleges had a serious approach toward their lessons, discipline and hard work. As a stimulus for regularly sweating in the studio, Grand Pas puts on programs where balletomanes in tutus and tights can finally show off their achievements in front an audience. Monthly subscription – Hr 200, one lesson – Hr 30.
Kyianochka
Kyianochka steps up both as a dance studio and a choreography college, where students receive diplomas when they graduate. As a rule, the college is one of the first steps in the career of a Kyiv dancer. Kyianochka, unlike the studio Grand Pas, is a complex where, primarily, kids study. They start study at the kindergarten level, proceed to a gymnasium and then to college. Graduates of other institutions may enter the college after finishing 9th or 11th grade. For those who require them, there are preparatory courses open to the public, without age restrictions. They include ballet choreography, ballroom dancing, modern, folk, sports (rock’n’roll, hiphop), Latin and belly dancing. Ballet classes for grownups are difficult there, I must admit. For kids, there are also voice lessons, after which they can join the local vocalchoreographic group “Kyianochka.” One lesson for grownups – Hr 60.
A6 Studio
The studio’s teachers dancers from the ballet troupe A6, which performs in the Kyiv Operetta Theater once in a while and takes part in various cultural events. The main dance trends are the same as everywhere else – Latino, belly dance, R’n’B, soul, pop and hiphop. An advantage of the studio is that even if you have never danced in your life, you can start training at a beginner’s level and gradually move as high as a professional group, if you put in lots of effort, of course. Dancing in a professional group means that you not only take part in exam concerts held twice a year, but also work with the showballet at presentations, concerts, festivals, closed parties, and so on. In case you don’t have the time to attend group classes according to schedule, you can train individually, which will cost considerably higher. But, of course, dancing in a group allows for creativity and communication on stage. Another plus is that the studio has a professional school for kids. The age groups are divided for those under 9, those between 10 and 13, and those between 14 and 16. Their program includes classic dance, a prerequisite for every dancer, modern dance and acrobatics.
Salsa Club and Cubano Boom
The Salsa Club doesn’t limit itself to salsa, as the name suggests. On the contrary – it covers the whole spectre of Latin dances including chachacha, merengue, Rueda de Casino, bachata and bolero. The founders of Salsa Club are its teachers, Yulia Hannochko and Reinaldo Enrique Leyva Powell, the most active promoter of Cuban traditions in Kyiv. The school of Cuban Latin dances opened in 1997, and I can only assume that Latino style is still immensely popular because the school is flourishing. With the help of the Cuban Embassy, Salsa Club conducts seminars and festivals dedicated to Latin dances and Cuban culture. Latino classes in eateries and disco clubs such as Tequila House, El Asador, River Palace, Fiesta and Mambo have all been organized by the Salsa Club. The classes are usually held in the evenings and on weekends in El Asador, but for an additional fee, you might be able to arrange an individual schedule.
In the Cubano Boom studio, the emphasis is on salsa, a hot Puerto Rican dance where the partners occupy a fixed area of the dance floor, rotating around one another and exchanging places. Mark that traveling outside your area while salsa dancing is considered bad tone. The leader of the studio is a Cuban named Ernesto, who supervises all the classes himself. The groups are divided into four levels and you can attend classes practically each day the schedule is very flexible. In addition to theory, there is lots of space to practice, which is why Cubano Boom constantly organizes salsa parties. Salsa club: subscrition for eight lessons – Hr 200, Cubano Boom: subscription for eight lessons – Hr 160, one lesson – Hr 40.
Contact Improvisation
Apparently, the guru of contact improvisation, Ruslan Baranov, lives in Kiyv. He not only dances and teaches professional dancers at the Kyiv Modern Ballet, but holds contact improvisation classes at Chapkis Dance School as well. The style has been popular in the West for the last 30 years and has gradually widens its borders to include Ukraine. Baranov labels contact improvisation the most ideal style of dancing, because it trains body and soul in cluster. The technique employs a couple’s innate physical dynamics and weight to support each other. A move such as rolling on each other may seem crazy on first encounter. Duos and group dances perform sheer improvisation. Sometimes they come close to meditation, where with a bright and clear mind, dancers communicate and play with their partners. The studio regularly invites teachers from abroad to conduct masterclasses and seminars, and organizes dance events and jams (meetings where people join a dance according to their improvisational impulse). One lesson – Hr 30.
Beresil Dance and Reabilitation Center
Beresil accents mainly on ballroom dancing and has an enriched program for kids and teenagers, They claim that your kid can start dancing here from the cradle. There are separate classes for kids from 1.5 years old to 3, 3 to 5, 5 to 6, 6 to 8, 8 to 13, and 13 to 18. The schedule includes classic choreography, ballroom, sports and modern dancing. Teenagers can study hiphop as well. You should mark that Beresil aims to train children for competition ballroom dancing. For grownups, who are not supposed to take part in such competitions, there are beginner and advanced ballroom classes. For those over 18, there is belly dancing or pole dancing. In addition, the rehabilitation center has a special course for the physically disabled – the socalled wheelchair dance. Your kids can also try aikido (from 7 years old), have massages, take ballet fitness, or work with a psychologist and speech therapist.
Grand Pas (7 Henerala Zhmachenko, ice stadium “Kryzhynka,” 247-1520);
Kyianochka (57 Volodymyrska, The House of Teacher, room16);
A6 Studio (27 Shevchenka, 360-2868, 6A Plekhanova, 229-44-42, www.a6.com.ua);
Cubano Boom (8 Kopernika, school 101, 8-067-798-3692 (Ernesto), www.cubanoboom.com.ua);
Salsa Club (29 Nyzhniy Val, 8-097-862-2139 (Powell), www.salsa.com.ua);
Contact Improvisation (11 Pryrechna, 8-067-398-4419 (Ruslan));
Beresil (7 Serafimovicha, 294-1061).
Dance wear Shops
Grand Prix (11 Pushkinska, 278-6422);
Butterfly (38 Yaroslaviv Val, room 9, 246-4756);
Dancer (50 Volodymyrska, National Opera of Ukraine, porch 1, 537-1279);
Hrishko (22B Saksahanskoho, 248-7157);
Imperia Tantsa (77 Saksahanskoho, 599-4123).
