Academy
Overview
PPI’s Academy offers a unique and holistic approach to artistry that focuses on the student as both an artist and person. Committed to providing high-quality arts education that helps cultivate not only pre-professional and professional dancers but also well-rounded, responsible, and compassionate individuals. The programming is centered around building families and communities that positively reflect and impact young people.
Your support will guarantee high-quality, arts-based programming that’s accessible to young people in underserved communities. It will also help foster nurturing mentorships that use the arts to inspire and empower young lives. Funds will cover dance scholarships to students in need and college scholarships to graduating seniors. Financial contributions will also help offset costs for students such as transportation to and from dance classes and arts-related programming, field experiences, and other dance-related fees for students in need.
2024-25 Session Dates
Sessions | Dates | Notes |
Fall ’24 |
September 9 – November 2, 2024
|
Fall Open House
August 26th, 5pm–8pm Christmas Break Dec. 23rd – Jan. 6th |
Winter I | November 4, 2024- January 11, 2025 | Thanksgiving Break
November 25 – 30, 2024
Christmas Break December 21, 2024 – January 6, 2025 |
Winter II | January 18, 2024- March 8, 2025 |
|
Spring ‘ 25 | March 10 – May 17, 2025 | Spring Break
March 24 – 29, 2025 Spring Performance April 12 – 13, 2025 |
“For the many years that I’ve been with PPI’s RIZE Youth Company, I must say this season has been one of the best since joining in 2018.I have learned many different styles of dance while going on field trips to different dance conferences and various experiences.
PPI has given me many publicity opportunities and experiences that many kids do not even receive in a lifetime! When people see PPI, they see an amazing dance organization with girls from the South Side of Chicago, but there’s so much more when you join PPI. You are joining a family, a legacy of beautiful, young Black girls and women.
They do not only teach you dance, but they teach you life skills, discipline, how to love yourself, and of course, technique! Without PPI, I don’t know what I would be doing right now. It has changed the way I work in school, the way I respect others, and my work ethic.
I am a part of something bigger than anyone could imagine. We don’t do recitals; we do professional productions and movies! And we always give excellence no matter what we do.
PPI has given me a safe place to express my feelings no matter the day, time, or situation… My sisters and mentors will always give me the advice I need. But most of all, they will be honest and loving when it comes down to it. And for that I will be forever thankful.”Brooklynn Dotson, RIZE Youth Company Member, Age 13
Session Tuition*
Class Length | Costs | |
60 Min | Costs per Class for 8 -Week Session
1 class: $140/session 2 classes: $200/session |
|
75 Min | 1 class: $150/session
2 classes: $225/session |
|
90 Min | 1 class: $165/session |
Please Note:
For All Fall, Winter & Spring Classes: $25 off per child from total tuition – for multiple registered children
Multi-Class Discount Block: 3 Classes $325 | 4 Classes $375 | Unlimited classes $425
Payment Plans are Available
Sign Up Today!“Being a part of PPI has taught me primarily sisterhood and has made me want to grow in all parts of my life. I’ve been able to build connections and be uplifted by my teachers and fellow dancers. Not only that, PPI makes me want to be better and exceed in life.It’s definitely helped me want to make new goals for myself and become a leader with the encouragement from my teachers. Being a part of PPI is a learning and growing experience that puts you in a hardworking and positive mindset.”Cari Mack, RIZE Youth Company Member, Age 15
Class Descriptions
LEVELS: Beginning | Intermediate | Advanced
AGE: 3-17 YEARS
Typically Scheduled June/July
Students take over 15 activities in performing arts on a rotating, blocked schedule. Professional instructors and artists teach classes. These curriculum-based classes are both educational and fun. Camp lasts 4 – 6 weeks and runs Monday-Friday. Students are served breakfast, lunch, and snacks, and all supplies are included. Each camp concludes with a showcase, where students perform and display their acquired skills for family and friends!
Check Back in Spring for Summer Registration Information
Age: 7 & Under
Beginning combination class allows dancers to grow their understanding of rhythm and motion through the use of playful imagery, while learning both ballet and tap vocabulary/technique. Students will learn skills that will help provide movement and musical awareness that may assist in training in other styles of dance.
Ages: 5 & Up
Contemporary combines modern and classical ballet styles. This class helps students to connect the mind and body through fluid movement with changes in rhythm, speed, and direction.
Ages: 5 & Up
This class infuses Horton and Graham techniques with contemporary African styles. Modern Fusion helps students increase their strength and placement in dance. Movement is rhythmically complex, while challenging students to move through the full extent of their lines.
Each level increases in skill/technique/movement as students progress from beginning to intermediate, and advanced.
Ages: 5 & Up
This class infuses both acrobatics and tumbling. It focuses on strength, flexibility, limbering, balancing and tumbling. This uniquely designed class makes tumbling practical for dancers. Each progression allows the students to progress through various difficulty levels.
