Center Dance

Meet our new faculty!

We are thrilled to introduce the two newest members of The Center’s faculty: Tiffany Joseph and Isaiah Caceres. Tiffany and Isaiah will teach Hip Hop classes Friday afternoons.

Hip Hop I: 5:30-6:30 PM (grades 1-3)
Hip Hop II: 4-5 PM (grades 4-6)
Hip Hop III: 6:30-7:30 PM (grades 7-12)

Stay tuned for details on our Hip Hop Open House!

TiffyBio.jpgTiffany Joseph is a woman full of education, experience, gifts, and talents. She graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a Bachelor’s in Communications and a Masters in Social Justice Education. Presently, she facilitates community discussions and workshops around the valley surrounding different social justice issues including sexism, internalized racism, storytelling, financial aid, and even working with local senior centers, bringing awareness to elder financial abuse.

However, she is more than her education. She is a dancer, a writer, a poet, a spoken word artist, peer mentor, dance teacher, a Yoga instructor, and Zumba instructor. Tiffany has danced since the age of 3, studying ballet, contemporary, hip­hop, jazz, lyrical, modern and tap, with Day Dance Center and with Joan Sherry Studio. She went to Burncoat Senior High School, a performing arts school in Worcester, MA, where she began her career as a dance team member, traveling dance team ensemble member, and choreographer, and assisted in community dance teaching programs. Additionally, she danced for the Boston Nutcracker for three years.

During her college career she worked at the Woman of Color Leadership Network, where she then joined the group Body Politics. An award winning spoken word performance group, creating original productions by and about women of color, exploring a diverse number of topics ranging from body image, mental health, intimate relationships, family, and oppression through prose, song, speech, poetic movement and various other forms of artistic expression. Tiffany performed in this group for three years, and then became the artistic director for two years.Tiffany has been writing poetry and spoken word since the age of 5.

Tiffany is continuing to transform her life into a more holistic lifestyle as a Yoga instructor by studying different forms of yoga, meditation, and various healing arts. She still keeps dance in her life as a Zumba instructor and working for various dance studios, because dance is the essential essence of her being. All in all, her passion focuses on healthy living and movement, and striving to help make that lifestyle accessible to others. Currently, Tiffany is working towards getting her license in trauma therapy. Tiffany is no stranger to the arts. From photography to charcoal art, poetry to spoken word, to different styles of movement, there is no limit to where she can go. Tiffany Joseph’s artistic expression is where her very existence lies.

 


Isaiah MosaicIsaiah (“Ice”) Caceres
 was born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he continues to dance, choreograph and teach.  Isaiah specializes in the Hip Hop technique called Poppin’. His unique movements consist of isolations, “tutting,” “waving,” “strobing,” “ticking” and “animations.” Ice’s choreography, which has appeared in numerous performances and dance competitions, including the Turn it Up Dance Challenge, infuses Hip Hop dance techniques such as Lockin’, Breakin’ and House Dance. Isaiah has been teaching these styles since the age of 17, at studios and community centers around Springfield. Isaiah’s talents inspired local artist Robert Markey to include his image in a mosaic mural, located under the Dwight St. railroad trestle. Isaiah is eager to teach his intricate movement and grooviness to students of all ages.

Get Technical at The Center!

The Center Dance Studio offers rigorous training in three foundational dance forms: ballet, contemporary dance, and hip hop. By engaging with the technical dimensions of dance, Center students deepen and refine their work as choreographers and storytellers. (Learn more About Us and Our Approach).

Visit our Class Descriptions and Class Schedules pages for all the info!

Enroll now in Garden of Verses!

Garden of Verses (45 minutes, ages 2-3, 0-5; caregivers attend) offers a gentle, joyful introduction to creative movement for toddlers and their caregivers. Using imagery, rhyme and song, children are guided through simple yet foundational movement patterns that promote kinesthetic awareness, coordination and focus. Storybook pages spring to life as children reimagine timeless classics and embody beloved characters; props, instruments and costumes enhance the magic. How hungry is your little caterpillar? Join us in Garden of Verses to find out.

Wednesdays, 9:30-10:15 AM (ages 2-3)
Fridays, 10-10:45 AM (family class, ages 0-5)
Sundays, 10-10:45 AM (ages 2-3)

8-week fall mini-sessions begin September 11th. Tuition is $110. 

Garden of Verses families may stay after class for a reduced Perch Play rate of $5: Wednesdays, 10:15 AM – 12:00 PM, Fridays 10:45 AM – 12:30 PM. Sunday students are welcome to attend. 

Enroll by September 1st to have your registration fee waived!

Enroll now for Story Ballet!

Story Ballet (45 minutes, ages 3.5-5) invites young dancers to explore the world of ballet through an imaginative lens. Using imagery and stories as inspiration, students will engage with the vocabulary and principles of classical ballet. Our interactive, developmentally appropriate class structure nurtures students’ enthusiasm for dance while cultivating focus and a growth mindset.

Sundays, 11:45 AM – 12:30 PM
Wednesdays, 4-4:45 PM

Register by September 1st to have your $20 registration fee waived!

 

Enroll now for mixed-ages Word Play!

Word Play (ages 3.5 -7) In this class, students leap, prance and spin their way through the world of children’s literature. Using picture books, fairy tales and poetry, children are introduced to the fundamentals of creative movement and narrative dance. Whether they’re twirling down their own Purple Crayon path, pouncing at the Wild Rumpus, or dancing the alphabet, kids will love this interactive class that honors the reader, and storyteller, in all of us.

This hour-long class meets Sunday mornings at 10:45 AM. An 8-week session of Word Play will begin Sunday, September 11th and end Sunday, October 30th. Class will not meet on October 9th.

Siblings receive a 10% tuition discount. Register by September 1st to have your $20 registration fee waived!

Word Play.jpg

Register Now for Fall Classes!

At The Center, children spin stories from movement using classical and modern dance techniques. Sister duo Ashley and Caddy Carlisle combine their years of dance training in the Pioneer Valley, New York City, and Montreal with a special approach to teaching that gets kids reading, writing and dancing; connecting, collaborating and creating.  It’s a holistic approach to dance.  In classes geared to children and teens of all ages, kids combine elements of what they imagine with what they observe to create movement that is inventive, entertaining, and deeply satisfying.

The Center. Where we’re not just spinning, we’re spinning stories.

321 Main Street Amherst MA
(right next door to Hope & Feathers Framing)

Visit our Class Descriptions Class Schedules and Registration pages for all the info!

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Open House at The Center!

Doors open at 10 AM. Observers are welcome at any time; see below for a schedule of sample classes. For complete class descriptions, visit our Classes page. For more information, please email thecenterdanceschool@gmail.com or call 413.230.1944.

Schedule

  • 10-10:45 AM: Garden of Verses (ages 2-3)
  • 10:45-11:30 AM: Word Play (mixed-ages class; 3.5-7)
  • 12-1 PM: Hip Hop (mixed ages; 7+)
  • 1-1:45 PM: Story Ballet (ages 3.5-5)
  • 2-3 PM: Choreography Lab (mixed ages workshop; grades 2-6)

Additional sample technique classes will be held Thursday, September 8th; details TBA.

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`Picnic with The Center!

IMG_4265Join The Center Dance Studio at The Emily Dickinson Museum’s Neighborhood Picnic tomorrow, July 29th, from 5-7 PM. We’ll be there, rain or shine, with our dancing shoes on. Music, dancing, poetry, cookies, FRIENDS!

This family friendly event is FREE and open to the public.

280 Main Street, right across from the dance studio.

We hope to see you there!