DANCE FITNESS, YOGA AND FELDENKRAIS® CLASSES

Butler Community School 2007/2008 Calendar

YOGA
For all yoga class and registration information, please contact:

Vicki Parsons, Schools Director of Administration
Phone - 512.476.9051 ext. 126
Fax - 512.472.3073
E-mail - vicki.parsons@balletaustin.org

WHAT IS YOGA?
Yoga refers to the practice of harmonizing the mind and body. The mind moves towards focus and stillness so the body is purified and toned leading to concentration of the body and gradual relaxation of the mind. Yoga classes will increase your range of motion, facilitate relaxation and release tension through focusing on posture, alignment and breathing.  An excellent way to relax and de-stress. There are many different types and applications of yoga - and it's something you can work at to get to different levels of accomplishment.

Hatha Yoga
Hatha Yoga is the most widely practiced form of yoga in the world. It is the practice of linking physical postures (asana) and breathing exercises (pranayama) to develop mental clarity, strength, flexibility, and relaxation. Through the practice of Hatha yoga you will gain balance, strength, and a greater sense of well-being.

Laura Evans, Hatha yoga instructor, discovered yoga through her dance conditioning in 1999. She holds a BA in Dance and has a 200 hour Hatha yoga certificate and is certified to teach prenatal, Vinyasa Krama, and Ahstanga yoga. She has studied under Srivatsa Ramaswami and David Swenson and is currently working on completing her 500 hour certification. Laura has performed professionally with many modern and Ballet companies both in Dallas , TX and San Francisco , CA .

She has this to say about her philosophy:
"I explore the challenges of our bodies, minds and hearts with enthusiasm and compassion. My teaching is eclectic, passionate, detailed and intuitive. I aim to challenge, inspire, heal and delight. For as much as I have learned about the body from dance, continued anatomy study, and consistent and passionate study with myself and others, Yoga continues to be for me a seeking of the calm, highly livable and meditative state of awareness that does not idolize the body's accomplishments.

We seek refreshment of our faith in ourselves and others and use our practice as a tool for that consciousness. Nevertheless, the body will become accomplished, and health and happiness will ensue."

Bikram Yoga
Yogiraj Bikram Choudhury is the founder of the worldwide Yoga College of IndiaT. Born in Calcutta in 1946, Bikram began Yoga at the age of four with India 's most-renowned physical culturist at that time, Bishnu Ghosh, the younger brother of Paramahansa Yogananda (Author of the most popular book on Yoga, The Autobiography of a Yogi , and founder of the Self-Realization Fellowship in Los Angeles ).

Bikram's Beginning Yoga Class is a twenty-six asana series designed to systematically warm and stretch muscles, ligaments and tendons, in the order in which they should be stretched. Bikram Yoga's twenty-six posture exercises move fresh, oxygenated blood to one hundred percent of your body, to each organ and fiber, restoring all systems to healthy working order, just as nature intended. Proper weight, muscle tone, vibrant good health, and a sense of well-being will automatically follow.

"No matter how old or sick, or out of shape, you can still stretch and have a new beginning with yoga." - Bikram Choudhury

Teresa Bessette, Bikram yoga instructor, found yoga after twenty-two years of competitive sports, ranging from triathlons, biking, running and company dance. After four years of nearly daily practice, she began to teach in San Francisco and completed a 500 hour Bikram certification program. After moving to Austin , Teresa opened Yogagroove, Bikram Yoga Austin, in 2001. Six years and three children later, Teresa sold Yogagroove, which continues to thrive, and has pursued personal as well as professional goals.

She has this to say about her philosophy:
As a competitive athlete, I always felt I needed to do a 'real' workout and yoga class would just be icing on the cake. After my last triathlon and a rather serious bout of plantar faciitis, I finally walked into a yoga class that changed me forever and certainly changed my view of yoga as being exercise for an easy day. I continue to practice Bikram Yoga regularly, and in the years since selling Yogagroove I have been allowed to spread my yoga wings and really gain a much greater appreciation and understanding of the spirit and true essence of yoga and what it continues to become for me.

Today I am thrilled to be part of Ballet Austin's offering to the community. Austin has such a unique blend of personalities and passions. Offering the people of Austin so many opportunities to move and be moved is truly amazing!

