25+ Beginner Classes to Break Into Dance

Peridance is home to all genres of dance and all levels of dancers. Our most popular level is for Adult Beginners, check out the Open Classes for newbies below!

BEGINNER-LEVEL

Mondays

Beginner Jazz with Shelly Hutchinson 9-10:30am

Beginner Tap with Vanessa Martínez de Baños 11am-12pm

Beginner Joneeba African with Djoniba 7:30-9pm

Beginner Ballet with Jose Traba 8-9:30pm

Beginner Tap with Tony Mayes 7:15-8:15pm

Tuesdays

Beginner Ballet with Kathryn Sullivan 8:45-10am

Beginner Hip Hop with Nobuya Nagahama 9-10:30pm

Beginner Tap with Karin Rendelman 11:30am-12:30pm

Beginner Salsa with BAILA Society 7-8:30pm

Wednesdays

Beginner Jazz with Shelly Hutchinson 9-10:30am

Beginner Tap with Aaron Tolson 1-2:30pm

Beginner Joneeba African with Djoniba 7:30-9pm

Beginner Ballet with Jose Traba 8-9:30pm

Thursdays

Beginner Ballet with Kathryn Sullivan 8:45-10am

Beginner Modern with Saba 4:30-6pm

Beginner Tap with Tony Mayes 7:30-8:30pm

Beginner Hip Hop with Nobuya Nagahama 9-10:30pm

Fridays

Beginner Tap with Vanessa Martínez de Baños 11am-12pm

Beginner Popping with Tweetboogie 1-2:30pm

Beginner Joneeba African with Djoniba 7:30-9pm

Saturday

Beginner Ballet with Jose Traba 6-7:30pm

Beginner Joneeba African with Djoniba 2-3:30pm

Beginner Tap with Karin Rendelman 3-4pm

Sunday

Beginner Limón Technique with Becky Brown 11:30am-1pm

Beginner Ballet with Peter Schabel 1-2:30pm

Beginner Modern with Saba 1-2:30pm

We also offer various workshops for Adult Beginners, find out more and see the complete class schedule on our website!

Hey Faculty! What's Up? With Aaron Tolson

Aaron Tolson is back from Moscow, Russia. He's brought his shuffles with him. So come take a class.

THE CLASS A LA AARON

Peridance in the News!

With so much happening here at Peridance, it's hard to keep track of events that have already happened. Publications like Dance Informa, Dance Magazine, and Oberon's Grove don't forget, though. We are so grateful and excited to share with you PERIDANCE IN THE NEWS!

Dance Magazine: 

The Hardest Way to Perform: APAP

Read about Whim W'him, and their January 2013 performance in our Salvatore Capezio Theater. 

 Dance Informa: 

Encouragement to Fly: Meet Breton Tyner-Bryan

Want to know about this former Lines Ballet teacher? Newly transplanted into New York, this San Francisco teacher is already staking her claim in dance studios around town. 

Dance Teacher:

A Hoofer Prepares for Miss America Pageant

Tap teacher Aaron Tolson rehearses and teaches dancers from all walks of life, on all paths! See Tolson and his company perform in our upcoming Faculty Showcase!

 Oberon's Grove:

Azul Dance Theater @ Peridance

Yuki Hasegawa and her company Azul Dance Theater performed at the Salvatore Capezio Theater last weekend. The successful performance has us ready and excited for future collaborations with our faculty member.

Interview with Graciela Kozak

Interview with Graciela Kozak


Graciela Kozak was born in Argentina, and trained at the Teatro Colón of Buenos Aires. She danced with the Bat-Dor and Bat- Sheva companies in Israel, and the Peridance Ensemble in NY. She has performed works by Alvin Ailey, Paul Taylor, Jiri Kylian, Mark Morris, Igal Perry, Lar Lubovich, Donald McKayle and many other choreographers. Graciela joined the Peridance Faculty in 1985, and the faculty of the Ailey School in 2002. She has taught classes for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II, Ballet Tech, Complexions, Donald Byrd, Pascal Rioult, the School of Ballet Hispanico and Ballett Akademien in Sweden. 

