Thursday, June 14, 2012

:: ballet beautiful ::

i've always been a huge fan of ballet.


but have hung up my dancing shoes a while back. in my recent years, i've been craving to get back to the barre, splits and practice my pointe again. of course, that's not quite happening right this moment but i've found a happy middle ground. 


ballet beautiful is a set of dvd workout videos that allows you to bring the ballet into your own home. 
taught by the gorgeous, mary helen bowers, whom i completely have a girl-crush on...
it's not too simple and the quality of work-out is just perfect for me.


she struts around in these adorable leotards and speak in such a charming way. 
(the husband does a great impersonation of her style of instruction) 
but she motivates me more than p90x. 
so there.


naturally, im avoiding abs exercises but i find myself still working up a sweat even with the floor and leg routines. i still don't look like mary helen bowers, in fact increasingly quite the opposite, but i'll definitely stick to this workout even after we have the little one. but i definitely recommend this one even for people with zero ballet training!


{via}

p.s. i made the husband do a few of the "blast" series 
(shorter intense workouts)
he found it difficult so its not entirely froufrou and wussy! :)

have you found any exercise video gems?

xx

16 comments:

  1. Wow this is really interesting! I never realised that there were exercise videos like this! It's great you're still doing exercise :D

    I'm afraid I haven't, but I will check back to see if anyone else suggests any!

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    1. i've been a fan of home videos since i moved here because finding english speaking classes here is like finding gold! :)

      yayy! :) thanks for keeping a look out!

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  2. the husband does P90X i just join him for the yoga 90x section.

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    1. we tried... and failed terribly!! it was so hard. and we kept giggling when he said "dig deeper,yo!" :)

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  3. Wow, this looks amazing. I'm guessing one would need some prior ballet lessons before attempting this?

    So funny we both blogged about ballet on the same day. Great minds!

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    1. not at all! :) its meant to be an exercise routine even for non-dancers! give it a go! you might just enjoy it and kickstart your ballerina career!!!

      xx

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  4. i've not tried this one! but i have the NY city ballet series from eons ago! maybe it's time to take them out from me dusty shelves.. :P

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    1. oooo that sounds fun! :) maybe ballet home video sessions are in order! i bring ballet beautiful, you bring NYC ballet, jerine brings chloe!

      xx

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  5. you gotta check out bodyrock if you haven't already!! <3 <3

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    1. ooooo sounds fun! im googling it right now!!!

      thanks bebe! xx

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  6. Sounds beautiful and fun to do! There's something so calming about ballet - perhaps because you have to concentrate so hard there's no room to think about things that are troubling. Peace of mind AND a ballet butt - sounds perfect! xxx

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    1. well said! peace of mind and ballet butt is such a winning combination! :)

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  7. Hi Zhing,

    Do you still have your pointe shoes? If you do, you should definitely take pictures with them, wearing a pretty flowy dress (like one of the pictures in this post)!!

    I've been trying to get back to ballet, and but I have not found adult ballet classes which focus on pointe work.... major sigh!!!

    I have the New York City Ballet Workout 1 & 2, and I use that mainly to remind myself that I really should get back to ballet. The other one I like is Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown (she is less annoying in this one, than in her 30-day Shred video)!!

    I also love Julianne Hough's DVD, mostly because I've such a girl-crush on her, and she's the perfect eye-candy for the hubs (he hates Julian Michaels)!!

    Did you order the Ballet Beautiful series from Amazon?

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    1. i do still have my pointe shoes in singapore! i have to unearth them out!! its hard work finding serious ballet classes! i've found some but they're mainly for fun classes for ladies with very little footwork. (felt like yoga to me)

      thanks for the recommendations! :)

      p.s. yeah! from amazon!!

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  8. I tried doing this last night and the deceiving thing about it is that it looks so easy but it's so hard! I did the Body Blast series and only got through 3 out of 4!

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