Anyone into Ballet workouts?

cinza

Active Member
i was just standing around doing some ballet leg work for the fun of it... thinking this stuff is really fantastic for the backside....


Has anyone tried Ballet workout videos...
 
I'm also interested in this question. I've read the reviews on BalletBootCamp on videofitness.com and saw that it had several negative reviews. However, alot of the negative was about the instructor kinda looking nervous. Stuff like that doesn't bother me - I only care about the fun factor of the workout and the effectiveness. NYC Ballet is very new (I believe) and I couldn't find much info on it. The Media Play near me has it for sale for a good price, so I'm curious if it's any fun.
Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamed of taking ballet classes. This would be a way to do it, without needing a babysitter or being embarassed in a class. LOL!
 
Cinza, you are the only person I know who would be standing around doing ballet exercise for the fun of it! By the way, I was finally able to bring your page up & saw your picture - you are a beautiful lady! And my husband thinks so too.

I have the tape Balletcise (SP?) For Beginners. I have occasionally used that or ballet leg work from books or articles. I enjoyed it & think that it added to my general fitness knowledge, but I can't say I would be attracted to it as a permanent thing. I just don't see where I could fit it in right now! However, I may feel the desire to do it once a week or so in a few months.

Obviously with your dance background & from what you've said, you enjoy it. What exercises do you do exactly? Do you have a book or tape which you work from?

Ruth
 
i dont use a tape... I took so many years of ballet, its in my blood to stand around doing leg work...

its all fabulous.
if you want to give it a try, i hear the New YOrk City ballet workout is great.. I havent gotten myself to buy it yet.. but i will if one more person tells me they like it.

for your backside do all the barre leg work... really give each move your best effort..... keep your hips straight ahead at the expense of height and you will really work hips and backside.

form!! form form..!! make it as hard as you can !!...keep those hips staight ahead and level!!
any move with the leg behind is good ... those plies are great.. keep pelvis tucked...and always pretend you have a quarter between your cheeks!! dont let it drop! (thats straight from my teachers mouth..not mine :) )

I think ballet dancers have the most beautiful bodies of all.. they get all the defination and are limber in every direction and delicate as a thread of silver and tough as steel... their bodies are beautiful forever.....
but of course they dont get to be ballerina's if they dont have the right body in the first place...

I dont have the right body ... but i am a dancer at heart anyway. Dance is public domain ...its a shame people dont get to really do it unless they are long and lean..
I think all the arts have been stolen from the People..

hear!!! hear!!!
Give the arts back to the People!!

i wish we lived in a world where people could sing like they used to before only good singers were tolerated....
Oh goodness... listen to me ramble!!
 
Girl, you are so much fun! Thanks for all the hints, you sparked my interest again - oh well, what's one more workout?

Can one do barre work effectively without a barre? I have no barre, & no mirror either. I have to guess if I'm doing anything right.

And I agree with everything you said - it's the children who know how to live, just watch them!
 
no barre nec...
a barre really is needed for certain stretches over the leg... after that balancing with a hand on a chair and then with no hand on anything.....its very doable.....
just keep those hips level and straight!
I KNOW i said that 2001 times already!
and if you do any turn out keep your knees over your toes.....
modern dancers dont worry about turn out... its hard on the hips... but a little is great for working on the backside because a turn out comes from the hip not the knee .. and its the back of the hip...that holds the leg turned out.
gluteus medius i think...

thanks for all the nice things you say!
 
...and thanks for all your help. I just read a review of the New York Ballet video you mentioned in the latest Fit Magazine. They gave it ***** out of *****. Thought you might be interested. P.S. I found the Troy site.
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON May-18-01 AT 11:33AM (Est)[/font][p]
thanks..
do you like body bars?
the body bars on the troy site are cheaper than anywhere i have seen them... I love mine... i dont really know anything special to do with it other than what is obvious and i make up stuff for stretching.

I am off to portland today..
Portland is an incrdible little city.... I go two hours to portland as often as i can just for fun.
as you drive on the highway to portland you see white covered mountains.... Mount St Hellen, Mount Hood , I think Mount Washington...
Mount Hood is a perfect conical mountain that sits smack dap center to the city..... If you live down town in any high builing facing east you might see a large river and mount hood just like a post card.....
Portland has a nice small urban skyscape... good food..fun shopping...interesting neighbohoods... renovated historic old areas... I would like to live there....

see ya later
hey..
Got 3 perfect bubble busters for me?
 
Hi Cinza,

I love my body bar but it's only 12 lbs. I would rather have a heavier one, & will get one soon - will check out the prices on Troy site. Right now am saving to get a new barbell set, saw one I really liked on Title Sports site. By the way, have you seen the mini body bar - Collage has it - I believe it was specifically made for a stretching routine?

