For Children's Class Descriptions click here.

Adult Class Descriptions

Pilates, yoga, stretching and strength training, injury prevention, nutrition, musicality, dance and art history, choreography, acting, and many other dance forms are all aspects that are incorporated at the appropriate levels into the training of dancers at Alameda Ballet Academy.

Beg. Adult Ballet	Special 6 week session with Robert Greer
Ballet is the 'backbone' of all dance training. This is a class for you to dip your toes into the art of ballet and learn a solid background of basics. In Ballet you will learn grace, elegance, technique, discipline, flexibility, stamina, and endurance. ABSOLUTELY NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY.
Adult Ballet Workout	Instructor: Abra Rudisill
This class is taught at a beginning level with an emphasis on core strength, while learning the concepts of ballet that work the muscles in a long and lean fashion. The class starts on a mat (25 minutes) doing stretching and Pilates Mat exercises. The class then moves to the barre (25 minutes) to work on the basics of a ballet barre, all the while working on posture. With the body properly warmed up, the class proceeds to center floor exercises (25 minutes) that work on balance and alignment as well as moving across the floor doing basic ballet steps in a low impact aerobic fashion. The class finishes by cooling down with a stretch and a beautiful reverence.
Intermediate Adult Ballet	Instructor: Robin Costa-Gustafson
This is a Ballet class for adults with previous dance experience ONLY. The first portion of this class is dedicated to floor stretch warm up and barre work emphasizing highly on proper placement, then culminating with the pure joy of dance movement. The class finishes by cooling down with a stretch and a beautiful reverence.
Pilates Mat & Stretch	Instructor: Abra Rudisill
The main reason this class is offered is because time after time, Ms. Rudisill's adult students would come to her and say 'I got these Pilates videos, but when I do the exercises they really hurt my neck/back/etc.'. It is Ms. Rudisill's belief that in order to reap the benefits of Pilates and develop core strength (as opposed to superficial muscles) one must first fully understand the 16 Fundamentals that the more advanced work is built on, much like building the foundation of a house. Once the class physically understands the Fundamentals, the class proceeds to more advanced mat exercises. Also incorporated in this class are yoga, Feldenkrais, and Somatic body-mind methods that Ms. Rudisill has found beneficial in keeping her body, mind, and spirit happy and healthy, while asking a lot from all three of them! In 1983, long before Pilates became a household word and trademarked name, Ms. Rudisill had her first Pilates session with Patrice Whiteside who, after retiring from Oakland Ballet, developed the dance medicine program at Center for Sports Medicine under the guidance of Dr. Garrick at St. Francis Hospital in San Francisco. Ms. Whiteside was one of the first of a handful of people to travel to New York to be certified in this form of bodywork. She did so because she saw the benefits it could bring to dancers (especially injured ones) and other athletes. During her 20 year career as a principal ballerina with Oakland Ballet, Ms. Rudisill spent countless hours training with certified Pilates trainers learning to lengthen and strengthen both her body and her career through intelligent bio mechanics. She found it to be a priceless approach, both mentally and physically, to rehabilitation from injuries because it allows people to speed up the healing process by being proactive in their recovery.