By SHANNON O’CONNORContributing Writer
Behind an unassuming door, somewhere adjacent to Central Square, hides the Green Street Studios, Center for Dance and Movement. Their ads on the subway boast that they have several different types of dance lessons, including hula dancing, belly dancing, and the more everyday variety, including ballet, jazz and modern dance.
There are also parent and child classes, in which a parent can participate in the class, or sometimes they can just watch. And there is a class called Open River, which focuses on finding the natural movements and rhythms of your body.
Green Street Studios also has martial arts classes, which consist of White Crane Silat and Kokodan. White Crane Silat is a form of movement developed by the late Shsu Subur Rahidja of West Java. It has its origins in Kung Fu, with influences from Tai Chi, yoga, and Indonesian dance. Kodokan is an Okinawan martial art, and it was founded by Goju Ryu Karate Do and Matayoshi Kobudo. It fosters training in the development of body, mind and spirit and the practice of self-defense skills.
They also have the oldest Pilates studio in Boston, which has been there for 10 years. It is a method of exercise and physical movement designed to stretch, strengthen, and balance the entire body with methodical practice intertwined with focused breathing patterns. Many of the teachers of the classes just rent space in the complex to teach their individual forms.
Even though the studio has a variety to choose from, it is mainly a modern dance complex. There is an intro to modern dance class for beginners who have never done any previous dancing. It also might switch the class with a ballet class in between so the students can get a feel for the stricter classical movements.
Modern dance is an American form that began at the beginning of the twentieth century. Ballet has been around for more than four hundred years, and it is more a dance of the aristocracy, while modern is considered a form of the common people.
A ballet background is encouraged if a dancer is going to study modern, but all choreographers bring their own experience to their work. If they have African dance, or Latin American dance, or anything else, that would influence the movements of their pieces.
“Modern is like ballet, but just imagine a dancer takes off their shoes, and instead of reaching upward and outward, the movement is more down toward the ground,” said Nicole Pierce, a dancer who teaches at the studio. “There is a lot of twisting and stretching the body that does not occur during ballet, which is usually very rigid and controlled.”
The studio also has a theater in which concerts are held. On April 22 and 23, a show called “10’s the Limit” will be held. It is a performance in which dancers have 10 minutes to do a dance and it is a competition during which they are judged on their work. It will be produced in collaboration with a company called Crash Arts of Boston.
Most of the classes at Green Street Studios are open, but for some it is necessary to pre-register. All levels and ages are welcome, and there are students in the classes from the ages of three to sixty-five. More information can be found at www.greenstreetstudios.org.