Mariko sensei’s morning class at Huis Conny Janssen

I used to go to open classes at the Pineapple Dance Studios in Covent Garden and Danceworks in Mayfair. When I moved to Rotterdam about two years ago, it was a bit of a ballet culture shock. I tried a few local adult and children’s classes like a nomad for a while. But I ended up with working out on my own and zooming to these studios in London from my living room. It was okay. But I felt a bit lonely.. until I, belatedly, found Conny Janssen Danst’s open class.

Conny Janssen Danst is a highly acclaimed contemporary dance company based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The company offers two regular professional level open classes, ballet in the morning and contemporary in the evening, at Huis Conny Janssen, or their homebase studios.

One day about a year ago, I collected my courage and joined the morning ballet class. I am glad I did. Needless to say, it is the best and probably the only high-level open class in Rotterdam. And I haven’t been kicked out so far.

They rotate teachers weekly. My favourite teacher is Mariko Shimoda, who is also an experienced company dancer. Mariko sensei’s class is highly energetic and uplifting. Feel it from the movie clip above. Disclaimer: I am not in the movie clip.

Her class is purely based on classical techniques but it is not what I am used to doing. It is another culture shock in a good way. It requires lots of upper body movements, deep plies, reverse steps and moving into unexpected directions. It is quite humbling to see company dancers pick up combinations quickly and excute them seamlessly.

Music is also different from what I am used to...pianists. The Conny Janssen company does not have live accompaniment for classes. Mariko sensei and other teachers bring in their own compilations of music. It blew my mind when I did plies to Prince for the first time and I loved it. It was very challenging to do diagonals to hip hop music, and I loved it. Nowadays, it is trendy to create ballet to pop music (William Forsythe’s Playlist series, Blakeworks etc) and heavy metal (the Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Black Sabbath the Ballet), so dancers have to get used to this type of musicality.

For more details about Conny Janssen Danst’s open classes, click here. The company also offers workshops and intensives. If you are in the Netherlands, please go see DANSLOKAAL12.

Movie clip courtesy of Mariko Shimoda. Thank you, Mariko sensei for accommodating me!