{Benefits of Ballet}

We just read this great article on the Benefits of Ballet. Some of the benefits you might see from attending Ballet class:

• Self Confidence "By the end of the class, as skills are combined in a performance, the dancer realizes that what she now can perform is beautiful. The confidence developed is useful for both children and adults. When we accomplish something that previously seemed very difficult, it helps us develop the confidence that we can overcome other obstacles in our lives."
• Connection to Others "Recent research indicates that when a person performs an action while another person is performing the same action, it activates “mirror neurons” in the brain. It is speculated that these mirror neurons may play a role in helping us understand the behaviors of others and in learning new skills by imitation."
• Focus and Concentration "When taking a ballet class, the student needs to be aware of where he is in relation to others, where he is in the room and how his body is moving. There are many specific movements of the hands and feet that are learned. This requires memorization and learning how to sequence movements."
• Stress Relief "Through ballet, you will learn an outlet for emotional expression. By using your body to express emotions, it helps to integrate the mind and the body...Through the integration and expression of emotions, we are able to move through emotional distress, and possibly through the causes of chronic pain and other dis-ease."
• Other Benefits "Increased flexibility, better posture, toning and strengthening of muscles, sweating out toxins, and many more."

There you have it! Pretty powerful benefits all for an hour of class. Be sure to check out open level Ballet with Sarah Doudna, Wednesday from 7-8pm!

{Animated}

Nothing beats watching dancers. Seeing their muscles, their grace, the energy reaching through their pointed toes and fingertips. I love seeing the sweat on their skin and their panting chests at the end of a performance. While there is really nothing comparable to seeing dancers move in the flesh, there is something so beautiful about this video and the artists' understanding of movement.

Artist Ryan Woodward animates incredible works of art. While his whole repertoire is impressive, I think it is his sketched dances that are the most amazing to watch! Who would have thought you could express so much about how dancers move through animation? To really knock your socks off, watch his Google commissioned snippet of Martha Graham. He seriously nailed it.

What do you guys think? While nothing compares to watching dancers and a live performance, this sure is beautiful to watch!

{Happy Birthday to... us!}

And what a busy 3 years it has been! Today Liberated Movement celebrates its 3rd birthday. Three years ago today we held our first ever Masala Bhangra class, followed by the wonderful news that Liberated Movement was about to exist for all. When that first class made enough to break even with a little profit, our founders knew this could work- and the rest is history! A great big thank you to all of our amazing students for helping Liberated Movement to exist. Without you beautiful dancers we surely wouldn't be here! Thank you for dancing, learning, growing, sweating!, and getting LIBERATED with us! 
Here is to many more birthdays of bringing affordable, accessible dance to all! 

{Get SMART}

As if we need another reason to head to the studio...

Amazing! Let's work our brains and get dancin'!

{Petite Mort}

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre recently posted this video online of their performance of Petite Mort by Jiří Kylián. Words can't express how beautiful is- so you have to watch!

Beautiful! and with that, TGIF!

{Sleep & Food}

An article recently mentioned at Well + Good NYC pointed out research on sleep from the Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology at the University of Pennsylvania. Some people rarely get a full, deep sleep, but this article shows that eating the right foods can make having sound nights of shut-eye possible. In short, the results prove that very short sleepers consume the most calories, while the longest sleepers take in the fewest.

"...people who get the ideal seven to eight hours of sleep per night have more well-rounded diets than those who sleep too much (9 hours or more) or too little (six hours or less)."






While there are still some questions as to why this is true, Michael A. Grandner, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania and lead author on the study, speculates that “Diets with less variety may not give people the nutritional coverage needed to support healthy sleep”.

The study used data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to evaluate the eating and sleeping patterns of a group of men and women. They found:

• certain sleep patterns are associated with different intake levels of specific nutrients and of calories overall
• people who sleep less than five hours per night drink less tap water and consume less lycopene (an antioxidant found in orange and red-hued produce like tomatoes and watermelon) compared to normal sleepers. 
• those who sleep five to six hours per night take in less vitamin C and selenium, a mineral found in nuts, meat and shellfish that may protect against cancer. 

Here is what Grandner suggests the best diet for sleep probably looks like:

 “A good sleeper's diet is most likely one that has a variety of different types of foods, with more complete nutritional coverage, and not too much high-calorie food.”

Bottom line:

For a good nights sleep,  remember to: drink lots of water, watch your calorie intake, eat a variety of fruits and veggies for nutritional coverage, eat some tomatoes, and eat foods high in vitamin C and selenium such as nuts, meat and shellfish. 

Sleep tight!

{LM Teacher Love}

Liberated Movement teachers are feelin' the love lately. We had a teacher meet-up last week where everyone got to hug it out,  brainstorm new ideas for LM, and relax with some tasty drinks and bites to eat. It may be odd to see them all out of their spandex, but I think it is a pretty beautiful bunch, no?

And if you haven't heard the sad news, our amazing founder, Lauren Pellettieri will be moving to San Francisco in the middle of the month. Fortunately, we will still be having Masala Bhangra and Liberated Movement®  classes, and with all of our amazing teachers we know LM will be going strong! The upside to Lauren's endeavor is that LM will be bi-coastal! We are hoping to get classes in SF going as soon as possible to expand donation-dance classes to even more people. This weekend, some of the Liberated Movement board members threw Lauren a little surprise goodbye party....

Bridgette's most delicious gluten free eggplant parm!

Board members discussing very important business (such as: how amazing is this eggplant parm?)

Perhaps the best part... Bridgette's chocolate pudding with oreos and gummy worms! We love being healthy but we also love us some desserts... it is all about balance!

 We will miss you, Lauren!

Be sure to stop by Lauren's classes in March to bid her farewell! Her last class is Masala Bhangra on the 11th from 8-9pm, and is sure to be a sweat-tastic mush fest of love and tears as we say goodbye to the lady that made this happen!