When did you start teaching? 

I began at the age of 15 in Argentina. I later moved to Israel, where I performed and taught for twelve years. I always knew that's what I wanted to do. I find   the process of learning and teaching fascinating. It is wonderful to see how dance has evolved in the 21st century, physically and artistically. Dancers have physically raised the bar to new standards, and there are new forms of dance emerging.

How long have you been at Peridance?

Almost 25 years. I have taught ballet classes, pointe workshops, and choreography workshops. I have also been teaching ballet classes at Alvin Ailey for the past seven years.

Can you expand on your dance background a little more? 

I have worked with some of the best choreographers of the 20th century, including our very own Igal Perry. Back in Israel I danced in Igal's first ballet, "Episode", which I thought was a masterpiece. I also worked with Alvin Ailey, Jiri Kylian, and Mark Morris, to name a few.

What types of students come to Peridance? 

The student body consists of dancers of all backgrounds. Dancers are both professionals, and aspiring professionals. Others, such as actors, journalists, lawyers and singers to name a few take dance class to complement their professional careers.

Anything else you would like people to know about Peridance? 

I have taught for the The School at Peridance and choreographed for the Peridance Youth Ensemble. I am proud that Peridance has grown to the proportions it is today and proud of the great teachers we have here. Some of our "babies" are now getting accepted to college dance programs and companies, a fact that serves as its own testament to the quality of our program.

Teacher Feature

An Interview with Peridance's Tap Teacher, Tony Mayes

“ If you own a pair of tap shoes, you’re in…”

-Gregory Hines

Tony Mayes teaches tap dance at Peridance . Originally trained as an actor, he began to study tap after moving to New York City and quickly became immersed in the field. He is a man of many talents and has since worked as a technician, an actor, stage manager, writer, teacher, director, tap dancer, and a producer. I wanted to know more about our accomplished tap teacher's inspirations and how he made the switch to tap. Here are his responses. -Kaarin Holmquist

Originally you were studying as an actor; how did you become interested in tap?

I was at Steps on Broadway and I saw Lynn Schwab teaching tap class. While I’d seen tap before, danced a little in shows, I’d never seen rhythm tap like this and I was instantly drawn to it. Before that my focus had always been on acting. I was working as an actor and doing pretty well, but once I started taking tap, I knew that was what I wanted to spend my time on. It sort of took over – ask anyone. Watching a young company perform at Variety Arts downtown (now long gone) was also a big influence, because for the first time I saw people my age doing rhythm tap, which made it more accessible. During that show I leaned over to my date and told her ‘that’s what I’m going to do’. Later that year I started working for the American Tap Dance Foundation and never looked back.

What do you look for in a dancer?

Well, I look at a lot of shows from two sides – performance and production. Of course a dancer has to be able to do the choreography and the style that piece requires; however, I tend to look for a good presence. Technique and quality footwork are of the utmost importance, but without personality you will run the risk of losing the audience’s interest, and then what is the point of performing?

Where does your inspiration come from now?

I draw a lot of inspiration from everything really. Performances such as Tony Waag’s Tap City, the New York City Tap Festival, Tap City on Tour, Sound Check, a Tap Dance Concert Series and Jason Samuels Smith’s A.C.G.I. (among many, many more) have just blown me away! I’ve had the rare opportunity to watch and work with performers from all over the world. I love video clips and archived material – I spend a lot of that time letting those things soak in. I hear rhythm and songs all the time from all over the city. Playgrounds, parks, buses, stairways; I love to listen to rhythms and translate them into tap. One of my favorite moments was walking up 9^th Ave in Midtown and hearing what I thought had to be tap dancing coming from a store front – it sounded just like someone swinging! When I looked in, it was a huge mixing bowl, mixing dough for the bakery next door – “ba-doom, ba-doom, ba daddaa, daddaa” – as the dough was moving up and down the mixing forks it changed tone, rhythm and was just out of control. I recorded a clip and my friends still don’t believe that it was a huge industrial mixer….