You make Portland sound so beautiful - that is the one area of the country I have never seen, & I really want to someday. I have to say, I am so tired of where I am! That may be for a lot of emotional reasons though. I'm not sure.

I'll have you know I did 6 perfect bubble busters!! The rest were not what I would call perfect though. I broke down & ordered the pushup handle bars because they're really cheap & being a new toy, they will probably make me more interested in doing the pushups!

I appreciate very much all the info you posted on ballet type leg work - I've already been practicing & also looking for the book I've used in the past which was pretty good.

Take care, Ruth
 
Hey!

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON May-19-01 AT 09:32PM (Est)[/font][p]
hmm... how about sending the site for the barbell you like.....

do you have one already or is this a first? i want a heavier body bar too...(its so much fun talking to people with the same obsession!!! :D

I went lingerie shopping yesterday ... I saw myself from behind in a well lit 3 way mirror, i immediately dropped all the lingerie and ran from the store!!!

luckily though..
I was visiting my sweetie yesterday evening.. (who does not know i have been doing major remodelling on the back porch )and he commented with complete selfish appreciation at what a nice backside i have....

(ok, the lights were dim... but what the heck... i dont know that he has ever said it quite that way before ! I thought it best just to take his word..

but after what i saw at the store ... i am adding some new torture to my routine.
This is war!
i am going to isolate the tush with either a gym machine or resistance tubing and work it directly with lifting back and up with my leg while holding the hips secure .. just like ballet but with a ton or two added!

:)
 
RE: Hey!

Cinza, thank you for my first laugh today! Now you know we women are much harder on ourselves than men are - it is notoriously easy to please a man with the female shape! But seriously, if he made mention of it he's probably seeing something you aren't. :) However, having said that, a foray into a dressing room right now would send me screaming into the night!!

The site you asked about (I don't know how to do those purple thingies) is just www.titlesports.com They have a lot of neat stuff!

Yes, I already have a barbell, but I don't have a full set of plates and don't like the barbell anyway. It was inherited from my brother YEARS ago when he lived with us & then moved out. My problem is I want too many things! I want a high step, I want a new barbell set, I want more body bars, I want a medicine ball, I want a fitness ball - are you starting to see an "I want" theme here?! Oh, and lest we forget, I want a barre, a full length mirror to check form, & TONS of exercise videos I don't have yet! I'm sure I left something out. The funny thing is, I have a treadmill, an exercise bike, and a cross country ski machine, & hardly ever go near them. (They were all inherited too, except the treadmill which I paid for with blood sweat & tears!)

Darn it, your ballet work is starting to really intrigue me! It's starting to remind me of the great results I got from it long ago. Also, it just feels good to do, doesn't it? And I still haven't worked pilates into my schedule! I may just have to quit work! }> Yeah right!

Let me know how your war is going!

Ruth
 
RE: Hey!

Thanks for being sweet!

now for your drastic list of "I wants"..
I noticed the stuff you want is small potatoes compared to the stuff you have inherited and dont use..

how about recycling some of your equiptment you dont use and spending the money on what you want?

i justify buying lots of stuff by selling lots of stuff.. i love buying used and then selling it for as much as i bought it for!! I have alot of fun experimenting for free.


I do alot on ebay.... as a matter of fact the dress i was wearing in that photo you saw just sold for 400.00 ...

I sold a trench coat that i had in my closet for 14 years for over 300... whew!! (that paid for my cat going in the hospital the day of the sale...)
I sold a bunch of Coach handbags i dug out from under the bed for anywhere from $70- $200...

i hunt for tapes on half.com, buy them, watch them, and if i dont think they are going to get alot of use, I sell them on ebay...

weird thing about ebay..people spend too much on some stuff.
a used Cathe tape can go for 18.00!! ... and then more for shipping... i am hunting for a firm Super Sculpting tape...and people are spending over 18.00!! when they cost 19.95 from the firm.

I just sold a Cathe tape i had watched once...(Circuit Max- i hate step) for 15.50 and i think i spent 12 at most because i had bought a bunch and got the discount and free shipping... so i made a few $ on that one....

I feel really guitly buying anything new ..... i tried buying the NYC Ballet tape at Barnes and Noble and felt so guilty i returned it within a few minutes without going home and opening it..!!
I am trying to force myself to go buy the ballet tape this weekend... and keep it!!
I doooo deserve it.... I dooo... really.....


now on the high step... you might recall i made one ...and it was easy.. and fun!! and incredibly stable.....if you want me to draw you a plan i will send you a how to do it.
 
About the tape...

