Monday, May 19, 2014

Happy Monday to the Ballerinas

In honour of its latest ballet, Imperial Suite (a double bill featuring US and French choreographers), the Australian Ballet commissioned a series of pictures dedicated to ballet in the theme of the loveable Paris vs New York: A Tale of Two Cities.


Speaking of ballet, I feel obliged to tell you about my current Fitness Obsession (if you count attendance on a once per week basis an "obsession"...)

Xtend Barre in all its variations (there are so many now that the craze has caught on - Ballet Burn, CardioBarre whatever you want to call it) in a nutshell combines ballet with pilates.  But Barre is so much more than that. It's ballet exercises (the tedious ones we used to hate when we were petite ballerinas itching to put our pointe shoes on) to pop music. It's arm toning without the muscle tees and 'roid boys watching from the corner. It's pilates without feeling bored, and most of all it's fun! 


While you don't wear a tutu, you don't feel any less of a hardcore ballerina as you sweat through your plies. Images of Natalie Portman's dedicated Black/White Swan aren't far from your thoughts as you point your toes, centre your hips and hold and lift your leg that inch ever-higher. It's a great, low-impact workout, that I truly believe gives you great results. Dubbed one of the Victoria's Secret angels' best kept workout secrets for years, the cat is truly out of the bag these days - I highly recommend getting yourself to a class!


The other great thing about Barre is that if you don't have access to a studio class , you can get a DVD of workouts and do it at home with the aid of a chair, 2 x 1kg weights and a pilates ball - it's that easy!

There are studios all over Australia, so there are no excuses (although quality of instructors is highly variable). I went to a fantastic studio in Toowong, Brisbane and in Adelaide I absolutely love Aleenta Barre in the East end of the city. As barre-devotees would say - meet you at the barre.


And finally, I think we can finish our Monday on this note:


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