| John Welch, Instructor and Director
of the Hartfel Ballet Academy and advanced
member of the Royal Academy of Dance and
Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing,
welcomes everyone with a passion for dance
to Hartfel.
If you have the desire, we have the method
to cultivate that which nature has bestowed
upon you: raw, uninhibited ability.
This unique approach to dance, called
the Cradle Method, emphasizes a heightened
awareness of skeletal alignment that allows
each dancer to move freely within their
own body structure. It greatly reduces the
risk of injury, enhances the beauty of the
natural line, and produces a style of dance
that is free from the constraints of an
imposed, artificial form.
“John’s method of teaching is unlike
any I have experienced in formal modern
or ballet training. He works with the principle
of “inherent movement” and “intrinsic consciousness
of movement,” offering the student the opportunity
to discover for him or herself the principles
as they become manifest at the personal
level. John’s classes are exceedingly demanding
of one’s commitment to the fine art of classical
dance, requiring utter devotion and total
participation in the task at hand. This
is the beauty and power of his special brand
of teaching dance which resonates, not only
at the level of sparking the individual
recognition of innate kinesthetic wisdom
of classical form, but even more so at the
level of urging the discovery of the perfection
of consciousness entrusted to human kind
in the broadest and deepest sense.”
—M.A. Greenstein, Ph.D.
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| An innovative approach to learning the
Art of Classical Ballet
Through a variety of exercises and studies,
each student is guided into consciousness
of the body. He or she becomes acutely aware
of skeletal alignment and bone structure.
This skeletal awareness allows the muscles
of the body to work in harmony, thus reducing
the stress imposed on the body as one dances.
Stress on the body creates muscle tension
that distorts line and creates jerky or
forced movements—instead of the supple,
fluid motion the natural flow of the dance
seeks to generate.
Emphasis on skeletal awareness allows
a dancer to work within the limitation of
his or her body to enhance natural line
and correct body alignment. That natural
movement—set within ballet vocabulary—creates
beautiful projections to any observer.
Enhanced awareness of the body allows
a dancer to learn vocabulary more efficiently
and at a more accelerated rate than traditional
schools of teaching. While traditional styles
depend on learning at an unconscious level
through rote repetition, the Cradle Method
employs conscious learning through systematic
study that allows the serious student to
learn more quickly and effectively. Through
the use of self-imagery and awareness combined
with classical vocabulary and innovative
technique, this natural work naturally reduces
the potential for injury or deterioration
from overwork to a dancer's body.
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