Happy New Year!

Hello....

Hope your 2012 is starting off bright!

So good to be back in the studio.  Esther was full of energy after the break and class
was a vigorous!  Lovely to meet Margot's daughter Lydie...Esther does love to stir it up, goading us to be competitive and trying to stoke up little rivalries....sometimes we are all like school girls!  Great fun though....and it does get us working our hardest (and yes, I almost always rise to the bait...and yes, Lydie is a natural!).

It seems that most of us who are regulars to class (some could say devoted) have a certain determination and drive.  We seem to thrive under Esther's whip and want to be our best.  Funny how some of us just get hooked....

Esther and I were speaking today about how the exercises are about empowering women to feel sensual for themselves, to feel good about themselves. She said Lotte loved to know that she was firm and toned and that she would please her lovers...and be able to enjoy them more for being in such great shape!  It was about more than that, though.  It was about being strong yet feminine, having a body that you were the master of and that served you well, and the confidence that comes from that.  How wonderful to enjoy having your body, to feel great walking down the street, putting on clothes,  just moving.  Grace, suppleness, strength: the dancer's joy in her body can belong to us.  It can be ours with just a little dedication.

What a wonderful gift.

Today's exercise:

                                                         

1. Stand sideways to barre, outside leg lifted, knee bent to the side and toe pointed at the standing leg.
2. Fold the lifted knee across the body towards the barre.
3. Open your leg out to the original position then stretch your leg keeping your thigh high, really feel the stretch, toe pointed.
4. Bend your lower leg in again and start at the beginning.  Across-back- stretch-bend. Repeat ten times.
5. The last time hold the leg out in the stretch position.  Really feel the stretch.  Hold it there.  Now teensy little bend-stretch, bend-stretches.
6. Repeat on the other side!
7. Well done!
Put your hand on the top of your thigh as you do this and boy, will you feel the muscle working! Make sure you keep your hips square and centred.   The work you do to keep your standing leg and hips in the correct position is as important as the work your 'busy' leg is doing! This is a big part of the effectiveness of the method - the small but intense work your muscles do in the tension between where your body wants to go and where you are telling it to!