If you have time to go to Equinox @ 19th during lunch, you must check out Dancer’s Body. From the title, I figured the class would be dancing, but when I walked in to see yoga mats and shoeless people, I didn’t know what to expect, so I followed suit. I took off my shoes, grabbed two different medicine balls and plopped myself on the mat while waiting for the instructor, Dante Englebright, to arrive.
Starting out on the floor we went through about fifteen minutes of abdominal exercises and then gradually moved into floor work with exercise that incorporated pointing and flexing your toes while raising and lowering your legs—my abs and quadriceps were definitely feeling this. Before standing up, we went into plank position, push ups and side plank for over a minute. And FYI, a minute like this is a long time; sweat was dripping down my forehead. The rest of the class was a mix of basic ballet moves including first position, second position, plié, passé. A lot of these moves were done using the yoga block or a towel under your foot to help it slide, and required balance, concentration and a lot of leg strength. Basic they may be, but it was hard and I’m pretty sure I looked funny when I couldn’t balance one foot on the block while lifting the other leg behind me for a not-so-smooth transition into a plié.
Having tried many conditioning classes before, this is by far my favorite and from someone who has never tried ballet, I now know why ballerinas have such amazingly muscular legs. This class was really great and I will definitely go back.
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