“And Lydia Johnson Dance, a company based in South Orange, N.J., performed a show of Johnson’s works that demonstrated perhaps the most organic choreographic fusion of ballet and modern-dance techniques ever invented.” Lisa Jo, Sagolla Backstage Magazine, 2009
New Jersey's Top Dance Program
The Lydia Johnson Dance School is honored to have been selected as the best dance program and one of only 4 arts programs praised in the October issue of the Millburn/Short Hills Magazine.
School & Company Photos
See photos of our students at work on Shutterfly!
Lydia Johnson Dance (LJD) teaches a unique blend of Dance Technique and Choreography. No prior dance training is necessary. Unlike most other dance programs LJD believes that technique is best learned as children use their creative energy to compose their own dance works. In discovering the power of different movements and vocabularies, students become motivated to increase their technical range. The works presented at the end of each class series are totally choreographed by students using the compositional techniques that have been worked on throughout the semester.
Registration Open for Winter/Spring Classes
Classes begin January 23, 2012. Read more, or enroll online.
Winter/Spring 2012 Dates
Mondays/Ballet
4:00 - 4:45 PM: Intro to Ballet and Choreography (Grades Pre-K/K)
This class focuses on the basic structures of early ballet technique while allowing children to experience a joyous exploration of movement! The choreography portion of the class encourages a growing awareness of the use of dance technique as a creative tool. The class does not culminate in the usual recital, but rather the children will show short pieces of choreography at the end of the semester. Sorry, the class is full; there are no openings.
Instructors: Tammi Shamblin with Lydia Johnson
4:45 - 5:45 PM: Ballet and Choreography I (Grades 1-2)
This unique class is broken into two segments with LJD Company member Tammi Shamblin teaching a Royal Academy based ballet class followed by Lydia Johnson teaching beginning Choreography. At this age children are able to compose using choreographic tools such as: levels, theme and variation, canons, movement dynamics and spatial design. LJD classes allow children to explore the process of choreography as a learnable skill. The class culminates in a student showing of works in progress.
Instructors: Tammi Shamblin with Lydia Johnson
5:45 - 6:45 PM: Ballet and Choreography II (Grades 3-5 including beginners)
6:45 - 7:45 PM: Ballet and Choreography II (Grades 6-12 including beginners)
This unique class is broken into two segments with LJD Company member Tammi Shamblin teaching a Royal Academy based ballet class followed by Lydia Johnson teaching beginning choreography. Level II classes incorporate additional skills as students grow in their abilities to compose dances. Theme and variation, canons, movement dynamics, spatial design, partnering and group partnering are explored in depth. At this level, children are now using music as a part of their creative process as they experience the use of music as a springboard for choreography. The class culminates in a student showing of works in progress.
Instructors: Tammi Shamblin with Lydia Johnson
January: 23, 30
February: 6, 13, (no 20), 27
March: 5, 12, 19, 26
April: (no 2), 9, 15, 23, 30
May: 7 — last class day and evening showing at 7pm
May 14 — make up day if snow day
Thursdays/ Contemporary
4:00 – 5:00 PM: Contemporary and Choreography I (Grades 1-3)
This class focuses on a ballet-based contemporary technique. Using a floor-based warmup and progressing into a center and across the floor section using combinations from a variety of contemporary techniques, the class allows kids to experience the thrill of drop and release, full out modern movement! At this age children are able to compose using choreographic tools such as: levels, theme and variation, canons, movement dynamics and spatial design. LJD classes allow children to explore the process of choreography as a learnable skill. The class culminates in a student showing of works in progress.
Teachers: Dina Sabb-Mills with Lydia Johnson
5:00 – 6:15 PM Contemporary and Choreography II (Grades 4-11 including beginners)
A ballet-based contemporary technique class which allows for a full experience of drop and release modern movement, this Level II class incorporates additional skills as students grow in their abilities to compose dances. Theme and variation, canons, movement dynamics, spatial design, partnering and group partnering are explored in depth. At this level, children are now using music as a part of their creative process as they experience the use of music as a springboard for choreography. The class culminates in a student showing of works in progress.
Teachers: Dina Sabb-Mills with Lydia Johnson
January 26
February: 2, 9, (no 16), 23
March: 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
April: (no 5), 12, 19, 26
May: 3, 10 — last class day and evening showing at 7pm
May 17 — make up day if snow day
Thursday Mornings Ballet for Very Young!
February: 2, 9, 16, 23
March: 1, 8, 15, 2, 29
April: (no 5), 12, 19, 26
May: 3, 10 — Open Class, parents welcome!
May 17 — make up day if snow day)
Saturdays/Hip Hop
Jazz & Hip-Hop Saturday Mornings at the Burgdorff Center for the Performing Arts in Maplewood Village
10:00 – 11:00 AM Hip Hop and Jazz with Choreography Level I (grades 1-3)
11:00 AM – 12:15 PM Hip Hop and Jazz with Choreography Level II (grades 4-11)
This class will focus on both Hip Hop and classic Jazz (Broadway) dance steps and combinations in a creative environment which allows each student to progress at their own pace. Students will learn combinations based on Hip Hop and Jazz and use these moves as a springboard for their own choreography in this genre. Taught by Sherrell Bush and Guest Artists from New York, the class will have a distinctive vocabulary not taught in our Contemporary and is a great opportunity for experiencing and working in an expanded dance vocabulary.
