Contemporary Ballet Workshop
With Alyssa Scocco — October 9, 16, 23 & 30, 2026
What makes movement feel like it means something?
Contemporary Ballet Workshop explores ballet technique as a tool for expression, investigating how dynamics, musicality, and contrast can transform movement from technically correct into emotionally specific. Each class will begin with a ballet-based warm-up before moving into athletic contemporary ballet phrase work where dancers can put those ideas into practice.
Throughout the series, we’ll play with weight, timing, resistance, suspension, attack, texture, musical syncopation, and expansive port de bras. Particular attention will be given to contrast: how shifting between qualities can create tension, anticipation, surprise, and emotional clarity within a phrase. Rather than relying on “acting” or facial expression alone to communicate feeling, we’ll explore how emotion and narrative can live directly inside the dynamics of movement.
Classwork will bend familiar ballet structures through unexpected timing, port de bras, and tricky movement patterns, challenging dancers to stay mentally sharp rather than relaxing into the familiarity of a traditional ballet class. Think of it as a movement laboratory: build technical control, investigate the choices available within ballet technique, and discover how breaking the rules can open up new possibilities. Each class will feature new phrase work, allowing dancers to use choreography as a space to experiment with ideas explored that day.
This workshop is designed for intermediate to advanced dancers. A strong ballet foundation and comfort picking up choreography will be helpful, but all dancers who are curious, open to experimentation, and ready for a challenge are strongly encouraged to join!
Sliding Scale $10-$30 +HST.
Alyssa Scocco
Contemporary Ballet Workshop
Alyssa Scocco is a Toronto-born dance artist, choreographer, and educator with extensive training in classical ballet and contemporary dance. She began her training at Danzarts Toronto before studying for three years at Canada’s National Ballet School. She later trained at Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts while performing with ACE Dance Theatre’s Junior Company, where she danced for four years. In the summer of 2023, she joined Ballet Jörgen’s Junior Company. During her competitive training, Alyssa was named 2nd Runner-Up in Contemporary and placed in the Top 12 in Classical Ballet at Youth America Grand Prix Toronto.
Alyssa is currently a dancer and choreographer with the University of Toronto Varsity Dance Team, where she continues to develop her choreographic voice alongside her performance practice. Her choreographic interests centre on emotional specificity and narrative, drawing on the precision and physicality of her ballet training while exploring the freedom and individuality of contemporary movement.
As a teacher, Alyssa is interested in the space between discipline and passion. She values rigorous technical training not as an end in itself, but as a foundation that allows dancers to make more intentional, expressive, and individual artistic choices. Through teaching and choreography, she hopes to create environments that challenge dancers while encouraging agency and a genuinely curious approach to movement.
A FIVE-MONTH PROGRAM FOR ARTISTS TO CULTIVATE A NEW TEACHING PRACTICE.
This program is built on the belief that teaching is a practice—one that is deepened through experience, trial and error, observation, feedback and shared experiences. Our facilitators are the face of The Fifth and represent the spirit of our community: growth, bravery, and connection.
We are so proud of this cohort and cannot wait to see what they facilitate over the next eight months. We encourage you to come to their classes, offer your energy, and be part of this year’s Emerging Practice Cohort at The Fifth Dance.