Rehearsals
Fees

Contemporary School of Dance has three children's performing companies: DanceWorks, a contemporary dance company for students age 8-18, Contemporary Dance Theatre, a contemporary dance company for senior level students, and CSD Ballet Co., a ballet company for senior ballet students within the school.

Students involved in these companies are exposed to professional dance artists, non-competitive performances and local fundraisers. Students experience working with professional choreographers and are also encouraged to create works for the company's repertoire. Professional artists involved with our companies have included: Michelle DeBrouwer, Meredith Thompson (Danny Grossman Dance Company), D.A. Hoskins, Gabby Kamino, Sylvanus Klotz, Michael Moore, Malgorzata Nowacka (The Chimera Project), Heather Roy-Kleihauer, and other CSD faculty members. By working with guest artists, the students receive a greater understanding of professional dance artists, the choreographic process and the value of choreography. We would also like to support professional artists by commissioning their choreography!

The works created for CSD's dance companies are performed at non-competitive venues, and have included the Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival, Kinetic Cohesion, Sur La Pointe ballet festival (non-competitive stream), the Muskoka Ballet Gala (an event that raises funds for dance scholarships for students in northern Ontario), For the Cause (a CSD student run performance raising funds for local charities), ChildCAN (a performance raising funds for children with cancer), Royal Medieval Faire, Halloween Fest, Choreographer's Collective (a former K-W dance collective), Womyn's Fest, Sounds of Summer Music Festival, Heart & Stroke Foundation of Ontario, local nursing homes, and many others!

This past year, from November 2008 - February 2009, our dancers had an opportunity to work with members of the Danny Grossman Company. It was an honour and a privilege for our students to be able to learn Grossman's, "Lead Belly" choreography and perform it along side Danny Grossman Company dancers. The performance, Emerging Dancers Perform Danny Grossman, featured over 40 young dancers performing some of Danny Grossman's creations.

Another exciting project in 2009 was held at the Waterloo Children's Museum. DanceWorks performed "Dance Factory", a kaleidoscope of dances with inspiration drawn from the Waterloo Children's Museum and the Andy Warhol Factory exhibition at the Waterloo Children's Museum. Participation in our dance companies helps to develop a sense of creative confidence, genuine performance, and a commanding stage presence in each dancer.

Did you know that our dance companies contribute to our local community? For many years, the dancers put on a fundraising performance, For the Cause, at the Registry Theatre in Kitchener. Each year, they chose a different cause within our community to support. In May 2007, they raised $800.00 for Big Brothers Big Sister of Kitchener-Waterloo and Area Inc. In 2005, they raised $1100.00 for KidsAbility Foundation and in 2006, they raised $1000.00 for R.O.O.F. (Reaching Our Outdoor Friends - a united way agency) through their For the Cause performances. Way to go dancers!

Students interested in joining should have a strong commitment to the group and demonstrate a real passion for performing dance. We will be offering several different dance projects for our company throughout the year. A rehearsal and performance schedule, as well as a company fee, will be set for each project that we offer during the year. Students 8-18 years of age are invited to audition for these varying projects as they arise. Dancers are welcome to participate in every project or may choose the projects that work best with their schedules throughout the year.

Dance Company fees are separate from class tuition.
Fees will be set per project as they arise throughout the year.