Ballet Beautiful

To prepare for her role as a ballerina in Black Swan, Natalie Portman approached it like one—training for up to eight hours a day, six days a week, enduring painful trips to the physical therapist and trading a social life for practice. The result, as evidenced by Portman’s Oscar-buzz-worthy performance, is that she completely—and beautifully—assumed the grace and poise of a professional. To further lengthen and strengthen the actress’s already dancer-like frame (she danced when she was a child, but stopped at twelve), Portman began working with Mary Helen Bowers, a former member of the New York City Ballet and founder of the Ballet Beautiful method, more than a year before actually pirouetting onto the set. “The philosophy is that you can really transform any body type into one looking like a ballerina: long, lean, sculpted, and strong, but still very elegant,” explains Bowers, who developed a personal exercise routine from her own experience as a professional ballerina to create a demanding—and rewarding—program that has attracted a roster of models and actresses. I discovered Mary Hellen Bowers' program last week while reading Stellar Magazine and decided I would look into it. As a child I'd done a lot of ballet and have always loved it. Two days ago I started the program, just using the book. Already I can feel my body working muscles I didn't know existed. I'm not going to lie, I am a bit sore but it feels wonderful. I feel like I'm actually working my whole body and it feels absolutely awesome. I can't wait to get the 60 minute DVD and 15 min blast series. If you want something to work all the muscles of your body this is something to look at. And the best thing is you need no dance experience!

#dance #fitness #exercise #ballet