Melinda Wilson

Basic Ballet

Saturday 10:30am-12:00pm

Concentration on barre work correct technique and posture.  Some floor exercises for core abdominal strength and overall flexibility.  Centre work will be practiced.  Students will learn French vocabulary terms in detail.

Featuring Live Music: Percussion

Melinda Wilson holds a M.Ed. from DePaul University (Chicago) and an M.A. from the University of Illinois with additional course work at Northwestern Illinois University. She has trained at Lou Conte Dance Studios, The Dance Center of Columbia College, the Joel Hall Dance Center, Moming Dance Center, Pineapples (London), The Dance Works (London), Centre de Danse de Paris (Goube of the Paris Opera Ballet), Batsheva Dance Company (Tel-Aviv), and Centre de Danse du Marias (Paris). Melinda has danced locally with David Dorfman, Urban Bush Women, Timothy Buckley and a pick-up dancer with American Ballet Theatre. She has choreographed 12 full musicals, 20 dance concerts and over 40 concert dance pieces which have been performed internationally and throughout the Chicago area. Her awards include Global Teacher Prize Top 50, the Golden Apple Teaching Award, three consecutive Suave Performance Plus Teacher Awards, Who’s Who Among Teachers, Dance Chicago New Works, 10 Oppenheimer Teacher Incentive Grants, Dance Teacher Magazine’s Honor Roll for Outstanding Teacher, National Honor Roll’s Outstanding American Teachers for Exceptional Performance in the Motivation and Empowerment of Today’s Youth, BP+ Educational Grant Award Recipient, Katy Memorial Foundation, and the Successful Strategies Award for Dance Curricula (Volume IV). She serves on the Board of Directors of Her Story Theatre and is on the Illinois Democracy Schools Advisory Council. She was a writer with Chicago Dance Magazine and Beginning Youth Division Dance Supervisor with The Joel Hall Dance Center. Wilson is a teacher of Ballet, Modern and Jazz formerly with The Joel Hall Dance Center and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago/Lou Conte Dance Studios. She is currently the Dance Artistic Director for AAP at Gallery 37 and Curie Metropolitan High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. She has taught master classes at Northwestern Illinois University, Northern Illinois University and private studios throughout Southern Florida, the Chicago area and in London.