Types of ballet-related exercise

[alison]

I was reading this article http://www.thestage.co.uk/columns/en-pointe/2014/01/can-ballet-body/ from Today's Links, and wondered what you thought (if you know anything at all) about the various types of class mentioned here?  (In particular, would they work, and might they be at all dangerous?)

[Anjuli_Bai]

Unfortunately, for me the link didn't load in.

 

edited to say - it just did load in......now I'm reading it.

 

Just like anything else - the safety of it depends upon one's state of health and conditioning.  And - how it is taught and how the class is supervised and the level of expertise of the presenter.

 

the bottom line is - as for anything  - we are each the guardians of our own bodies.

Edited January 8, 2014 by Anjuli_Bai

[mimi66]

I haven't tried them, but had a peek at one of the barre thing while waiting for my ballet class.

 

I think it really depends on who teaches.  My understnding is that you don't need to be qualified to teach ballet to teach those excercises...

[Michelle_Richer]

Hi mimi66

 

I've just had a quick glance through and see Extend Barre, one of the girls from one of my classes who is a qualified ballet teacher in her own right, but joins us. She did qualify recently in Extend Barre, I'm not sure if it was here or in the US. That how it was introduced by our regular ballet teacher. The Ballet School now offers Extend Barre, I did do a couple of sessions as that was offered while our regular teacher was away for a couple of weeks. It was fun and quite cardio.

[mimi66]

I totally agree with Anjuli's post (my post was written before she edited hers).

 

When I had a peek at the baree thing (there are a few trademarked names, I don't know which) I wasn't impressed at all. Then it was the same with the photo on one of those barre things' web site - my body started to hurt just by looking at those photos - no attention to body alignments whatsoever. 

 

Having said that much, I don't think I can say what I really think of majority of those exercises classes in this forum... because there is a market out there  - at least it get them out of their house, having other people around, move about and feeling better about themselves - , and hopefully they get bored and move on to other latest fad before they damage their bodies. The fact that they get a bit of walk getting to the car park is probably better than not moving at all.

 

I cannnot help thinking that the majority of those ballet - theme classes are targeted for those who love that slim body, grace and poise of a professional ballet dancer and who believe those are attainable by merely going to those classes  - without years of traininig (15 yrs+) from childhood.  ("Why not, we pay £5 pounds  after all... where is the customer satisfaction?")

 

But of couse, if taught well, I would do them. For instance I started to go to Zumba to do a bit of areobic exercise (I hate running and can't swim well enough to make it a propper exercise), but only because the instructor was clearly a propperly trained dancer.  It turned out that she was actually a graduate of a famous ballet school who joined a equally famous ballet company, but gave up ballet completely (which I understand ) due to injury.  She tells me "not to sit on the bottom" when we do squat like movement from the parallel 2nd with body contructions with some zouk music - now that's priceless!

Edited January 9, 2014 by mimi66

[Picturesinthefirelight]

The students in the upper school where dh who choose not to do a levels are offered a Zumba teaching qualification instead.

 

I guess it's another string to their bow