Ballet Fitness

This ballet-inspired DVD is chaptered as follows: Swan Lake Arms (10 minutes), Firebird Core, Belly & Back (10 minutes), Nutcracker Hips, Butt & Thighs (15 minutes), Coppela (I think that’s how it was spelled) Legs (15 minutes), Cinderella Dance (10 minutes), Sleeping Beauty Relax & Stretch (5 minutes) – times are approximate.

Swan Lake arms begins with overhead arm reaches, with added plies, shoulder rolls, neck rolls, and full body rolls. This changes to shoulder rolls with side stretches, then arm reaches to side stretch to flat back stretch. We do some arm circles before moving to the floor for tricep dips, push-ups (she calls them press-ups), and a stretch. I thought the side stretches were very graceful. The voiceover was okay; it’s not my favorite thing, but at least the instructor mirror-cued.

Firebird begins on the floor, with frog legs (extending legs out, then bringing them back with feet together), single leg stretches (although she called them “bicycles”), oblique crunches, leg lifts, C-curve sit-ups, Pilates roll-ups, push-ups (she calls them press ups), swimming arms, and superman pose. Stretches here include child’s pose and cat/cow. I really liked the quiet, jazzy music.

Nutcracker starts with hydrant leg lifts (on knees, lift leg out to side, add side extension) followed by donkey kicks with extensions. She says to lower to your elbows if your wrists start getting sore. It’s helpful for beginners to get this type of “permission.” I noticed she didn’t work both side *exactly* the same. We move onto our sides for inner thigh lifts. She places her foot BEHIND the bottom leg so she can alternate an inner thigh lift with a leg-to-chest move. I am used to placing my foot IN FRONT of my bottom leg to prevent rocking onto my back hip – and I can’t be sure, but it looked to me like may have she rolled onto her own back hip. We sit up for a brief butterfly stretch, then move to the other side. Back on our side, we do leg lifts and a bicycle move before two brief stretches. I would have liked a reverse bicycle move as well, but I did that on my own anyway instead of the stretches.

Coppella starts with plies with overhead arms., then slow plies – after the previous mat work, I really felt these! Next we move into releves (up on toes) with stretched arms. I was disappointed she did not lift to the beat of the music; this is a pet peeve of mine, but I just lifted to the beat on my own. This is followed by lunges and a knee lift with added extension (full leg lift), then curtsy lunges with a passé and extension (foot to inside knee, then leg extends outward.) After doing both side and a quick back stretch, we move on to rear attitudes (rear kicks with bent knee) and arabesque lifts (straight leg lifts.) While the instructor used a chair, I didn’t want to drag mine out for these few exercises – I placed my hand against the wall and I was just fine.

Cinderella Dance begins with rear Arabesques (straight leg lifts) that transition to rear attitudes (lifts with bent knee) on one side, then the other. She does more plies and relevees (again not on the beat) followed by side steps with front passés and attitudes to rear Arabesque lifts. She made this look very fluid and graceful.

Sleeping Beauty begins with forward fold to modified chair pose, then down to the mat for cat/cow stretches. We sit up straight for seated butterfly and wide leg stretches, and transition to pigeon stretches and spinal twists. We finish on our backs with lifted leg stretches.

I really enjoyed the targeted ballet-infused exercises. The instructor’s voice was very soft and calm; sometimes too soft. There were times when it disappeared into the background music and I missed her cues. The background was pleasant (large room, exposed beams, twinkle lights) and I liked the classical background music. This would be a good addition to anyone’s ballet fitness repertoire.

Debbie J

This is a 68 minute ballet & pilates toning workout led by Nicky McGinty. The workout is filmed in voice over in a studio and Nicky works out alone. You will need a chair and a mat for this workout. This dvd is chaptered and includes a music only option.

The dvd contains 5 distinct sections, each utilizing different exercises and different music. You will move through flowing routines that include pliets with arm movements, lying floor work that targets the buns & thighs, standing knee raises, glute pinches, side steps, arabesque, and concludes with a stretch.

Nicky provides detailed cuing and is very graceful! This is high beginner routine that is perfect for someone that would like to try a ballet fitness workout. Great for lighter days and I look forward to more from Nicky. I received this dvd to review.

lindseylu

NOTE: I received this DVD as part of a set to review for the web site Metapsychology Online Reviews.

British native Nicky McGinty had a background as a dancer and choreographer before she trained in India to become a certified yoga instructor. She has studied in various styles of yoga, including Kundalini, Ashtanga, Jivamukti, and Vinyasa Flow. In this DVD, McGinty instructs alone in a large indoor studio via voiceover. Although the DVD case says that there are six 10-minute routines, the lengths of the practices actually vary more significantly as noted on the Main Menu:

Play All (60 mins.)
Swan Lake: Arms (10 mins.)
Firebird: Core, Belly and Back (10 mins.)
The Nutcracker: Hips, Butt and Inner Thighs (15 mins.)
Coppelia: Legs, Ankles and Feet (16 mins.)
Cinderella/Dance Expression (7 mins.)
Sleeping Beauty: Stretch and Relax (6 mins.)

By the title, I expected the first section to be an arms workout; instead it is more of a gentle warm-up, with some arms moves (arm circles, floor dips, and "press ups" aka push-ups) thrown in for approximately the final three minutes. The core segment includes pelvic tilts, bicycles, scissors, seated dips, full situps, side twists, more push-ups (plank) with knee dips, locust/swimming, and cat/cow. For the Nutcracker, McGinty begins working on all-fours for a series of hydrant-style leg lifts. She also performs a side-lying series for the inner thighs, including lifts and bicycles. The next section is standing and uses a chair for work from a ballet first position as well as balance work. For the Cinderella routine, many of the moves are similar, but they are more free-flowing and performed without use of the chair. There are also additional exercises such as arabesque, attitude, pliés, relevés, slow knees, and sways. For the final stretch, McGinty starts standing in a crouch and then moves into cat/cow stretches. She finishes with lying hamstring work and a brief final stretch.

I generally enjoy ballet workouts, but this one felt too uneven to me--sometimes more like Pilates, sometimes too slow, etc. McGinty is pleasant enough and instructs well; I simply did not click with her in this workout.

Beth C (aka toaster)