New Ideas from Dance Festival

It was tough to choose which of the many interesting classes to take at the recent Dance Alliance Dance+23 Festival! It’s a perfect time for dancers and non-dancers to try a new dance or fitness class. Or to study from a teacher that you’ve never danced with before.

I decided to go with the classes that are closest to the type that I teach. That enables me bring new ideas, choreography, and technique tips to my students.

The Intro to Pilates class with Meghan Del Prete, owner of Reform, A True Pilates Studio, was amazing! I’ve taken Pilates classes with several different instructors and I took a Pilates instructor training workshop last month, so I have some Pilates experience. The class with Meghan was very basic, but with Pilates, it never hurts to review the basics. You don’t need to do more advanced Pilates with tons of repetitions if you are “scooping” correctly. And Meghan made sure that we had the proper placement. The class was small, so we received a lot of individual attention. She also recommended a couple of her favorite Pilates principles books:

I also had the opportunity to take two classes with Miranda Weese, retired New York City Ballet Principal Dancer and current co-owner of Zume Fitness.  The first was an intermediate ballet class. I enjoyed the class, but must admit that it was  challenging. I teach lots of ballet classes, but it’s not the same as taking a class. I definitely walked away with lots of ideas for my classes, though. The combinations were tricky and fast, which made you think and quickly react. And Miranda spent a lot of time showing how important it is to turnout.

The second class that Miranda taught was Stretch for Dancers. She mentioned that she doesn’t usually stretch for an hour, but took all of her favorite stretches and put them together for the class. She included some stretches that I have never done before. In addition she included extra tips for some of the stretches I’m familiar with. It’s amazing how adding one little thing makes the exercise more effective! It was the perfect way to end a long day of dancing and teaching.

I wasn’t able to take a fourth class, since I taught a Balletone class.  That was exciting because I was able to share the workout with many people who had never tried it before. One student was 92 years old and she was able to do the whole hour class!

I walked away with many tidbits to share with my students. It was a wonderful event and I can’t wait to see what next year’s event brings. I do have to admit that I’m a wee bit sore!