BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Some local students are enjoying their spring break this week at Shea’s dance camp.

It’s the first time Shea’s has offered a camp fully dedicated to dance.

Campers are learning all kinds of different dances everything from hip hop to salsa.

“I do a lot of ballet, and so I wanted to kind of diversify my dance a bit for this break, and I really like ballet and I don’t want to leave it but I think its good to have like lots of different dance so I can apply it to my ballet too,” camper Yannick Franquesa Werner said.

Director Naila Ansari said learning several styles of dance can help lay a foundation for anyone who wants to pursue musical theater.

“The more that you’re learning chorography, the more you’re learning about the techniques, the easier it is in auditions to pick up quickly the easier it is for you to understand, recognize something for a show you want to go for and audition say, ‘I know that movement and technique, I feel a little bit more confident in being in the space,'” she said.

Each day starts with a warm up, learning technique, then applying it to their final presentations.

Classes are taught by some of Buffalo’s best instructors with genres like Afro Caribbean, tap, hip-hop, salsa, and more.

“I wanted to try something new, like I do dance at a studio, but I just needed a little push, a little more because they have basics there but I wanted to try different dances like samba and all types of different cultural dances,” said camper Natalia Jimenez.

They’ll perform their final dances for family and friends at a showcase Friday.

Ansari said she hopes students walk away feeling more confident and able to incorporate dance with singing and acting.

“A lot of these forms are really new for them and to be able to feel like, ‘oh wow I did this,’ to be able to go from day one trying to learn what the step is to day five that they understand what it is and what it feels like in their body, in conjunction with the history that they understand that these dance forms are really important to musical theater world, they’re important to the dance world, they’re important to everybody in terms of telling stories.”

There are also summer camps coming up at Shea’s and registration for those will be open by the end of the week.

Kayla Green is a reporter who has been part of the News 4 team since 2021. See more of her work here.