Teacher: Sherrell Bush
January: 28
February: 4, 11, 18, 25
March: 3, 10, 17, 24 (no 31)
April: (no 7), 14, 21, 28
May 5, 12 — last class day and showing from 12:00 - 1:30
May 19 — make up day if snow day or building used
Ballet For Very Young Dancers
These classes allows our youngest dancers to experience a joyous
exploration of movement while being introduced to the basic structures of
early, pre- ballet technique. Through the use of music, shapes, props,
imagery, dynamics and the creative use of imagination, Ms. Pomper creates a
unique atmosphere of exploration and warmth. The final class is an open
class for parents and friends who wish to share what the children have been
learning.
Thursday Mornings 9:30 – 10:15 AM
For 18 months through 3-year-olds, with caregivers.
Thursday Mornings 10:30 – 11:15 AM
For ages 2.5 through 4 years old, no caregivers required.
Teacher: Rayna Pomper
Tuition $360 for 14 classes by check / $375 Paypal
Summer Dance Camp
July 9 — 27, 2012. Learn more...
To Register On Line:
You can register online and pay via PayPal. Or, print out the registration form to pay by check.
To Pay By Check:
Please print the registration form for regular classes or for Ballet for Very Young Dancers, and mail it with your check to Lydia Johnson Dance at 266 Audley Street, South Orange, NJ 07079. Or e-mail us your class choices and grades and we'll work out an arrangement. For any questions, please email us at: info@lydiajohnsondance.org.
Class Fees:
Fees for the Monday Pre-Ballet and the Thursday Ballet for Very Young Dancers classes are $360 by check, $370 by PayPal. Other courses are $415 by check and $425 if paid by PayPal online.
- Sibling Discount: We also offer a Sibling Discount of $25 for each sibling attending. To take advantage, please register by mail by printing out the registrationform for regular classes, and mail it with your check to Lydia Johnson Dance at 266 Audley Street, South Orange, NJ 07079.
- 2nd and 3rd Class discount: Two or three classes for the same child are $100 off for each of the 2nd and 3rd classes. And again this discount can only be used by sending a check.
Refund Policy
We offer a complete refund after the first class has been tried. We offer a refund of the semester fee minus $40 after the second class. We offer a refund of the semester fee minus $100 after the third class.
After the third class there are no further refunds for dropping out of the class.
Special Events
During the semester dancers from the company will perform as guest artists, demonstrating partnering, phrasing and performing excerpts from LJD’s repertory. Our dancers all have extensive teaching experience and love to work with kids!
Instructor Bios
Ballet
Rayna Pomper has taught ballet for preschoolers and Kindergarten in a number of settings in New Jersey for the last five years. Ms. Pomper studied ballet herself at The Princeton Ballet and performed with the Company as a student dancer. She continued her dance studies at Connecticut College. Ms Pomper is a founding board member of Lydia Johnson Dance and has a deep, life-long love of dance and music, which informs her exuberant teaching of our youngest dancers.
Tammi Shamblin majored in ballet while at the University of Utah. Returning to her hometown of Sacramento, she danced with Sacramento Ballet and Capitol City Ballet. While there she choreographed and presented work, and taught children through adults. She currently is a member of the faculty at Ballet Tech, Eliot Feld’s Public School for Ballet, located in Manhattan. She has taught for Brooklyn Ballet, Dance New Amsterdam, Young Dancer's in Repertory and she has recently enjoyed teaching abroad in Panama. In NYC, she has performed with LJD and ad hoc Ballet. She looks forward to another amazing season with the students of LJD.
Contemporary/Modern
A Philadelphia native, Dina Sabb-Mills holds a MFA in dance from Temple University, and a BFA in dance performance from the University of the Arts. Dina's teaching credits include Temple University, Muhlenberg College, The University of Pennsylvania, DaCi International, The Jamaica Cultural Development Commission, American College Dance Festival, and Black College Dance Exchange. Dina has also been asked to teach at Drexel University and Cedar Crest College.
Dina is based in New York and is currently working with Charles O. Anderson, artistic director of Dance Theatre X, with whom she recently toured to Allentown, Seattle, and Philadelphia performing. Dina also works with Matthew Westerby Dance Company as a visiting instructor in their residency at the Litchfield Jazz Festival’s Project Poetry Live in Connecticut. Most recently she visited Georgian Court University as a guest artist in Spring 2011, and this fall Dina will present her latest work, a (happy) life in Philadelphia at the Performance Garage.
Hip Hop
Sherrell Bush has worked with LJD for the past four years and currently majors in both public relations and dance at Hofstra University. In 2010 she was appointed as one of the teaching artists for the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Sherrell is a CHS graduate and prior member of CHS’s dance troupe. She began working with LJD as an intern in 2007. After graduating from County College of Morris, where she majored in dance, she began teaching LJD classes at the Burgdorff Center, SOPAC and The Far Brook School. Sherrell is currently the assistant director of the LJD Dance Camp. She instructs in modern, jazz, and hip hop, and is deeply influenced by a wide selection of other dance forms. Sherrell has taught at a number of dance institutions across New Jersey
In 2006, Sherrell received a performing arts award for choreography and performance from CCM for a choreographic work that premiered at the University of Buffalo. She received a 2005 performing arts award for her debut musical theater role, as the Sour Kangaroo in Seussical the Musical. Other productions include Hofstra’s University’s, A Soldier’s Tale, Annie Get Your Gun, NJ Dance Center’s The Nutcracker, and various works for both CCM Dance Theater, Montclair State University Dance Repertory, Hofstra University Dance Repertory. Her music video and television credits include “So You Think You Can Dance” and the music video “Touch” for recording artist Kena Sage.