What is unique about working at Peridance?

Tap is relatively new at Peridance and it is a great place to be building a program from the ground up because there is so much support from Peri. I know and have worked with most all the tap teachers that work there. It’s a great community and the tap dancers are very supportive. The tap program at Peridance is growing and is definitely going to keep growing because we, as teachers, have the ability to create a program for what our students need and want.

What would you say your teaching style is?

That’s a difficult one to answer. What I think makes me ‘me as a teacher’ is that I started dancing tap later in life, after college. Many dancers have danced most of their lives so they do not necessarily remember learning that first step, or better yet, they don’t remember what it ‘felt like’ to learn that first step. I do remember what it is like to go through that process. I teach a lot of mature students and I understand what they are struggling with intellectually, emotionally and physically. For anyone to put himself in a position where they are starting something from the beginning can be daunting. I think it is very important to adapt to the students; I do not have one style of teaching for everyone – whatever works.

To be a tap dancer you have to be a musician as well. Tap is different from other forms of dance in that way. Sometimes you are just the dancer. YET, sometimes you are making your own tunes at the same time. When you wear a pair of tap shoes, EVERY SOUND COUNTS.

I learn as much from my students as I hope they learn from me. In the classroom I tell my students, “if you can walk you can tap dance” (Charles “Honi” Coles said that). I believe it too. I say it often and it puts my students at ease when they hear it. It might take a long time if you are working full time and can only take a class or two a week, but anyone can do it. I have seen people go from never dancing before to having a comprehensive understanding of tap. Watching that transition is great.

What are you working on now?

This fall I will be teaching full time at Peridance and PeriChild. I just had a performance on September 11th with group called “The Secret City” (www.thesecretcity.org) and “The Manhattan Wonderwalk” (www.themanhattanwonderwalk.com) I’m also working with Jason Samuels-Smith at Fall for Dance at City Center on October 6^th and 7^th. Ben Nathan (another adult tap teacher at Peri) and I are collaborating on some new work. I have a couple of films that I’m working on this year, but those are pretty long- term projects.

Watch the video of Tony's class!

Tony teaches at Peridance: Monday 6:00-7:00pm (Intro), 7:00-8:15 (Beginner), and 8:15-9:30 (Advanced Beginner) and Tuesday 7:00-8:15pm (Slow Intermediate)

Peridance Faculty Member in Performance

Peridance Tap teacher, TONY MAYES presents: Sound Check!

"Sound Check", a Tap Dance Journey will be held at Dance Theater Workshop in New York, April 14-18, 2010.

For tickets to Tony's show, go to dtw.org

PeriChild Program 2009 Registration

If you haven't done so already, it's not too late to register your child for for the Fall session of the PeriChild Program 2009.

We have so many different styles of classes for dancers from toddlers to teens!

Register on the Peridance website or by calling 212-505-0886.

PeriChild Annual Performance

What's the latest with the PeriChild Program?!

This years annual performance was a huge success! Each spring semester culminates with an Annual PeriChild Performance featuring PeriChild students involved in Pre-Ballet and up, ages 4 to their late teens. This is an excellent way for the dancers and classes to showcase what they've learned throughout the year. This year's Annual PeriChild Concert was on June 6th & 7th and held at the Marien Anderson Theater at Aaron Davis Hall, attended by over 700 parents and family members. The concert included Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Tap and Hip-Hop and was rich with creativity, energy, a variety of styles and techniques and a whole lot of excitement!

Below is a slide show of pictures from this year's concert - all photos were taken by professional photographer Melissa Birnbaum / Meems Images.



The PeriChild Summer program is currently in progress. The upcoming Fall Session is beginning September 14, 2009. See the website for more details!

Give your child the best gift, the gift of dance!