Vinyasa Flow Yoga
Vinyasa flow class is designed for transformation and radiant health.  It is for students ready to begin a practice or for growing your existing practice.   Class begins with the stillness of pranyama, a breath centering practice that focuses prana;  the universal source of breath.  From there we move into the energetic and creative sequences of vinyasa flow which stimulates and energizes.  Finally, we surrender into ultimate relaxation finding our own radiance and the joy of being in your body.

Giselle Porter, Vinyasa flow yoga instructor, has had a lifelong love affair with ballet and movement.   She studied in Corpus Christi, the University of Texas and various studios in San Antonio and Austin.  A strong attraction led Ms. Porter to yoga and she became a registered yoga teacher seven years ago.  She is certified by Healing Yoga and Living Yoga, and considers her training to be very broad based. 

She has this to say about her philosophy:
Yoga transforms lives.  As a yogi and instructor I witness this on a regular basis.  It simply puts people into their breath and their bodies very efficiently.  Being present in the body brings you to the present moment where all healing occurs.  I like to teach Vinyasa flow because of its dynamic, creative, and energetic movement.  It is a form of yoga most like dance, where  your breath becomes the music.

FELDENKRAIS®
Would you like to move with less pain? Maintain your fitness goals? Reach for your personal best? In Feldenkrais® Awareness Through Movement ( ATM ) lessons, the teacher verbally guides you through a sequence of gentle movements intended to develop a greater awareness of how you move. After experiencing Awareness Through Movement lessons, people often express feelings of relaxation and ease. They may breathe more freely and find their thoughts have more clarity. The classes are taught by Guild Certified Feldenkrais® ATM Teacher, Lisa del Rosario, an instructor at Ballet Austin since 2004. She has been dancing most of her life and continues to do so locally and internationally. Lisa has used the Feldenkrais Method® of movement education in the last eight years to recover from injuries, for personal growth, and to improve her quality of life.

DANCE FITNESS
For all dance fitness class and registration information, please contact:

Vicki Parsons, Schools Director of Administration
Phone - 512.476.9051 ext. 126
Fax - 512.472.3073
E-mail - vicki.parsons@balletaustin.org

Ballet Fit
Ballet Fit classes combine the muscle sculpting and abdominal control gained in a regular ballet class with the fun and cardio workout of an aerobics class. Work, sweat, improve your health, but most importantly, meet people and have fun!

Broadway Fit
Broadway Fit is taught by theatre dance instructors and Broadway veterans Danny Herman and Rocker Verastique . The focus of this fast-paced, hour-long class is to have fun and burn calories…all to a Broadway beat! Starting with a warm-up that stretches and tones the body, this class develops proper body alignment, flexibility, balance and strength. Exercises follow that isolate the different parts of the body and develop increasingly complex coordination of the arms, head and legs. Longer combinations that emphasize expressiveness in lyrical and dynamic Broadway styles are given in the center and across the floor.

Hula Fit
Take hula dance to a whole new level! Hula-Fit begins with a warm-up that stretches your muscles, calms your nerves, and gently increases your flexibility. We then review the basics of hula technique with a cardiovascular workout that steadily increases in intensity. Hula-Fit helps to steadily build strength in your legs, abs, and arms, and to improve your stamina! We end with a cool down that gently stretches your muscles.

Dance Fitness, Yoga & Feldenkrais® Classes (Youth/Teen/Adult)
Fall/Spring // Sept. 10, 2007/May 23, 2008

All Classes will be held at the Butler Dance Education Center at 501 W. 3rd.

2007/2008 Fall/Spring Registration Form

Open Division Staff: Teresa Bessette, Toni Bravo, Pei-San Brown, Thaddeus Davis, Laura Evans, Greg Easley, Jennifer Hart, Danny Herman, Arletta Howard-Logan, Libby James, Giselle Porter, Lisa del Rosario, Jerry Schwender, Suzanne Taylor, Rocker Verastique, Robin Williams, Terri Lynn Wright

Class Cards can be used in any ballet, modern, theatre dance, hula, yoga or Feldenkrais® class during the 2007/2008 Fall/Spring Session. Class Cards Expire on May 23 , 2008.

Dress Code:

For all open class and registration information, please contact the Schools Director of Administration at:
Phone - 512.476.9051 ext 126 Fax - 472.3073 E-mail- vicki.parsons@balletaustin.org

Movin' Easy is the official dance retailer of Ballet Austin.