PPI is a certified Acrobatic Arts School, which provides the highest standard in Acrobatic training.
Ages: 5 & Up
This upbeat and fun class helps students to learn rhythm, while learning urban dance styles with a focus on hip-hop music and culture. In this class, hip-hop is fused with majorette dancing, which has a deep history in historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Students learn the latest hip-hop dances and trends from music videos and social media, while conditioning their bodies.
Ages: 5 & Up
Tap is a percussive dance that is uniquely American. The roots of tap dance trace back to 19th century America, with primary influences from African and Irish dances and rhythms. Tap dancers strike the ground, using their feet and the flooring surface as a percussive instrument.
Beginning tap students explore their instrument while learning basic steps, exercises, combinations, and music theory. Higher levels will learn additional techniques and more complex exercises and combinations.
Ages: 5 & Up
PPI’s unique urban jazz, infuses the flavor and spunk of hip-hop, while teaching the fundamentals and technique of traditional jazz dance. Students engage in this high energy class that is sure to keep their bodies conditioned and moving to upbeat rhythms and grooves.
Each level increases in skill/technique/movement as students progress from beginning to intermediate, and advanced.
Ages: 5 & Up
Students learn classical ballet technique that emphasizes correct placement and movement, along with a powerful command of the fundamentals from which elaborate works are built.
Each level increases in skill/technique/movement as students progress from beginning to intermediate, and advanced.
Fall Session Class Schedule
Monday
Class | Start Time | End Time | Level |
Ballet Conditioning I | 5:30 PM | 6:00 PM | Beginner/Intermediate |
Ballet Conditioning II | 5:30 PM | 6:00 PM | Advanced |
Ballet III/Pre-pointe | 6:00 PM | 7:00 PM | Advanced |
Jazz I/II | 6:00 PM | 7:00 PM | Beginner/Intermediate |
Contemporary | 7:00 PM | 8:00 PM | Open Level |
Thursday
Class | Start Time | End Time | Level |
Jazz II/III | 5:30 PM | 7:00 PM | Intermediate/Advanced |
Ballet I/II | 7:00 PM | 8:00 PM | Beginner/Intermediate |
Tap I/II | 5:30 PM | 7:00 PM | Beginner |
Tap II/III | 7:00 PM | 8:00 PM | Intermediate |
Saturday
Class | Start Time | End Time | Level |
Creative Movement/
Combo I |
9:00 AM | 10:00 AM | Minis |
Ballet Conditioning | 9:00 AM | 10:00 AM | Beginner |
Tap III
Ballet II/III |
9:00 AM
10:oo AM |
10:00 AM
11:15 AM |
Advanced
Intermediate/Advanced |
Modern I/II | 10:00 AM | 11:15 AM | Beginner/Intermediate |
Modern II/III | 11:15 AM | 12:30 PM | Intermediate/Advanced |
Ballet I/II | 11:15 AM | 12:30 PM | Beginner/Intermediate |
Acro II/III Tumbling II/III |
12:45 PM | 2:00 PM | Intermediate/Advanced |
Hip-hop/Majorette I/II | 12:45 PM | 2:00 PM | Beginner/Intermediate |
Acro I/II Tumbling I/II |
2:00 PM | 3:15 PM | Beginner/Intermediate |
Hip-hop/Majorette II/III | 2:00 PM | 3:15 PM | Intermediate/Advanced |
Tracks
- Open Track: No min. or max. amount of classes required
- Mini Track: 1+ classes (must take Tiny Tots)
- Beginner Track: 2+ classes/week (1 technique class [Ballet, Tap, Jazz or Modern] and 1 elective [suggested])
- Junior Track: 3+ classes/week (1 Ballet, 2 additional technique classes [Ballet, Tap, Jazz or Modern] and 1 suggested elective)
- Intermediate Track: 5+ classes/week (1 Ballet, 1 Jazz, 1 Modern, 2 suggested electives)
Students must take classes on their level
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Praize Productions, Inc., NFP accepts cash & credit/debit cards
Refunds are NOT given.
Please be advised that PPI cannot be held responsible for any and all liability for unintentional exposure or harm due to COVID-19.
Class/Service payments need to be made prior to receiving services.
There is a $40 late fee added to tuition that is not paid in full by the first Saturday of each month.
There is also a 3% service charge for all credit/debit card payments.
All payment credits must be applied within the 8-week session they are given. If not used during the session, they will expire and not roll over into the next one.
Registered dancers who miss two or more weeks of classes due to illness or injury must provide a doctor’s note to receive pro-rated tuition. Absences under two weeks will not receive pro-rated tuition.
PPI is committed to bringing affordable and quality arts education for people of all backgrounds.
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