If you’re new to dance, the number of styles available can feel overwhelming fast. Ballet, contemporary, musical theater, hip-hop, jazz, tap: the list goes on. But three styles come up more than any others for students starting out, and understanding the differences between them can make the decision a lot clearer.
Aylin Awbrey is trained across all three — ballet, contemporary dance, and musical theater — and brings a grounded, firsthand perspective to what each one actually demands and offers.
Ballet is the oldest and most structured of the three. It has a codified vocabulary — specific positions, movements, and terminology that have been standardized across centuries — and it demands a level of physical precision that takes years to develop.
What ballet builds: posture, body awareness, turnout, balance, and an understanding of musicality that carries into every other style. Most serious dance educators will tell you that a ballet foundation makes a dancer better at everything else they do.
What to know going in: ballet is disciplined and demanding. Classes are structured, corrections are frequent, and progress can feel slow at first. For students who thrive with clear rules and measurable improvement, that’s a feature, not a flaw. For students who want more freedom of expression early on, it can feel restrictive.
Contemporary dance grew partly out of a reaction to ballet’s rigidity. It borrows from ballet, modern dance, and improvisation, and prioritizes expression and intention over strict form.
What contemporary builds: creativity, spatial awareness, emotional range, and comfort with ambiguity in movement. It encourages dancers to ask why they’re moving a certain way, not just how.
What to know going in: contemporary classes vary widely depending on the instructor and school. Some are highly technical; others lean toward improvisation and concept-driven work. If a student is drawn to storytelling through movement and wants room to develop a personal voice, contemporary is often where that happens.
Musical theater dance is exactly what it sounds like: movement designed to serve a story on stage. It pulls from ballet, jazz, tap, and contemporary depending on the production, and it sits within a broader performance context that includes acting and singing.
What musical theater builds: stage presence, versatility, performance instinct, and the ability to hold character through movement. It’s high-energy, collaborative, and built around connecting with an audience.
What to know going in: musical theater dance rewards performers — students who are drawn to the full experience of being on stage, not just the movement itself. It’s a strong fit for kids who love drama class as much as dance class.
Here’s a simple way to think about it:
If the student… | Consider… |
Wants strong technical foundations | Ballet |
Is drawn to creative expression | Contemporary |
Loves performing and storytelling | Musical Theater |
Isn’t sure yet | Start with ballet or a combo class |
The honest answer is that most serious dancers end up training in more than one style. Aylin Noelle Awbrey‘s own training spans all three, and that breadth is part of what gives her work its range — technical precision grounded in expressive intention, with the performance instincts that come from musical theater built in.
Whatever the starting point, the most important thing is finding a style that keeps the student engaged and coming back. Passion is the prerequisite. Technique follows from there.