Can anyone who has the NYC Ballet tape describe how much of it is leg work, and how much is "dancy stuff". I like pilates-style leg work, but am not into the dance part.
 
RE: About the tape...

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON May-20-01 AT 07:48PM (Est)[/font][p]you can see a sample clip of it on collagevideo.com

barnes and nobel sells the tape at the store for 14.95
thats the best price i have seen

i am pretty sure its all conditioning ....not dance ..
most of a ballet class is strenghtening and stretching..its very possible to never actually dance in a ballet class!
 
RE: About the tape...

Hi Cinza,

What a great idea, selling some of this stuff. I have more stuff than you could possibly imagine, most of it inherited. It just clutters up my life & has to periodically be cleaned or moved or tripped over or something! I've never sold anything on the net & don't really know how to use ebay, but I have a library book which is just about that, so will read it.

You KNOW you deserve to get that tape you want! It's not a lot of money & you will get so much use out of it. If you hate it, you will sell it! :-gloat

Thank you for offering the plans for the high step you built. You may recall that I cannot make anything even with plans, but my hubby has gamely agreed to give it a try. Thank you!

Take care, Ruth
 
step plans

ok
i will draw the plan today, scan them and get them off to you at your email this evening when i get home.
you can see what it is supposed to look like at "firmbelievers.com" called Fanny Lifter..

its easy..i landed having so much fun I made three sizes .. with very little loss of blood or fingers.


How about putting ads in a paper for your larger equiptment?
Shipping is a task for ebay sales.

Its almost summer maybe some people want to get in shape...
you can head your ad "LOOK GREAT in Naked " ;) (
The title of a book by Brad Schoenfeld...sounded good to me, I bought it!) .

Also if you wait and land up selling stuff in Winter... a lot of people make new years resolutions to get in shape and buy equiptment.

(and now they are selling it at garage sales! so its a good time to go hunting too!)

see ya..
c
 
RE: step plans

I wondered about shipping. I think I will try to sell the bigger stuff locally. We have a local thing I can advertise in for free.

You will probably have my email by now saying I got the plans. I'm really jazzed about it! I successfully downloaded, a new thing for me. I thought I lost it for awhile, but then found it. The first time I tried to do that I lost the file forever (although it's probably on my computer somewhere!), so am pleased I managed to get this one! I know I sound really green, that's because I am! Have only had computer for 3 or 4 months maybe, never used one before that.

Thank you again for all your good advice & for your time & trouble with the plans!

DROP & GIVE ME 20!!!

Ruth
 
RE: step plans

What!
20!!

Ohhhhhh its 6 am and i just got out of bed stiff as all get out from yesterdays workout! :-tired


what if i dont manage to get off the floor and get my son off to school..


Ok ...

i diiiiiiiiiid it, i can bearly reach the keyboard from the floor where i have melted to report back to you ...... ....

) .... Now your turn! 21! }> and i know you want each one to be perfect!

I got the ballet tape... as soon as i paid i tore the celophane so i could not go back and return it!! (if the word eccentric comes to your mind i forgive you....you wouldnt be the first to think that of me)

glad you were able to figure out how to find those plans!!

when the computer wants to know where to save a download to.... i scroll and select to save on the desktop... much easier

its almost check in time for the step ups!!! it went by fast....
I havent heard much from Debbie H...
Debbie are you near?

take care....
ps... you have only been on the computer several months and you found your way into the net and forum boards? cool!

ps...
I have a crush on a man in my body sculpting class....I was going to quit the class and move to the weight room for a more serious workout... but i have to go to class just to see if he ever says hello to me!
He has a fiance and is not someone who would get side tracked....
but
it motivates me to really do my best just having him there!!
 
Yes!

I'm alive and well! It has been a hectic past couple of weeks. This Friday-thru Monday we are getting company from out of town so it makes me nervous about getting my workouts in (without people gawking at me!! :-wow) Those step-ups and downs don't make me a pretty picture!! I actually just e-mailed Ruth today. She is lending me some tapes of MargaretR to try!! I've stayed VERY committed to our plan both with the step-ups and the push-ups. In fact, yesterday I did push-ups in class (more then 15!) and then did them again during PS-C,S &T's last night. So aren't I a good girl!? I can feel it today. I'm headed downstairs right now to do B,B & A's and then IMax, soooo IF I don't ever report back, you'll know why!! Have a great week!

Your-Friend-In-Fitness, DebbieH :)
"If You Get The Chance To Sit It Out Or Dance...I Hope You DANCE!!"
 
RE: Yes!

Who is Margaret R?

its hard to workout with people around...I have teens running in and out...and i am very selfconscious too ..
 

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