Many girls who spent extracurricular hours perfecting their pliés went on to drop ballet, unready or unwilling to trade in their slippers for pointe shoes. With their grade-school ballerina years behind them, those yearning for a lissome dancer’s body have sashayed over to ballet-inspired workouts. Through extensive stretching (an afterthought at many barre studios) and barre and mat work, these classes promise the sylphlike physique and defined musculature of a dancer without the rigorous training prescribed by classical ballet.
Here, we round up the best ballet-inspired classes across the country.
New York City
Ballet Beautiful
Responsible for whittling Natalie Portman down for her role in Black Swan, Mary Helen Bowers offers classes at her two Manhattan Ballet Beautiful studios. Those unable to join in person can also sculpt their swan arms with Bower’s DVDs or via a live one-on-one session.
Ballet and Body
In additional to ballet, tango, and ballroom dance classes, this sunlit boutique Upper East Side studio offers a Ballet Body Fitness class for those looking to develop lean dance muscles. Slippers optional.
Los Angeles
Ballet Bodies
This West Hollywood studio delivers on the promise of its name with a Ballet Sculpt class that combines mat Pilates, floor barre, and personal training.
Align Ballet Method
With seven locations scattered about Los Angeles, Align Ballet Method uniquely focuses on training adult beginners in classical ballet with a series of progressive classes. Students whose end goal is not a pair of pointe slippers can opt for the ballet-centric Barre class.
San Francisco
Avant Barre
Offered in two levels, Avant Barre’s signature class blends circuit training, deep stretching, and heart-pumping choreography for a full-body workout with ballet-body results.
Austin, Texas
Dancers Shape
Founded by a former Radio City Rockette, this studio offers a range of classes with a signature Shape Barre class focused on stretching and lengthening muscles.
Miami
Barrebox
This studio offers balletic workouts pairing two unlikely sports (ballet and boxing) in its Balletbox class, created by Barrebox founder and former prima ballerina Maria Teresa del Real.
Chicago
Mazi Dance Studio
With three locations in the Chicago area, Mazi’s extensive roster includes Ballerina Fight Club and Ballerina Bum Bootcamp classes to strength-train your way to a svelte figure.
Boston
Boston Ballet School
Among its lineup of classic dance courses for adults, the renowned Boston Ballet offers a Ballet Workout class aimed to give dance-body aspirants the strength, balance, and control exuded by its own ballerinas (whom you might pass on your way to class).
The post 9 Ballet-Inspired Workouts for a Dancer’s Body appeared first on Vogue.
No comments:
Post a Comment