Ballet Beautiful: Transform Your Body and Gain the Strength, Grace and Focus of a Ballet Dancer (28 page)

a
Begin with your arms in second position, as with Classic Swan Arms. Drop your elbows and lower your arms all the way down to the Swan Arms Low position.

b
Lift your elbows and raise your arms high above your shoulders to the Swan Arms High position.

c
Drop your elbows and lower your arms back to the Swan Arms Low position, with your stomach engaged and your chest open. Create resistance with your arms by imagining that you are pushing your arms through water or layers of tulle.

d
Lift your elbows and raise your arms again to the Swan Arms High position.
8 counts, 4 sets.

Push your arms straight out to the side, bending and stretching your elbows as you go. Don’t hyperextend or lock your elbows but imagine you’re pushing through water. Keep your chest open, your neck long, and your stomach engaged. Stretch your arms long to finish.
8 counts, 4 sets.

Stretch
:
Repeat the Standing Stretch for Arms on
page 123
.

This Standing Series offers a ballet-inspired full-body workout that’s challenging and transformative—and also a lot of fun! My clients always tell me that they love how beautiful these exercises make them feel. If you have only 15 minutes to work out a week, this is the one for you! This workout is one of my favorites before I hit the beach or have a special event. It’s a quick, super-effective way to tone and sculpt the body, and it makes you feel elegant too!

We begin the workout with Standing Stretches for the Arms and Legs before taking the starting position.

a
Bend your right leg in and grab the top of your foot with your right hand, pulling your foot up toward your butt and opening up through the front of your hip and thigh. For balance, pull in through your center or hold on to a wall or a chair.

b
Change legs and repeat.

c
Now extend your right leg front and bend your body forward over your front leg in a tendu, keeping your knee straight. Pulse and release through the back of your leg and hamstring. Come up and change legs.

a
While standing, lift both arms up to fifth position, keeping your shoulders down and your neck long.

b
Now extend your arms in a port de bras in fourth position, lifting up and over as you bend to the side. From fourth position, extend your top arm slightly back, opening through the chest.

c
Bring your arms down to first position and repeat on the other side.

STARTING POSITION:
Begin with your arms curved in front of you in first position and your feet in fourth position (feet turned out, about a foot apart).

* /B.
If you are a beginner, your front heel should be in line with the instep of your back foot;
/A.
if you are advanced, line up the heel of your front foot with the toe of your back foot and keep your weight even over both feet.

Pull in tight through your center, keep your neck long, and do not let your elbows droop. Remember the Ballet Beautiful principle about working within your range of motion—be certain that when you bend your knees into a plié they are right over your toes.

a
Find a good starting position with your legs in fourth position, one foot in front of the other, and your weight right in the center, equally distributed between your legs.

b
Take a demi-plié—a slow bend in your knees—making certain that your knees are over your toes and that your heels remain on the floor.

c
Keep your chest open, your neck long, and your center engaged. Do not drop your chest as you plié—stay lifted through your upper body.

d
Pulse in a plié, bending your knees a little deeper and stretching up slightly. You should feel this in your inner thighs, hamstrings, and butt.
8 counts, 4 sets.

a
From the demi-plié position, fully stretch both knees, engaging your inner thighs while your feet remain in fourth position. Keep your arms in first position, curved in front of you.

b
Bend your knees again into a plié, as in Demi-Plié in Fourth Position, then stretch all the way straight without shifting your feet. Keep your weight right between your legs. This time extend your arms open to the sides to second position as you stretch through your legs and knees.

c
Keep the “work within your range of motion” principle in mind here—be careful not to overrotate your feet and keep your knees over your toes when you plié. Remember that your feet may not open as wide as mine.

d
Stretch through your legs and lift your kneecaps all the way each time you straighten and lift, this time with the arms in first position. Alternate your arms between first and second position each time you stretch your knees, and remain in first position for each plié.

e
Keep your chest open and your stomach engaged.
8 counts, 4 sets.

a
Bring your feet together to sixth position. (Imagine your feet in first position, heels together, toes open, then close your toes together, taking a parallel position, heels together.)

b
Lift your right foot slightly off the floor into a coupé and bend the standing knee (your left knee).

c
Open your chest and arms into a Swan Arms Low position, pulling your stomach in tight and keeping your neck long.

d
Pulse here in a plié, keeping your core steady and lifted.

/B.
If you are a beginner and are having difficulty with your balance, you may hold on to a wall or a chair as a makeshift barre. Another option for extra stability is to keep the toes of the foot in coupé touching the floor.
8 counts, 4 sets.