Ballet Buns! (And abs and arms)

Yesterday, the athletic club I teach at offered a free training for "Ballet Burn," a new class we're bringing to our schedule that incorporates basic ballet moves with weights, equipment, and weight-bearing exercises.


I'm so excited!

I haven't practiced ballet in several years, but quickly the plies, tondus, and changements quickly came back to me.


Ballet Burn finds its origins in the New York City Ballet Workout, with the addition of light hand-held weights and any other fun equipment you can dream up, as long as the exercises are based on basic ballet positions and moves. It's NOT meant to be a ballet class. It's a FITNESS class :) Think 32 releves, hitting the calves, glutes, quads, even the arms and shoulders with all that port de bras.

Here's a great video to give a good idea of "Ballet Burn":

The great thing about possibly teaching this new ballet burn class for the instructor is that it really encourages creativity, modifying known exercises to incorporate the grace and fluidity of ballet, and creating combinations of plies, tondus, bat mas, etc. to challenge balance and strength. It's a much softer, almost pilates-like counterpart to the high-intensity Spinning and BodyPump classes that I'm used to teaching.

Does your gym have any ballet-inspired fitness classes? If so, do your instructors use any great combinations or exercises that you love? I need some inspiration in creating my first Ballet Burn class!