This is a lesson plan for an intermediate jazz dance class, focused on learning and improving center (or second) leaps. This lesson plan is aimed for dancers ages 9 years and up.
Center leaps are a crucial skill to nail before moving on to more advanced leaps and leap combinations. The important things to look for are lifted chests, pressing down shoulders, lengthening behind the knee, and height from the floor. I don’t emphasize flexibility or finding their full straddle until their understand the basics of the technique and placement.
A common issue dancers have is getting both feet off the floor so they can hit a straddle before landing with one foot. In other words, they can look like they’re ‘hopping’ from one foot to another. If you notice students doing this, I would do “pop-up” leaps from the floor, to work on really using their plie and jumping from the ground.
Download the lesson plan here:
| Skill/Position | Activity Description | Teacher notes |
| Cardio Warmup | 4 eight counts of jumping jacks | |
| 4 eight counts of jogging in place | ||
| 4 eight counts of high knees | ||
| Stretch | Start in parallel 6th: pike forward, plie, straight | |
| open to straddle, reach right, left, middle | ||
| move into lunge, straight legs, then quad stretch | ||
| slowly slide into splits, stretch foward/back | ||
| repeat left side, then middle splits | ||
| stretch back with cobra, backbend (dancer’s choice) | ||
| Battements | Start in ballet 1st, battements to the side (since we are focusing on center leaps) | Keep arms in a “T” position |
| Repeat right and left side 2 times | ||
| Straddle Leaps (from the floor) (AKA Toe Touch) | Start in a tuck position on the floor | Chests up up up! |
| Jump up into a straddle, chest lifted, and hit straddle before coming back down to a tuck position. | ||
| Jetes | Regular develope leaps across the floor | |
| Teacher’s choice to run or chasee in between each leap. | ||
| Repeat left side | ||
| Center leaps | Chase step (or run) center leap | Keep chests lifted! |
| (Optional) Add detourne in between in each leap, repeat left side | ||
| Tilt leap progression | Start with brush battement, without a tilt | Tilt leaps are great for practicing center leaps. They help dancers learn how to push up off their bottom/back foot |
| Step brush tilt, en releve | ||
| Step tilt leap, rolling to the floor | ||
| Repeat left side | ||
| Skills to include in combo | Center leaps | |
| Tilt Battement (or leap | ||
| Pirouette / Coupe Turn | ||
| Toe Touch / Straddle leap from floor | ||
| Jete to the floor | ||
| Fan kick |
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