The Body Language of Ballet

When I read the following article about the growing popularity of ballet-based workouts, I thought about how Body Language applies some of the same principles:

From "Lining Up to the Barre" in the New York Times: "EVEN if you never intend to dance onstage at Lincoln Center, like Natalie Portman’s character in “Black Swan,” you probably want to look as if you do (minus, of course, her stab wound). Women have long coveted sinewy arms, high and tight derrières, lean legs and a regal posture. Now, in search of this shape, many of them are ditching yoga and Pilates and lining up at the ballet barre. There are at least 10 ballet-based workout studios in New York City and countless others across the country, like Pure Barre or the Bar Method. Even chain gyms like Equinox have added barre-centered classes to their lineup. There’s no sign of the curtain falling anytime soon. Even FlyWheel, the popular spinning classes, added FlyBarre in December. “Barre methods were popular before ‘Black Swan,’” said Mahri Relin, the head instructor at FlyBarre. “But then they were touted as something that made you look like a dancer, and that’s made them even more popular.”.....       

A lot of the movement we do in Body Language classes is what dancers do. When we do resistance training with full-extension movements, you not only improve the elasticity of the muscles but also strengthen the connective tissue and bone density. Body Language classes also help you work on your coordination and core strength, as in dance. So when you are in your next Body Language class, you can consider how you are maximizing your overall fitness, both physical and mental.~Jerome