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The pink and silver tutu was purchased for an unspeakable price from a professional ballet company and was considered a prized possession of my hometown studio. I was the fifth or sixth ballerina to wear it as the Sugar Plum Fairy. None of us were permitted to sit down while in the costume. I was seventeen. More
Wearing a purple jewel toned leotard and gray legwarmers, Mary Helen Bowers is stretched out in front of her laptop on the floor of her airy, white-on-white loft space on Greene Street. Her elegant, exclamation-point legs, lift and lower, lift and lower, and go on for days. I know this because we’re doing a live streaming Ballet Beautiful workout, and she’s coming through my laptop. More
Grace, beauty, and poise. Not necessarily words you’d associate with working out—unless you’re a ballerina, that is. I’m a recent convert to ballet and barre classes, because I love a challenging workout combined with a bit of artistry; I always hold my head a little higher and my back a little straighter as I leave ballet class. My new obsession? Ballet Beautiful.
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Ballet dancers are known for their graceful bodies, incredible poise…and their gross feet. Check out the picture of this professional ballerina dancer’s extremely-painful looking, callused and bruised feet. Awww/ewww, right? Dancing 8-10 hours a day takes a toll on everything: skin, bones, tendons, nails. More
• Want your yoga mat to last? Don’t do these three gross things with it (FitSugar)
• Among the reasons why a woman might want to get pregnant, skipping work is probably one of the worst (The Stir)
• Why having a fit mom totally rocks (HuffPost Healthy Living)
• Are you a safe cyclist? Most people aren’t–four out of five bike riders don’t wear helmets (GOOD)
• Ballet dancers from the Royal Ballet are speaking out about the prevalence of eating disorders (BBC)
• Dairyface: a line of skincare products that require refrigeration (because it’s made of–you guessed it–dairy!) (Well & Good)
The Refine Method might be associated with some of the “core” and “barre” fitness methods that have become popular since last year’s “Black Swan,” but founder Brynn Jinnett doesn’t want it to be that way: According to a recent interview, she thinks that most ballet-inspired workouts are misleading, providing little benefit for students who hope to achieve lithe bodies similar to the dancers’ who teach the class. If this sounds familiar, it’s probably because a lot of people are starting to pipe up about the questionable benefits of workouts that don’t have you lifting weights, especially if your goal is to make significant changes to your size or shape. More
“The Tragedy of the First Position” has been making its rounds on the internet, and we highly recommend taking a mental health break for it. We feel for this girl, we really do. Not only is ballet difficult; so is yoga, pilates, lifting weights…hell, even getting on a treadmill trips us up half the time. Unfortunately for us, struggling with physical exercise isn’t nearly as adorable when you’re a fully grown woman and your instructor expects your mental agility to reflect it, but this girl definitely has age and charm on her side: More
More Black Swan Workouts — If you’re obsessed with getting Natalie Portman’s Black Swan physique, you can sign up for ballet classes with Mary Helen Bowers (her teacher) online. But surely everyone is sick of trying to look like a calorie-deprived ballerina, right? (Well + Good NYC)
Natalie Portman’s dramatic weight loss and ballet training for Black Swan is getting almost as much attention as the movie, inspiring an entire fitness craze centered around ballet-inspired workouts. We’ve investigated whether Pure Barre workouts can get you Natalie Portman’s body, but New York Post reporter Mary Huhn went hardcore, mimicking Portman’s 1,200-calorie per day diet and workout routine with the goal of losing five pounds and toning up in time for her wedding. The results? As you can see above, she looks pretty good, but admits that it was tough to stick with the low calorie count. More
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Emily Blunt’s Ballet Workouts – The actress tells Women’s Health about the training routine that got her a ballet dancer’s body for her upcoming film, The Adjustment Bureau. (FitSugar)
Butter That Doesn’t Burn – Cooking would be way easier if our food would never burn, but flame retardants in butter? No thanks. (New York Times)
Mo Money Mo Problems – Turns out Notorious was onto something, according to a new survey showing that the recession has strengthened many marriages. (USA Today) More
You always read about the total-body transformation that celebrities undergo for their roles in movies. But what’s it really like to physically prepare for a Hollywood production?
In Darren Aronofsky’s recently released “Black Swan,” Natalie Portman plays a principal ballerina of a leading dance company. In order to play the part of a professional dancer, Natalie trained with Mary Helen Bowers (left), a former City Ballet dancer, for months leading up to the film. Last week, I had the chance to take a one-on-one lesson with Mary Helen to find out exactly what kind of workout regime Natalie took on for her physically intensive role. More
If you’re like us, you’re not an expert at boxing or ballet, though you secretly daydream about being skilled at both. Here’s where the Aerobarre fitness routines come in — they combine fat-blasting moves of boxing with ballet barre technique to achieve a high-intensity workout.
We’re so oddly intrigued by this combination that we’re going to try it. Luckily, we don’t have to dish out big bucks to join AeroSpace, the gym behind the workout. We can just buy the DVD. Check out the video and let us know if you’d be into pairing your grand jetĂ©s with your left jabs. More
