Acrobatics, Circus and Drama - Christa Cameron School of Ballet & Performing Arts

Acro and Drama classes for 4 - 16 year olds

Christa Cameron Performing Arts

0411 143 946
office@christacameronballet.com.au
PO Box 286 Canterbury VIC 3126

Principal: Christa Cameron

Drama – from Grade One school age

We are incredibly fortunate to have our drama program run by Alisa Meadow from Triple Talent Management, one of Melbourne’s leading professional performing arts agencies. She represents film, television, theatre and musical theatre actors in Australia and the USA. Alisa’s passion for working with children, her kindness, warmth, and sense of fun make her a favourite with our students.

Drama builds skills that will last a lifetime:

Promoting confidence and resilience in performing and presenting.
Develop expressiveness and communication skills.
Grow imagination through improvisation and character development.
Learn about dramatic movement.
Improve articulation, vocal clarity and projection, important for public speaking.
Most importantly – Drama is great fun!

Acro
This 75-minute class is an athletic class including gymnastics and circus elements. In these classes children work in break-out groups according to their current skill level. They will learn and practice gymnastics floor skills including cartwheels, one-hand and aerial cartwheels, handstands / handstand to roll, hand-walking, forward and back walkovers, and handsprings. Further co-ordination, core-strength and flexibility are built with their Pilates style warm-up and the stretching exercises practiced in this class. The Silks Apparatus is very popular with the dancers – great fun and excellent for developing core body strength and control.

Mini Acro

This class is for children 4 – 6 years old and is a fantastic fun way to boost cognitive development, coordination, strength, and flexibility. Your Mini Monkey will gain confidence learning new skills in a safe environment – practicing balances on the low beam, climbing the Circus Silks, learning forward and backward rolls, throwing and catching, hula hoops, juggling with scarves (as they float slowly), and learning dance steps. The class finishes with a marching circus parade. Mini Acro can progress to Acro classes from age 7 or younger if needed for skill extension.

Learning juggling engages both sides of the brain, boosting brain development, enhancing neural connections related to memory and focus, improves hand-eye coordination, helps calm busy minds with concentration and focus, and gives an enormous sense of accomplishment as they master skills.

Fees

Starting at $240 for a 45 minute Mini acro class (10 week quarter).

We encourage new dancers to book a 2 week trial, please contact the office to arrange: office@christacameronballet.com.au or phone 0411 143 946.

Discounted rates apply for the same child attending additional classes or for families with more than one child dancing.

Uniform

Mini Acro: Our Zebra Dance Shorts with our Sugar Plum ballet leotard. Bare legs and feet.

Drama: To start out, wear any black track pants or leggings and a black t-shirt.

Frequently asked questions

Can we try out before enrolling?

Please contact the office to book a 2 week trial for a new dance by email info@christacameronballet.com.au, or phone 0411 143 946.

If your dancer settles in well, we will then let you know the balance remaining and the early payment discount will still apply.

Extended Trial Period: If your little dancer has not settled in after the 2 week trial, or you are still unsure, you may make an arrangement (email or call office) for an extension of trial period at a pro – rata rate.

Why juggling?

Juggling has been proven to boost brain development. Research has shown that learning to juggle accelerates the neural connections related to memory, focus, movement and vision. These beneficial changes persist even after many weeks without practice – but of course our students will be juggling every week!
Juggling improves hand-eye coordination, which benefits students when participating in Acro and other sports such as team ball sports and tennis.
Juggling engages both sides of the brain, and also increases ambidextrous skills and strength.
Juggling is great for stress management – the intense concentration and complete focus required for juggling practice helps to calm a busy mind.
Learning to juggle gives students an enormous sense of accomplishment! Students will be amazed by their own skills, and there are always new challenges to tackle – new tricks, new patterns, new equipment to master.

Will my dancer get to perform?

Yes! Special Youth Ballet Company performance opportunity in July! Rehearsals will take place during 2nd week of July state school holidays.

All Ballet, Acro, Drama, Contemporary, Tap & Jazz dancers will have the opportunity to perform in the Christa Cameron School of Ballet 2025 concert, held in December. The dancers will rehearse for their performance during Term 4 this year.

Do Parents Watch Classes?

Parents do not watch class on a regular basis but we do have an Open Day each term. Our first Open Day for the year in on week 4 of term one. We prefer to hold our classes free from the distraction of toddlers running around, parents walking in and out to answer a phone or take a sibling out, “Mummy is talking to the lady next to her and not watching me” etc. Having parents and friends watching regularly would make it more difficult for the teacher to have a focused class and hold the attention of the dancers.

Watching the first class: if you are trying out or starting during the year, in an established class (i.e. not the beginning of the year), we invite you to come and watch the first class that your child attends. Some little dancers join in happily with a parent or carer sitting in the room, others may prefer to sit with their parent and watch and may be more confident to join in on their 2nd visit. This is a little different at the start of the year. As the whole class may be new in February, we aim to bring all of the dancers into the ballet room with their teacher and for their parent to wait outside the room although we leave the door open for the first lesson so that parents can look in. If all of the parents come in for a first lesson when the whole class is new, some may be too shy to join in with all of the other adults sitting watching or they may all want to sit with mum and watch and no one participate. We find that by our first Open Day (usually week 4), the dancers have settled in beautifully and are very excited to have their family and friends as an audience to their class.

Any more questions?

If you have any questions that have not been answered here, send an email to office@christacameronballet.com.au (please include your name and phone number, as well as, your child’s name, date of birth and year level at school) or call Christa on 0411 143 946.