(photo courtesy of the Colburn School)

The Colburn School’s Trudl Zipper Dance Institute has expanded its offerings during the COVID-19 emergency to include classes for non-students.

Dancers are invited to advance their training in ballet, modern and tap at home, accompanied by live music, and get real-time feedback from instructors. All classes will be offered until June 7, the end of Colburn School’s spring semester. The cost for non-Colburn School students to participate is $10 per class.

“In this time of social distancing, the power of dance is more important than ever,” said Jenifer Ringer, dean of the Trudl Zipper Dance Institute. “With so many dance studios closing down and unable to offer online classes, it just made sense to increase access to high-quality, interactive instruction for everyone.”

The Colburn School transitioned all academic units to online learning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Trudl Zipper Dance Institute continues to teach 95 online dance classes weekly to students of all ages, taught by 30 different faculty members with 10 accompanists.

Recognizing that most dance students don’t have home studios, classes have been customized to work on important fundamentals and body placement in a way that is safe and sensitive to individual dancing environments.

“Group classes are not only important for dancers to maintain their technique and fitness but are an essential regular social connection to a community of fellow dancers and should be fun, bringing joy in a time when that is very much needed,” Ringer said.

For information, visit colburnschool.edu/virtualstudio.